Single-Sided Deafness Solutions

Although there is no cure for single-sided deafness (SSD) we have several effective treatment options available. At Audiologists Northwest, we’ll work with you to create an individualized hearing loss treatment plan specifically tailored to your needs.

What you can expect at your appointment

  • Full audiological assessment
  • Discussion of treatment options based on results.
  • Ability to try a CROS and BiCROS system free for 7 days

What is single-sided deafness?

Single-Sided Deafness (SSD) involves significant damage to hearing in one ear. People with Hearing loss in one ear have reduced speech intelligibility for several reasons: The inability to separate background noise from the signal of interest, the lack of binaural summation effect, and difficulties hearing the signal of interest coming from the side of the deaf ear.

Is there a cure for single-sided deafness?

While there is no cure for SSD, there are several effective options available to help those who suffer from it. The three most common solutions include:

CROS: These systems wirelessly transmit sound from the deaf ear to the better ear via a transmitter, which is placed behind the deaf ear. The transmitter picks up sound and wirelessly transmits it to a receiver hearing aid on the normal-hearing ear. This solution is discreet and requires a non-invasive fitting procedure.

BiCROS: Similar to CROS, but is made for those who are deaf in one ear and hearing impaired in the other ear. Here, the receiver hearing aid also amplifies sound on the better ear, so that it matches the degree of hearing loss in this ear.

BAHA: This system is a semi-implantable bone-anchored hearing device that transfers sound from the deaf side to the cochlea using bone conduction. This is installed via a surgical procedure and is more visible than CROS or BiCROS systems.

How do cros and bicros systems help people with single-sided deafness?

CROS and BiCROS system help people with SSD to better locate sounds and distinguish background noise. In a recent study from Denmark, researchers found that the specific situations in which the test subjects rated the improvement with CROS to be the most significant were when following a conversation in the presence of background noise when having a conversation while driving a car and when participating in a group conversation.