Question: I have hearing loss in one ear that cannot be helped with a hearing aid and normal hearing in the other ear. I frequently have trouble hearing those at the office on the side of my poor ear. Any suggestions?
Answer: You have described a type of hearing loss that usually CAN be helped with hearing aids. Single sided deafness is called unilateral hearing loss and can be helped by using a contralateral routing of signals (CROS).
In other words, there is a hearing aid system that uses a microphone device on the poor ear and sounds from that side are picked up in the microphone and “sent” wirelessly to a device in the better hearing ear where it is heard and understood. This is great for hearing conversation that is on the poor ear side.
We are created to have 2 ears on purpose. Even with normal hearing in one ear, you still are not able to hear normally and the CROS system helps many people.