Discussion about Single Sided Deaf, what is it like?

[Boppie]

I thought threading on this topic might help newbies...

To begin...Being deaf in one ear is a unique experience.  Once surgery issues cease and the odd head rumblings are over, one becomes aware that sound coming from the deaf side seems to be coming from the good side.  This is what we call "having difficulty locating direction".   This difficulty becomes more apparent when we walk next to a someone speaking on our deaf side.  The sound volume from the deaf is diminshed due to its distance from the good ear.  Your head shadows (blocks) the sound traveling across to the good ear.  We learn to walk with the speaker on the good side.  We notice that cars driving next to the deaf ear are bearly audible, and we don't hear the road noise over there.  If a sound comes from behind, you don't know where it is.  All sounds are processed through the good ear.   

There is an archive thread about humorous "benefits" of being deaf.

I have a hearing aid for my SSD.

Others, please add on...   

[tony]

Yes I would add that the poor sense of sound direction
makes crossing the road a whole new adventure
(you wont hear a car coming - you might get to feel it - but just the once....)
Best regards
Tony

[Brendalu]

My hearing ear is more sensitive to loud noises.  Music is "different".
BrendaO

[Lorenzo]

i would laso add that lots of noise can mount up to a lot of stress and fatigue. This said, one finds ways around the directional problem, the noise overload, and the tinnitus. Music does sound different to me too, and right now, I can't listen to any as I find myself strangely stressed and tense!

Weird.

Lorenzo

[Shrnwldr]

What about ear plugs?  Would they work somewhat?  Even now I have problems with hearing.... my cubicle is located very close to a main hallway so I get all kinds of conversations plus my co-workers talking.  Makes it difficult to concentrate and for some reason all the racket stresses me out and makes me irritiable.  Would this get better after surgery?  Or would earplugs help? 

[Lorenzo]

Ear plugs will help. One of the things that happen with tinnitus and eharing problems is an inability to discrimante sound. For example, with good eharing, we can hear somebody talking to us in a crowded room, but the rest of of the conversations are filtered out to some extent by the brain. Wih our problem, every sound is treated at the same level, making it very difficult to discrimnate irrelevant sounds, and causing noise overload, and stress! This was something that was explained to me by a doc here at some stage, and I hope I got it right. It sure describes what I experience in office and other noise situations!
Ciao, Lorenzo

[Omaschwannoma]

Boppie,

Accepting what you have or do not have is truly the best approach, for everyone involved as I elaborate more.  Ways to cope shared by this "thread" are very beneficial and I wish this info came from my doctor before I was released from the hospital.  There is a huge learning curve for the ANer who is a surgical patient and info to the "caretaker" on being patient is very important as learning ways of coping for the patient is difficult enough and they do not need to "deal" with how to make it better for the caretaker.   

The wearing of ear plugs definately helps me when in a noisy place such as restaurants, grocery stores, hardware stores, windy days, health club with TV's, whirring machines, weights clanging, etc.  It keeps me calm and stress free.  I like the ones swimmers wear, "screw" type design. 

Too much noise is one of many distractions that cause me to not think clearly.  I have had one too many "close calls" when walking outside where there is traffic.  I wear my ear plug to keep the noise down and this enables me to remember, "stop, look twice then walk" when crossing traffic.   

Yes, trying to locate where the voice is coming from can be frustrating, but now I have given up trying to locate it as I'm always wrong.  There is a "pin" available to wear on your "non-hearing side" that I have ordered through this site and am now thinking of turning it into an earring to wear. 

This years Symposium includes forums on different hearing devices and am curious about this, but at this time my life is just fine without one. 

[ixta]

direction of sound is the most difficult for me,

especially during hunting or /gasp, Search and Rescue.

Did get insurance though to say they would cover a transear so am hoping to try that out in a few weeks.

[nancyann]

Problems, like everyone else, WHERE IS THAT 'HI NANCY' coming from ?  I always turn to the left, even though the person is on the right.
I had been avoiding large gatherings - when alot of people are talking around me, it just sounds like different voice pitches & I can't make out the words.
Recently I had to attend a retirement party for a co-worker, I used my musician's plug & was able to hear the people at my table, but it decreased
the sound of all the other 'voices' in the near area.  I was amazed at how well it worked. (Couldn't hear the 'soft speakers' though).
The one good thing is that when I go to sleep, & if there are loud sounds outside, I just put my good ear to the pillow & I don't hear a thing !!!

[Shrnwldr]

Nancy,
I naturally sleep that way and I was wondering what do you do to get alerted when God forbide a fire might occur?  Do you have a special alarm?

Sharon

[ppearl214]

Boppie and all, great idea for a thread topic and I'm sure many will benefit from this. Thank you all.  Phyl

[nancyann]

Hi Sharon:  Well, I never thought about that !!
                But I usually wake up a few times during the night, & I also seem to move around quite a bit in my sleep,
                I lay that way when I'm first trying to get to sleep to block out noise, so it works for me.
Best wishes to you & sleepful nights !!!    Nancy

[Omaschwannoma]

About the "What if an emergency happens while sleeping and you can't hear" is a very good topic and I really would feel safer knowing that I can be rousted from sound sleep as I have thought on this topic too often.  I do have my husband next to me, but as his ears age, so does his hearing.  Our dog (bullmastiff) Blu sleeps with us and I wonder if he would wake up to the fire alarm or any other unusual night noise?  Should those of us that don't have partners or animals look into ways to awaken for emergency reasons? 

[Boppie]

There are alarms that shake you awake and alarm lights that tell you when events are occuring if you want them but a smoke alarm that is reasonalbly close to your bedroom could be heard through a pillow.  I can even hear my husband snoring through the pillow.  I use a dense foam pillow and still can hear my clock radio music alarm turned up and not so loud at that.  You might try a radio next to your head on the nightstand and see if you can hear that with your good ear in the pillow.

But I hesitate to use an ear plug in my good ear for nighttime for the reasons of safety.

[Richey]

Boopie, I thought I left a post on this but must have forgot to send it

I'm new but can shed a little light on SSD. Mine happened pretty quick after GK and my tinnitus increased greatly with no hearing coming in. I have had tinnitus in both ears for years I guess due to exposer to noise in the work place.

I have some hearing loss in my hearing ear too, so I chose the bi-cross wireless hearing aid and it has made a lot of difference. I also tried the transear but it was very uncomfortable for me and I did not get much transfer of sound. Of course the hearing aids do not help with directional issues but I hear things that I had forgotten about when I have them on which is pretty much all the time that I'm not sleeping. There is of course the drawback of having the ear pieces and they itch sometimes. Also there is AM radio interference in certain location. The aids are programmable, digital, has a 32 bit chip which my son says is more that we had in some of our computers. My insurance would not pay any of the aids but they will pay for the baha. I thought I would try the no obligation offer from the audio guy before getting drilled.

I'm glad your transear works good for you.

Rich