Retired physical education teacher Grant’s hearing loss began in his late 20s, when a starting gun for a race caused some damage to his hearing in his right ear. And when he hit his 60s, his hearing declined in both ears and he started wearing hearing aids.

However, six months later he struggled to hear anything from his left ear. While initially he put it down to a faulty hearing aid, he later discovered that he had lost almost all his hearing in that ear and had severe tinnitus which he describes as ‘debilitating.’

Sudden onset hearing loss in one ear—also known as single-sided deafness or unilateral hearing loss—is more common in older adults, and there are estimated to be more than 3,000 new cases diagnosed each year in Australia. Often, as in Grant’s case, no cause is identified, although it can occur due to infections, medications and head trauma.

Due to the severity of his hearing loss, a hearing aid could no longer provide access to sound in that ear for Grant, affecting his ability to hold conversations, especially in noisy environments.

‘I either had to put up with the hearing I had left or go down the road of a cochlear [implant]’, he says.

Grant had never met anyone with an implant before, so the technology was very new to him. But after discussing his options with his NextSense surgeon, he decided to proceed with cochlear implant surgery.

When his implant was switched on for the first time, all he could hear was buzzing and he found it difficult to understand much. But his surgeon and NextSense audiologists had prepared him for this possibility, and he knew that he would need to put the work in to train his brain to interpret sounds through his implant.

As Grant does have some hearing in his right ear, he says he thinks it has been more difficult for his brain to adjust to learning to hear from the side with his implant—something that can be challenging for people with unilateral hearing loss.

‘With unilateral hearing loss it might take a bit longer because your brain obviously will turn to the good ear and use that, rather than if you’re relying on your cochlear for all hearing— then your brain’s forced to work it out a lot faster.’

To help him adjust, Grant joined our listening group for recent adult cochlear implant recipients at our Canberra centre. The group, which is run by NextSense audiologist Zinette, runs over five weeks and provides opportunities to meet other recipients, share issues and tips for getting the most out of your device, and practice listening in different situations. The group is funded with support from the Canberra Foundations Collaborative and John James Foundation, which focuses on strengthening health outcomes in the local community.

Having taught budding sportspeople for more than 40 years, Grant knows the importance of training. An avid reader, he has been enjoying streaming his favourite murder mysteries to his device and listening to the radio around the house to practice listening to different voices and vocabulary.

Before his hearing loss, Grant loved playing and listening to music, and these days he finds it more challenging as cochlear implants are unable to transmit a full range of tones and pitches. But he’s up for the challenge and has plans in the mix for a jam session with his old band soon.

Grant says his efforts are paying off as his ability to interpret sounds continues to improve and it’s getting much easier to listen to people, which he used to find very tiring prior to his implant.