He sat across the desk from me, his hands worn from a lifetime of hard work.  His mind was held prisoner in a body stealing away his dignity.  He was angry, sad, and I’m guessing a little lost.

As I placed the device on his right ear he said “That ear isn’t good for anything!”

I whispered into his right ear, “Well, I think it’s good for something.”

His eyes lit up, and I think I saw a small smile. He looked towards his wife who was sitting at his right.

She asked, “can you hear me?”

He replied, “yeah, I can hear you.” His smile grew wider.

The patient has just been fit with CROS technology. This product is designed for hearing aid wearers with one unaidable ear.  The CROS Transmitter detects the sound received on the wearer’s unaidable ear and sends it to the hearing aid on the aidable ear.  This allows for a balanced, natural, high-quality hearing experience for those patients with one unaidable ear or one ear significantly worse than the other.

In this patient’s case, he’d been told (and he’d believed) that his right ear was dead, and there would never be any help for it. Although a traditional hearing aid on his right ear would not give him benefit; the CROS paired with a compatible hearing aid on his left ear would. The hearing industry is continually creating new and better technology to improve lives through better hearing.

– Lesley Schopper, HIS