“To hear or not to hear”…that is the question…

Well in my case. I have normal hearing out of my left ear. It is my right ear that after extensive auditory testing while I was a youth it was determined that all my right ear nerves exist. I was just lacking an ear drum, ear canal and maybe another piece or two in the inner ear construction. So, about 4 years ago I started investigating hearing supplement options. I’ve learned to adapt to hearing out of one ear only. My main objective in obtaining hearing out of my right ear would be to gain stereo and in affect be able to better ascertain which direction sounds are coming from. As it is, I find it difficult at times, usually when outside to determine where a sound is coming from. The two main options I considered were the BAHA system and the natural solution of using skin grafting to fabricate an ear drum and the fabrication of an ear canal.

First the natural grafting solution. I’ll make this answer quick. There is the possibility of chronic infections and fluid drainage complications associated with this method, so, I lost interest pretty fast. I didn’t want to make my life more complicated. So, the cost/benefit didn’t appeal to me.

Second, the BAHA system. This method involves drilling a hole in my skull on the right side slightly above and behind where the right ear resides. A titanium button is screwed into the hole and for a few months the body adapts and adheres to the button. A special hearing aid snaps onto this button and the vibrations are transmitted through the skull bone to the existing and functioning hearing nerves on that side of my skull. As a result, I could actually hear from that side. I read several testimonies good and bad concerning the results of this method. There is about a 6 month period of time where the body/brain learn to mask out “white noise” like a constant “static noise” that is typical with this method. But your brain learns to ignore the noise after a period of time and it is not noticed anymore. At least that’s how I understand it. Some patients complained of acquiring head aches after the button installation or associated with the hearing aide noise? One patient mentioned that he couldn’t wear a baseball cap very easily because of the location of the hearing aid high on the side of the head. He also mentioned that wind caused a significant amount of noise that rendered hearing on that side ineffective. Those two last points, the baseball cap and the wind noise were the nails in the coffin for me concerning further pursing this option. I live on a cattle ranch and am outside a lot of the time. I wear a cap to keep the sun off of my head and it can often be breezy in southwest Colorado depending upon the season or time of day. My main pursuit of hearing out of my right ear was for the benefits outdoors and that is where this device seemed to have problems. The persons who often were very satisfied with the results of the BAHA device were those who only had partial hearing in their good ear, or they had hearing deficiencies in both ears, so anything was a tremendous improvement from their past state. And that is awesome and good.

I don’t mean to disqualify either of these methods. I am just sharing how I reasoned through the entire process as it applied to me and my circumstances and preferences.

SO, as it is. I still hear in mono and probably will for the remainder of my time on this good earth. It would be fun to hear stereo, however, being deaf in one ear does have its benefits. I can roll over on my good ear when I climb into bed and the world of noise becomes nearly silent to me. When I go out to a job site where there is substantial noise pollution, I can use my left hand to cover my left ear and still have a free hand to work with. My wife would suggest that there are other benefits to being deaf in one ear, but I can’t admit to that here.

I’ve considered ear prosthesis attachments as well and have not completely abandoned that option yet. I don’t know if I like the idea of gluing on or snapping on an ear every day. They make both. The snap on ear would be kind of like dentures, with fastening studs inserted into your skull. The cons for me, including the BAHA system is the studs or snap that are fastened to my skull are an added piece of daily maintenance. They have to be cleaned everyday with special attention. The snap is best cleaned with a tooth brush. I just couldn’t get past cleaning a button on the side of my head with a tooth brush. Again, great technology, great method, I am finding that I am content with my present hearing impairment. If I didn’t have good hearing in my left ear I would have definitely gone with one of the above solutions. Hands down.

So, I don’t want to discourage any readers from investigating or pursuing corrective hearing solutions. Check out your options thoroughly and go with your heart. Sometimes on this blog its just me sharing how I did/do things and how I came to this place in life.