Why Do We Have Two Ears?

Scientific research, as well, as individual experience confirms that most people with hearing loss in both ears would benefit from having two hearing instruments, even if the hearing loss is mild. There are a few isolated cases where this is not so - your audiologist can advise you.

• The auditory centers in the brain and brainstem use information from both ears to process sound. If only one ear is receiving adequate information, you could have increased difficulty understanding speech in noise and locating the direction from which a sound is coming. Below are the major benefits of binaural (2 ears) hearing.
• Sound Localization
• The ability to localize sound is dependent on two properly functioning ears.
• How do we know the direction of a car's approach?
• The sound reaches the closer ear a few microseconds earlier, and with somewhat greater intensity, than it reaches the other ear.
• These small differences in the signal transferred to the brain enable us to make important potentially life-saving decisions regarding the exact location of the car.
• When one ear functions better than the other, there is inadequate information to quickly and reliably determine the origin of a sound.

Understanding Speech in Noisy Environments

• Hearing with two ears provides improved ability to suppress background noise, making it easier to understand conversation.
• Unequal hearing in the left and right ears is a big disadvantage in noise.
• While one instrument may be helpful in a quiet situation, it make may not be helpful in noisy environments.

Hearing with Less Volume

• A sound presented to both ears is judged to be louder than the same sound, at the same loudness, presented to only one ear.
• This means that the user of two hearing aids can set the volume of each hearing aid lower, resulting in more pleasant hearing and less amplification of distracting background noises.

Hearing Equally from Both Sides

• Wearing two hearing instruments gives the maximum opportunity to respond accurately and confidently, whether the conversation comes from the left or the right.
• Tonal nuances of speech are enhanced resulting gin more natural sound quality