Hear the other side

If you struggle with single-sided deafness, then you know how difficult everyday activities can be. Business meetings, crossing the street, driving a car and enjoying a meal in a busy restaurant are often hard work and very stressful.

Every year over 60,000 people are diagnosed with SSD, this type of hearing loss is more common than you think.

Debra - Baha® recipient

Understanding single-sided deafness

Single-sided deafness (SSD) occurs when you have little to no hearing in one ear and normal hearing in the other. It can happen suddenly at any age and sometimes it can return by itself, but if it doesn't, treatment might be required.

Some of the causes of SSD include:

  • Acoustic neuroma — due to the surgical removal of benign tumor(s) developing on the nerve that connects the ear to the brain
  • Sudden hearing loss — due to:
    • - viral infections
    • - Ménière's disease
    • - adverse reaction to medications
    • - head or ear injuries
    • - and many other unknown reasons

Bone conduction success stories

You are not alone. In fact, each year approximately 60,000 Americans find themselves exactly where you are right now.1 We hear so many stories from people who struggle with hearing loss in one ear. Luckily, we’ve also heard stories from those who overcame it.

Sudden hearing loss

Aaron suddenly lost his hearing in his right ear overnight. Not only did he lose his hearing but he also lost his connection to one of his most favorite things in the world- nature. His hearing loss changed his personality and even made him withdraw from the ones he loved most. After talking with his audiologist, he knew the Baha® System was exactly what he needed to have 360 degrees of sound again.

How the Baha System Works
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Gradual hearing loss

Debra was diagnosed with a cholesteatoma that was life changing. The invasive growth left her totally deaf in her right ear, leaving her without sound and often times missing out on conversations that were happening right in front of her. Thanks to the Baha® System, Debra is no longer missing out on any conversations and is enjoying richer relationships with family and friends.

How the Baha System Works
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Meet others who have been where you are now

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Sudden Hearing Loss

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Aaron Video

Aaron suddenly lost his hearing in his right ear overnight. Not only did he lose his hearing but he also lost his connection to one of his most favorite things in the world- nature. His hearing loss changed his personality and even made him withdraw from the ones he loved most. After talking with his audiologist, he knew the Baha® System was exactly what he needed to have 360 degrees of sound again.

rLiYKM5aRpQ

Gradual Hearing Loss From Tumor

Now Playing...

Aaron Video

Debra was diagnosed with a cholesteatoma that was life changing. The invasive growth left her totally deaf in her right ear, leaving her without sound and often times missing out on conversations that were happening right in front of her. Thanks to the Baha® System, Debra is no longer missing out on any conversations and is enjoying richer relationships with family and friends.

The importance of hearing with both ears

Hearing with two ears (called binaural hearing) provides clear advantages.

Ears work as a team. Hearing with two ears allows you to identify sounds both near and far as well as those that occur 360 degrees around your head.1 With two ears, you can better understand speech and better detect where sounds are coming from.2

 

If one ear is taken out of the equation, it may become difficult to:

Better understand speech in noise

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Sometimes it's harder to hear in noisy environments when you have single-sided deafness because of consonants that are being spoken are higher frequency sounds and it's difficult to hear speech as well as filter out background noise.2

Locate sound

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A limited ability to discern the direction of sound is more than inconvenient – it can be dangerous. Crossing a busy street, driving through traffic or not knowing where your child is when they call your name at the playground may be very unsettling.

How a bone conduction solution is different from …

CROS hearing aids

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  • A bone conduction solution is a discreet solution worn on one side, while CROS hearing aids require users to wear devices on both ears.
  • A bone conduction solution is an implantable hearing solution designed to use your body’s natural ability to conduct sound through bone conduction.
  • CROS hearing aids are conventional hearing aids placed behind, or inside, each ear.
  • Hearing through bone conduction bypasses the outer and middle ear and sends clearer, more crisp sound directly to your inner ear.4
  • CROS hearing aids work by picking up sound on your ‘bad side’ and transmitting it via a hard wire or a wireless signal to your normal hearing ear.
  • Studies show that bone conduction systems provide better speech understanding in noise than CROS hearing aids.5

Leaving your hearing loss untreated

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  • Research and decades of experience demonstrate the benefits of bone conduction solutions compared to leaving your hearing loss untreated.6-10   With it, you may be able to:
    • Hear better, even in noisy situations.
    • Enjoy a clean, natural sound because hearing through bone conduction bypasses the damaged part of the ear.
    • Hear sounds as if they are coming from both sides.

REFERENCES

  1. Wazen JJ, Spitzer JB, Ghossaini SN, Fayad JN, Niparko JK, Cox K, et al. Transcranial contralateral cochlear stimulation in unilateral deafness. Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery 2003;129(3):248-54.
  2. Weaver, J. "Single-Sided Deafness: Causes, and Solutions, Take Many Forms." Hearing Journal 68.3 (2015): 20-24. Web. 28 Apr. 2017. http://journals.lww.com/thehearingjournal/Fulltext/2015/03000/Single_Sided_Deafness___Causes,_and_Solutions,.1.aspx
  3. Dun, C.A.J. , de Wolf, M.J.F , Wigren, S., Eeg Olofsson, M., Granstrom, G., Green, K., Flynn, M.C., Stalfors, J., Rothera, M., Mylanus, E.A.M., & Cremers, C.W.R.J. (2010) Development and Multi centre Clinical Investigation of a Novel Baha Implant System. Technical and 6 Month Data. Paper presented at CI 2010, Stockholm, Sweden.
  4. Gustafsson J. BCDrive performance vs. conventional bone conduction transducer. Cochlear Bone Anchored Solutions AB, 629908, 2015.
  5. Niparko JK, Cox KM, Lustig LR. Comparison of the bone-anchored hearing aid implantable hearing device with contralateral routing of offside signal amplification in the rehabilitation of unilateral deafness. Otology & Neurotology, 2003 Jan;24(1):73-78.
  6. Flynn MC, Sadeghi A, Halvarsson G. Baha solutions for patients with severe mixed hearing loss. Cochlear Implants Int 2009;10 Suppl 1:43-7.Ð_
  7. Hol MK, Snik AF, Mylanus EA, Cremers CW. Long-term results of bone-anchored hearing aid recipients who had previously used air-conduction hearing aids. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2005 Apr;131(4):321-5.
  8. Flynn, PhD, Mark C. Smart and Small – Innovative Technologies behind the CochlearTM Baha® 5 Sound Processor. Apr. 2015.
  9. Lin LM, Bowditch S, Anderson MJ, May B, Cox KM, Niparko K. “Amplification in the rehabilitation of unilateral deafness: speech in noise and directional hearing effects with bone-anchored hearing and contralateral routing of signal amplification.” Otology & Neurotology. 2006;27(2):172-82.
  10. Hear-it.org. “Single-Sided Deafness-SSD.” http://www.hear-it.org/Single-sided-deafness. Accessed February 6, 2020.