Q&A

Subject: Which ear hears better

From: LF

Can you tell me which ear most people hear better with?

Dear LF,

Good question. I don't know of any formal research on the subject. In general, you expect both ears to function virtually identically. Even people with hearing loss usually have similar amounts of hearing loss in each ear.

However, like feet are not exactly the same size and shape, hearing evaluations can show subtle differences between ears which are not statistically significant and which do not impair their ability to function together to help you focus on the sounds you wish to hear and to help tune out the background noise.

People DO develop a preference for "earedness" most typically related to "handedness". The telephone is one of the very few situations in which an individual must choose one ear over the other. In that instance, some people who are right handed will choose the phone on their right ear because that is convenient while others will choose their left ear in order to keep their right hand free for taking notes or jotting down phone numbers. As hearing loss develops, it has been my experience that folks tend to use the phone on the ear which has less hearing loss or better clarity.

If you see something really strange, like a person using his left hand to hold the phone over his right ear, that person may have a hearing loss in the ear he is avoiding.

Solveig