Power hearing aids vs Cochlear Implant (no easy choice)

@stevemink You are so wrong in saying most people don’t enjoy music with a CI. I’m bimodal, and enjoy all genres of music bar one… and that because of the pitch… I also do well in noise… It all depends on how much rehab you do to cover all aspects of being a CI recipient. Just so you know I religiously did 2 hours of rehab every day for over 12 months…

Your negativity against CI’s is showing, it’s so uncalled for… Everyone deserves to do what’s best for them… Unless you are a CI recipient you have no clue….

I don’t have an implant but after a lot of research and talking to several specialists and factor in my age I decided it wasn’t the direction I wanted to go. Of course when I was younger and implants were fairly new and much more restrictive as to who could get an implant there was also a greater possibility of things that could go wrong. What I get now from this thread is like hearing aids, the results from the implant can be a very individual thing. Some have great results some don’t. There’s no right or wrong decision. But for some reason even going back say 25 years ago this particular subject matter tends to become a heated debate which I don’t really understand.

Please show me some links that state CI do well with music. I’d be interested to review. Found this off a 2020 CI link -

The music perception and more specifically the appreciation of music is a common aspiration among cochlear implant (CI) adult users. In the majority of patients, only rhythm perception is reported to be similar to that of listeners with normal hearing. Melody and timbre recognition requires more spectral and temporal fine structure cues that are not well supported by the CI representation: for these reasons music appreciation represents actually a true challenge for adult CI users.

Regarding your “brain plasticity part” comment I think your reaching into an area that’s not yet fully understood and more likely years off. I’m talking 2022 and not 2032. I’ve been around people with CI’s and believe me - they all wish they could hear music better - but wishing isn’t reality. Same goes with loud background noise which impacts the performance of a CI. This isn’t anything new. Just google it.

@stevemink said:

Regarding your “brain plasticity part” comment I think your reaching into an area that’s not yet fully understood and more likely years off. I’m talking 2022 and not 2032.

I’m very surprised by this comment… Wow, you really don’t get it. . That was pretty much uncalled for…

You say at your age of 70 you are no longer eligible. What ages are you eligible in the USA?

Does anyone know?

@cjpines said:

of 70 you are no longer eligible. What ages are you eligible in the USA?

I think he meant he is only eligible for one CI, not 2 due to his use of one HA on one ear…

My understanding with Medicare in the US is if you are a candidate for two implants you will receive two implants.

I asked the question when I did the CI evaluation, I could get two separately or two at the same time, however I wanted them.

Not an expert but I have not read or heard of an age restriction for one or two CI’s in the US.

I also am a CI candidate as you can see from my audiogram. A few years back I went to CI support group at the encouragement of my audi. The occasion was a presentation by Coclear on MRI with CI. I observed 2 things that continued to put me off this decision.

1. The group was a mix of those who were deaf from birth and those who lost hearing sufficiently to get a CI. Those who were deaf you could tell by their speech and they had 2 CIs. The others spoke normally, and all had 1 CI. Most had a support person with them, and I observed that quite often they would turn to the support person to get clarification about what was being said. It was clear that while there may have been improvements for these people with the CI, it was not enough.

2. When I asked a couple of people who only had 1 CI how did they like it, they all said it was the best decision they ever made. When I asked them why they didn’t have the procedure done in the other ear , they all said they didn’t want to lose the hearing in that ear.

Several who have posted here mentioned that they had only one CI. My question to you is why not two?

What do you mean by “it takes practice”?

The brain fills in a lot of missing pieces when it comes to our senses. Contact lenses that correct for near and far sightedness separately is an example.

I find that music I know sounds fine with a HA, but to hear something I haven’t heard for a long time, I will often not be able to recognize.it Tell me the name and instantly I can “hear” it better.

I suspect CI is similar.

It’s not necessary to have two CIs. I might get one for my left ear and never for my hearing aid right ear which is much more trained than my left ear.

@jcech said:

Why not. That sounds like being near sighted with 20/200 vision and only getting glasses with one lens. Sure, you can “see” things with the uncorrected eye, but not clearly.

Here in the UK, adults who are not blind, only get 1 x CI. Otherwise children get 2 x CIs.

So much misinformation being posted here, and much of it by people who do NOT have a CI, telling us how ineffective they are. Read the study someone posted a link to above, it shows 82% of CI users hear substantially better after their implant.

Noise: It is always challenging to hear in a noisy environment when you don’t hear well. But I can tell you from personal experience, it is much better with a CI, than just an HA. Much better with a CI.

Music: I don’t know where the “CI users can’t hear music” myth started. I love music, always have, and listen to it daily. And I listen to a lot of new music, so it’s not just “old neural pathways” being used.

If you don’t want an implant, then don’t get one. But don’t tell us how they don’t work, and how they’re no better, and other nonsense, when those of us wearing them LOVE THEM. Or at least 82% of us.

ssa - I understand your talking about your experiences with a CI, but in some ways you’re generalizing. As if your experiences with a CI are standards for everyone else. As with HA’s, everyone experiences different results due to their own specific hearing loss, the type of aid they use, Audi skill adjustment, age, etc. You can amplify those differences ten-fold with a CI.

Regarding your statment - “you can’t know until you get one yourself” sounds a touch condescending. Personally I rather do research myself before meeting with CI specialists and others who use a CI. That’s where the internet comes in handy.

I attached this Forbes article titled “Cochlear Implants - Everything You Need To Know” for review. The article is well written and spells out the pros and cons of a CI. Notice the article says “some can watch TV more easily and even enjoy music”. So you are in that category and should feel lucky. Since the majority of CI users struggle with music comprehension. Furthermore that article points out one of the greatest disadvantages with a CI is hearing in background noise.

In any case all we can do is gather information and then decide which direction we go to address a severe to profound hearing loss. But again - if you can find (legit) articles that claim CI do wonders with background noise and music enjoyment please post for HT review. I’m all ears.

Cochlear Implant Surgery: Costs, Benefits And Risks24

Cochlear Implant Surgery: Costs, Benefits And Risks

@jcech you said ”I also am a CI candidate as you can see from my audiogram”.
If you took the CI evaluation I did you would not be a CI candidate. Not because of your hearing loss but your mentality.

To answer your question about practice, the first thing that comes to mind is when I was first activated after the surgery, all the sounds coming in were unknown and overwhelming. All I heard was screeches, scratches and static sounds, nothing sounded familiar or normal. It took about a month for me to start getting any form of speech out of this noise. It took lots of listening and asking my wife questions about what I was hearing to slowly start understanding what I was hearing. Practice or rehabilitation, call it what you will.

I am bilateral CI. Doing pretty good with them, not perfect by any means. When I take them off, I am deaf other than the tinnitus I have had for about 45 years.
I am slowly getting back out into life again thanks to CI.