Specialty Hearing Loss
One ear cut off from the world. The other still working. Standard hearing aids do not fix this. ACI Hearing Center evaluates and treats single-sided deafness (SSD) with CROS and BiCROS fittings in-house, plus candidacy testing and referrals for bone-anchored hearing aids and cochlear implants when the deaf ear can be restored.
Single-sided deafness (SSD) means severe or profound hearing loss in one ear with normal or near-normal hearing in the other. Some people wake up one morning and cannot hear from one side (that is called sudden sensorineural hearing loss and it is a medical emergency). Others lose hearing gradually over months or years. And some people are born with SSD.
The technical name is asymmetric sensorineural hearing loss, or unilateral hearing loss. Patients often describe it as feeling like their world has gone flat: they cannot tell where sounds are coming from, they cannot follow conversations in a busy restaurant, and they turn their whole head just to hear the person on their bad side.
SSD is different from bilateral hearing loss. Two hearing aids will not fix it because the deaf ear cannot process sound anymore. SSD needs a different toolkit.
SSD is not just a hearing problem. It is a spatial problem, a fatigue problem, and a safety problem.
Which one fits you depends on the cause of your SSD, whether your deaf ear can still process sound with the right stimulation, and how much of a change you are willing to make. ACI walks you through all four during your evaluation.
A wireless system with a small transmitter worn on your deaf ear and a hearing aid worn on your good ear. The transmitter picks up sound and streams it to the hearing aid, so the good ear hears sound coming from both sides. No surgery. Same-day fitting. Rechargeable. Works for most SSD patients whose good ear has normal or near-normal hearing.
Best fit: profound loss on one side, normal or near-normal hearing on the other side, and a patient who does not want any surgery.
Same wireless setup as CROS, but the aid on the good ear also amplifies sound because the good ear itself has some hearing loss. A CROS transmitter alone will not help someone whose better ear also needs amplification. BiCROS solves both problems at once.
Best fit: profound loss on one side, mild-to-moderate hearing loss on the other side.
A device that sends sound from your deaf side through the bone of your skull to the working inner ear on your good side. Requires a small titanium implant behind the ear (outpatient procedure, 30 to 45 minutes). Some patients prefer the sound quality of a BAHA to a CROS system because it uses the natural bone-conduction pathway rather than an over-the-air wireless link. A non-surgical softband version is available for a trial before you commit to the surgical implant, and is the standard option for children under 5.
Best fit: patients who want a longer-term device, do not mind a small surgery, and either dislike the sound of CROS during their trial or need a solution that does not require pairing two devices every day.
The only treatment that restores hearing to the deaf ear itself. A cochlear implant bypasses the damaged parts of the ear and stimulates the hearing nerve directly. Since 2019 the FDA has approved cochlear implants specifically for single-sided deafness in adults, and Cochlear Corporation followed with FDA clearance in 2022. Not every SSD patient is a candidate. Best candidates: those who lost hearing after developing language (post-lingual), those with recent hearing loss (typically under 10 years), and those with a healthy auditory nerve on the deaf side. ACI performs the full candidacy evaluation and refers to a regional surgical center for the implant procedure.
Best fit: patients who want true bilateral hearing back, are within the FDA candidacy criteria, and are willing to commit to a longer rehabilitation and mapping process after surgery.
An SSD evaluation at ACI takes about 90 minutes and covers:
You walk out of this appointment with three things: a diagnosis, a recommended treatment path with a measurable reason behind the recommendation, and a written cost estimate for whatever path you pick.
ACI performs the diagnostic workup, aided testing, and candidacy determination in Lafayette. Surgical procedures for BAHA implantation and cochlear implantation happen at regional surgical centers in south Louisiana. After surgery you return to ACI for:
This split model means you get a single team managing your long-term audiology care right here in Lafayette while the specialty surgery happens at a center that performs it every week. Call us at 337-223-9448 to talk through the referral steps for your specific situation.
See our hearing aid financing page for monthly payment options through Cherry, CareCredit, and PowerPay on the CROS and BiCROS path.
ACI Hearing Center is the only audiology practice in Acadiana with side-by-side aided testing for SSD. Come in with one ear cut off from the world, walk out with a specific treatment plan and a written cost estimate. Serving Lafayette, Broussard, Youngsville, Carencro, Scott, and all of Acadiana.