Sudden Unilateral Loss
Sudden loss of hearing in the left ear, with the right ear unaffected. One-sided hearing loss makes it very hard to tell where sounds are coming from, and following conversations in group settings becomes disorienting. Sudden hearing loss in one ear is a medical emergency and should be evaluated immediately.
Summary
- Severity
- Severe72 dB HL
- Most loss at
- 6 kHz · 85 dB
Degree of the worse ear, averaged over all eight frequencies, on the scale used by U.S. audiologists (ASHA)
Pure-tone average (PTA)
- Left ear
- 65dB
- Moderately severe
- Right ear
- 0dB
- Normal
What’s a pure-tone average?
Pure-tone average is the quietest tone each ear can just hear, averaged across three pitches central to speech (500 Hz, 1 kHz, and 2 kHz). It’s the single number U.S. audiologists use to sum up an audiogram. 15 dB or lower is normal hearing, and every 10 dB higher means sounds need to be about twice as loud to be heard. Internationally, the World Health Organization averages four pitches, adding 4 kHz, so where high pitches have more loss its number comes out higher.
Thresholds by frequency
| Hz | L | R |
|---|---|---|
| 250 | 55 | 0 |
| 500 | 60 | 0 |
| 1k | 65 | 0 |
| 2k | 70 | 0 |
| 3k | 75 | 0 |
| 4k | 80 | 0 |
| 6k | 85 | 0 |
| 8k | 85 | 0 |