Skip to content
HearingTracker
Log in

Curious why so many do not consider cochlear implant

This topic is closed.

104 replies6.3k viewsLast reply

Jump
Link to this topic

In reply to @1Bluejay

Yes the risk is always there with surgery. It I was at the point where I would have needed to retire if I couldn’t improve things significantly. I have an activity battery kit that allows me to clip the case to a hat or bathing suit and can swim and do anything while hearing. Each comes with a dryer and many use that daily. Personally I have used it one time and haven’t needed it. I was doing well with both ears about the same then my left ear mysteriously tanked into profound. What put me over the edge into CI land was the realization that if my other ear tanked I would be very limited in my ability to communicate until I could get CI testing and surgery scheduled.

I am not here to say everyone should have one - I am curious about how he thoughts and concerns. A lot has changed about CIs in just the last 10 years, especially regarding degree of loss necessary. They are now preferring to do it earlier because people seem to have better success if they have some hearing left before getting it. I did lose my residual in my CI ear but it doesn’t bother me as much as I thought it might. Not at all really.

@joanhawsey said:

They are now preferring to do it earlier because people seem to have better success if they have some hearing left before getting it.

That is interesting! I could also see a big positive with the ear + brain connection having it done earlier as opposed to someone going without adequate hearing help.

And WATERPROOF!!! I bought my Phonak Lumity Life aids cuz that was their key marketing message: waterproof AND speech comprehension improvement. Well … one outta two ain’t bad, cuz I sank those puppies in 6 inches of water with just a short 20-min swim. I think it’s cuz water just got in the speaker - I use the soft silicone double domes.

Great thread, thanks for starting it.

For me it was financial. I knew before I could afford them I needed to hear better and was the way to make it happen. When I hit 65, Medicare supported CI and the first surgery was done within a few months. Then the second a few months from the first.

In reply to @1Bluejay

Oh yes, I have made the mistake of diving into the pool forgetting they are in. And another time getting tossed of the front of our pontoon while docking. Both times I was thankful for the dryer or bag of rice!

I have a profound single-sided loss, left ear. Why I won’t consider a :

  1. As another poster said, it’s intrusive surgery. I’ve been on this planet for almost 70 years and have never had surgery. I’m not willing to have surgery unless it’s to save my life. Maybe cosmetic though. :slight_smile:

  2. A meningitis vaccine is required. I lost my hearing after my one and only flu shot, the only vaccine I’d had since the two or three as a child. I will never take another vaccine. (My son had issues as a result of vaccines, two that were life-threatening, so I must have passed on whatever it is that makes us susceptible to the ingredients in them. My husband was jabbed up in the service and was okay.)

  3. Too much hardware!

  4. I have one ear with very mild loss. Wearing two hearing aids is enough to help with speech in noisy environments. But music is more important to me than speech. A young man with a CI for made a YouTube video simulating the difference in how he hears music with his CI compared to his good ear, then how he hears music with both. It was two years after activation. It sounded awful.

I have 84% word recognition at 100 db in my unaided left ear. With a hearing aid in that ear, I can stream an audio book or podcast to that ear only and understand the words without reading along or watching someone’s lips. If I’m in the car with my husband driving, I don’t need to wear hearing aids to understand him.

In reply to @joanhawsey

That processor is pretty large compared to an Phonak L90-UP aid. The doctor wants it in my best right ear. My left ear wasn’t trained for the first 25 years until l wore two hearing aids. Since 1980, my left ear hearing remains the same as untrained. I would rather put the CI in the left ear.
I would wait until the processor device gets smaller.

@Terost said:

That CI processor is pretty large compared to an Phonak L90-UP aid.

This is not totally true. The N7/8 processors with the smaller battery are very similar in size to the Phonak UP aids. The newer UP aids may be smaller than the older ones I wore in the past, that I don’t know.
Modern is not an eyesore IMO.

I was referring to that blue processor she’s wearing. If the new processors are getting smaller then it’s great.

Edited

I decided not to because I am too worried about losing my residual hearing. I didnt mind before, I said to myself I still had one ear with residual hearing (NHS only provide 1 ), but I kind of chickened out and decided I did not want to go ahead with it.

Also to be honest, I am never going to communicate anymore than I am. I am introverted and I rather just not deal with people. As much as it would be nice to meet people my age with hearing loss, it just not going to happen where I live.

In reply to @kevels55

My Audiologist was also arrogant. When she called me and asked me if I am going ahead, I explained why I was not and I wanted my previous hearing aids back, she just told me to go into the clinic then and she hung up the phone. I thought it was my signal but no, he actually hung up on me. How professional!

Yeah @craftycrocheter, there are some ignorant folk out there… some professionals, and use the term very loosely, have their head stuck up their own posterior :upside_down_face: I would imagine, they think they are someone of importance, they ain’t! They are just a tiny cog in the wheel of life, and yes they might be brilliant at their job, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are good human beings… That particular Head Surgeon, I found out later, most of his colleagues, disliked him with a passion, they absolutely hated his mannerisms, and the way he treated patients was abysmal… The Head Audiologist told me, he was a “complete and utter a/hole” (her words) so it wasn’t just me, which was reassuring! It sometimes beggars belief, how some folks get into care jobs, when the only thing the actually care about, is themselves! Cheers Kev :wink:

As requested. A photo of my Phonak Marvel Link and my Advanced Bionics brand processor and magnet. I chose the teal color because I love it. They certainly offer more blendable colors! I am one who says I would wear an antennae if it helps me hear better.

Cochlear and Med El brands both offer off ear versions that look like a thicker quarter size disk. Like my magnet but a bit larger. Many prefer this look. I wanted the benefit of improved hearing that the Advance Bionics T mic offers- that is the small antennae like thing on the end of the CI. It sits within the natural curve of the ear to pick up sound in a way that takes advantage of the ear shape. I also wanted hands free phone calls and extra device free blue tooth. Both are awesome. I forget I am wearing them.

IMG_9206

In reply to @joanhawsey

PXL_20240426_181229962

Here are my Cochlear K2 off the ear processor, an old Phonak Audio B90 and the Cochlear N7 on the ear processor.

The N7 battery pending on which battery adds 5/8" to 1" length to the N7.

Thanks for your picture.

Thanks- helps for comparison. I was going to point out that your processor is not shown with a battery. Mine in the teal photo has a medium battery and I get 16 hours easily unless streaming all day.

In reply to @Kaytee

@Kaytee said:

I have a profound single-sided loss, left ear. Why I won’t consider a CI:

  1. As another poster said, it’s intrusive surgery. I’ve been on this planet for almost 70 years and have never had surgery. I’m not willing to have surgery unless it’s to save my life. Maybe cosmetic though. :slight_smile:

  2. I have one ear with very mild loss. Wearing two hearing aids is enough to help with speech in noisy environments. But music is more important to me than speech. A young man with a CI for SSD made a YouTube video simulating the difference in how he hears music with his CI compared to his good ear, then how he hears music with both. It was two years after activation. It sounded awful.

Some thoughts on these two points:

  1. I understand your reluctance for surgery. But your limitation of “only to save my life” seems too limiting to me. What if that surgery, whether or not, was to vastly improve your life?

  2. On this I disagree. I’ve gone from good hearing, to needing two hearing aids, to my current setup of 1 and 1 CI. I hear music better now than with two HA. Much better, because I can hear dynamic range again. I can hear highs and harmonics again. All things my HA couldn’t do.

Thanks so much for this post. I have been looking for an alternative to the route and I am going to get an appointment with a to discuss an implant. As for intrusive, I have had 43 surgeries in the last 44 years. Tried to stop a truck with my face. The truck won that one. With the use of Propafal, the risk are much lower than in the past. I just retired but I would love to be able to hold a conversation without having to look at my wife to tell me what was said. Those that can hear have no idea what it is like to not be able to. Thanks again.

Welcome Karl - happy this is helpful for you. It would be helpful to add your data to your profile so other users can see what you are dealing with. I just zoomed with a candidate this morning to talk through their questions. A word of caution, if the or audiologist is not up to date on CIs, which many are not, you may want to make some calls prior to your appointment and visit a practice that routinely handles CIs and can do the “mapping” adjustments later on for you. A research university/hospital is a helpful source. Certain /offices are trained to do the full CI evaluation if you seem like you would qualify. I have the Advanced Bionics brand

Related discussions