A Singer with Single-Sided Deafness: Losing Music

Based in the US, she now works for MED-EL helping recipients around the world to once again enjoy music. In a two-post series, Johanna shares her journey to music appreciation with a cochlear implant. In this first post, she shares what her experience was like losing her hearing and experiencing single-sided deafness as a young singer.

Losing Hearing in One Ear

In January 2008, at the age of 23, I became deaf in my right ear as a result of a meningitis infection. As a musician and a singer, the thought of one day not being able to hear anymore had never even occurred to me.

I grew accustomed to the situation of hearing with only one ear (my left ear) relatively fast—I quickly forgot what hearing with two ears was like. I couldn’t remember how a full sound sounded.

The Consequences of Hearing Loss

For me, one of the hardest changes to deal with was being unable to carry on a normal conversation with friends or family, particularly in places like restaurants or bars. I am a very positive person and I always try to overcome limitations. However, after asking someone to repeat what they said three or four times during a conversation, even I gave up! I retreated into myself and stopped actively participating in conversations.

To me, the greatest difference between hearing with one ear and hearing with both ears is the inability to localize sound. There are many consequences from this—it is a huge decrease in the quality of hearing. One consequence of losing hearing in one ear is that you become a bystander, whether you want to or not.

I studied musicology at the Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg, Germany, where I minored in music education and sociology. My voice training took more than 12 years. For me as a singer, intonation is one of the most important skills, and I depend on it. Another thing that changed for me when I lost my hearing was listening to music.

Music has always played a very important role in my life. However when I became deaf in my left ear, listening to music was not like before. I couldn’t hear everything. I could not perceive every detail, every subtlety and nuance. Each attempt to listen to music during that time ended in frustration, because those little things and subtleties are important to me, personally and professionally.

Experiencing Sound Again With a CI

In April 2009, I received my cochlear implant. My first impression after fitting was positive. I just remember hearing footsteps, which seemed very loud. My test results for speech intelligibility with using just the cochlear implant were surprisingly good.

However the most important moment was when I came home. I could suddenly experience a full sound—a complete sound around me. Birds were singing! I could hear them even when I covered my intact ear, although they did sound a little different.

Do you want to find out more about Johanna’s hearing journey? Click here for Part 2!