Unilateral hearing loss also goes by the name single-sided deafness. Regardless of what you might call this condition, there are several elements to it that you are going to want to keep in mind.
For example, there are several unilateral hearing loss signs and unilateral hearing loss symptoms that you will need to be aware of.
There is also some significant information regarding unilateral hearing loss causes that you will want to note.
What Is Unilateral Hearing Loss?
This particular hearing impairment refers to normal hearing in just one ear. The other ear will be experiencing some form of impaired hearing.
Symptoms
- Challenges in hearing conversations on the impaired side of their heads.
- Challenges in localizing sounds.
- Challenges in being able to distinguish and understand speech when dealing with background noises, as well.
- Challenges with both interpersonal relationships and social relationships.
As you can see from the information above, unilateral hearing loss deals in both physical and emotional symptoms.
It can create a variety of physical problems, which in turn can lead to social problems. All of this in turn can then create emotional distress, depression, and so forth.
“In 1998, it was speculated that nearly four hundred thousand school-aged kids in the United States were suffering from some form of unilateral hearing loss. That number has only increased, as time goes on.”
One of the more challenging elements of unilateral hearing loss is that there are so many potential causes out there.
Single-sided deafness causes include
- Physical traumas
- Acoustic neuromas
- Measles
- Microtia
- Meningitis
- Mumps
- Mastoiditis, and much more.
Physical trauma in particular can be difficult to prepare for since it can come in so many unexpected forms.
Profound Unilateral Hearing Loss
In addition to unilateral hearing loss, there is also a condition known as profound unilateral hearing loss.
These are cases that involve 91 dB or higher hearing loss. This means that the individual has absolutely no ability to hear in one of their ears.
In other words, this individual can only hear in mono. It can make hearing comprehension seem impossible.
Causes
- Headaches
- Stress
- Depression
- Irritability
- Variable light dizziness
- Difficulties in being able to pay attention to what the other person might be trying to say to them.
If more than one person is talking to someone with this condition, things can become even more chaotic.