Question regarding hearing o.o

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dracotkk

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Hey... Considering the fact that I've never bothered to hear out of my right ear, and only relied on my left ear my whole life... What am i missing, by hearing out of only one ear? And what would it be like going to two ears for the first time in 19 years.


Edit: Whoops, wrong section. lol.
 
Well, one big thing you are missing out is the ability to more accurately determine where specific sounds are coming from. With only one ear, it's harder.

Other than that, I can't think of what else you could be missing out on.
 
Same here as having been there and done that. I have never heard out of my left ear being a one ear bandit all my life. I can see that it would probably be a help in general but I can't say I missed much being without it.
 
Walked around with a bit of wax in my left ear for a while. Only reall difference I noticed was I had to turn my head more.

My neck probably needs exercise any way.
 
I had experienced hearing only with my left ear days ago when my earwax capped my eardrum to something like a 80-90% hearing loss but I'm okay.
 
I have bilateral CIs and can tell you the difference between hearing with one CI vs. two is quite dramatic. For example, I'm able to localize sound without having to turn my head. I'm also able to hear better in noise. Environmental sounds and voices have a fuller, richer and more "natural" quality to them with two CIs. With one CI, sounds are "distant" and "tinny." Of course, this isn't to say that you can't function with only one ear or CI because there are many people who do. :)
 
It's my left one that's out. As others have said, except for identifying the source of sound (which you usually learn to cope with easily), I can't think of anything severe off-hand. Mild nuissances such as having to do the lovely "Disappearing Act", as my friends call it when I suddenly switch sides on them because they're talking in my bad ear, can be annoying. It also depends on how good your "good" ear actually is. Mine used to be all right, but is going a bit shoddy lately, so if I miss something, I really do miss something. Hmm, I guess it can be summed up in what I said when I finally got an aid for my left ear, "Dang, I never knew that air conditioning could be so annoying". (In other words, you might miss the little stuff, but its nothing to weep over if you're used to it.)
 
I remember a few weeks ago, my girlfriend (shes deaf) was trying to play trick on me. She was knocking on my back door, thinking I wouldnt be able to tell where it was coming from so she thought Id assume it was someone at my front door.

I immediatly turn to look at the back door before I even go to the front door. She asked me how did you know where it was? So I tried to explain to her that not only can we hear sounds we can really localize them and determine where they orginate from.

So she decided to test this theory. We played hide and seek, but instead of normal hide and seek, I wasnt really going to look for her with my eyes, but instead I told her to make a little noise with her voice and I would be able to tell exactly where she is by her voice.

I was trying to think of any benefits really of being able to hear out of both ears. It might be possible that with hearing in both ears you can hear speech in a noisy environment better? And like you mentioned with only one ear that hears, you have to sort of position your self at all times to always get the best quality. But with two, I suppose like a radio antenna you always have one ear getting a good signal, or being able to hear whats going on.

I would assume that if you can hear out of both ears, you might also be able to recognize softer, lower sounds.
 
Your Mom said:
I would assume that if you can hear out of both ears, you might also be able to recognize softer, lower sounds.
Click to expand...

This is definitely the case for me. :) With one CI, I have more difficulty hearing quieter and low pitched sounds. With two CIs, they are much clearer, fuller and more detailed.

Also, in regards to always having one ear "on the air" when you need to change batteries, this is one of the benefits I've found to having bilateral CIs. If the batteries in my processor suddenly die, I'm not left completely deaf -- even though it only takes a few seconds to change batteries.
 
How amazing headphones are. With some hearing in both ears and the volume cranked up to what my sister considers to be concert-loud, it feels like the sound is coming from inside your brain. It blows my mind every time. =P And I'm sure it sounds that way to everyone, but I think it's really cool.
 
I am the same way. I have one ear I can barely hear anything in. The other has only a mind loss. A few weeks ago I tried two hearing aids and the difference was just amazing. I can't believe what I was missing.
 
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