As an moderator and avid poster at the Advanced Bionics sponsored cochlear implant forum, Hearing Journey, I frequently come across posts which attract my attention and response. That being said, here is a little snippet from one of those posts…

I hear just fine with one processor. Let me put it this way. On a “hearing” scale of 0 to 100, with nothing, it’s a 0. With my old hearing aids, it was a 5. With one processor, it’s a 95. With two processors, it’s a 96. Get the picture? Also, I think of all the people I’ve met who appeared to have perfectly normal hearing in every respect, and years later I found out they were only hearing in one ear.

And my response….

Each and everyone of us is different. I am somewhat like (name removed to protect the innocent), in that I had single sided hearing most of my life. This was by choice…I preferred the low sounds of my left ear over the highs of my right ear. Over the years, as many of you probably experienced, I had to give my left ear a rest because of ear mold irritation. Those were the only times I wore the HA on the right side.

Interesting enough, I experienced stereo with headphones listening to music. Those were the only times I heard with both ears before getting my CIs so I, at least, had experience with what it could sound like with both ears. Its funny I am saying this because even though I had the opportunity to wear HAs in both ears, I chose not to for no reason whatsoever!

I was implanted in my right ear on 2007 because it was a “nothing to lose, everything to gain proposition. Given that I had success because the maps enabled me to fine tune out the annoying parts of the highs, my mind was made up to do the left side knowing that I would have similar or better experience.

Today, I don’t regret the decisions I made at all. I am thankful that I have been given the opportunity to hear better and certainly know that both ears are better for me than one!

🙂