Residual Hearing

Residual hearing refers to the hearing ability that remains in an ear that has some degree of hearing loss. Even a person with severe hearing loss may retain detectable responses to certain sounds, particularly at low frequencies. Understanding and measuring residual hearing is important for several clinical decisions.

Residual hearing determines whether a person can benefit from conventional amplification through hearing aids. It also informs decisions about cochlear implant candidacy. A person with some low-frequency residual hearing may be a candidate for a combined device called an electric-acoustic stimulation (EAS) system, which combines acoustic amplification for the low frequencies where residual hearing remains with cochlear implant electrical stimulation for the high frequencies that amplification cannot reach adequately.

Cochlear implant candidacy criteria in Canada consider not only the degree of hearing loss but also the functional benefit the person receives from hearing aids despite measurable residual hearing.