Behind the Ear hearing aids to Cochlear Implants

[pintnight]

I've been wearing hearing aids since I was around 2 years old, I'm 47 now. I wear hearing aids in both ears. I have them same hearing aids that I bought in October 1996, yes I know they are old and really didn't have any issues with them until I could tell there is something a little off with my hearing. Didn't know if it was the hearing aids or just my hearing. I never learned sign language, I was stubborn when I was little and never attempted to sign, but wanted to talk. So I went to a speech therapist for years (until I was around 14 or 15).

I took my hearing test earlier this week which showed that my hearing has gotten worse and I could tell. I was hoping that new hearing aids would help readjust my hearing to hear better. The audiologist suggested that I look into cochlear implants because he doesn't think the new behind the hearing aid will help due to how much hearing loss I have.

I told him that I still want to try the new hearing aids, whatever most powerful brand he can get to see if does help before I think about cochlear implants.

If I'm going to get cochlear implants, I'll probably get the bilateral cochlear implants.

My questions is for those of you that have gone from behind the ear hearing aids to cochlear implants.

My concern is how much will my hearing will change when going from hearing aid to cochlear implants. For me, my hearing sounds "normal", meaning that I can listen to music, watch TV with sound, communicate with people (read lips help but I can understand their words), etc.

Will the sound be same? I don't mind the sound is better or sounding the same, that would be great. Or does it sound worse? Or does the sound is just different?

Of course the scary part for me is that I won't be able to go back to using hearing aids once I get the cochlear implants.

 

[drphil]

As I understood matters: re Cochlear Implants vs Hearing Aids. One should use Hearing aids till your loss reaches the "point" that one doesn'"hear anything" with their aids.

Usually around a 105 decibels.

Than a Cochlear Implant is considered. Thus the "state of your health/ your ears" are seriously considered.

aside: I got my Cochlear Implant in August 2007. I am bilateral DEAF. I was previously at the Profound level for almost 20 years-left ear. Right ear went DEAF in 1992.

further aside: since 1984 Sunnybrook/Toronto has examined just over 3000 adults of which 1000 were accepted/implanted. I was one. of that group-18 didn't benefit by their Implant. Info given at a patients meeting a couple of years ago.

Note: to your question one can't back to Hearing aids AFTER Implantation. This is clearly explained to you PRIOR to being accepted if suitable.

Sound of the Implant is better as one is picking up much than with their previous Hearing aids.

Much success on you journey.

 

[deafdyke]

a CI MIGHT be a good idea, but on the other hand, it does sound like you're doing VERY well with HAs......I mean I thought that was pretty much the definition of a good HA user. I would trial some high power aids first, before implanting.......

 

[everlastingstorm]

Where does the OP say that he/she is doing "very well" with HA's? Maybe for the years in the past, but may not be the case now. While I agree that the most powerful hearing aids should be given a try on the road to implantation, the OP is noticing some degradation in hearing status. If the audiologist even mentioned CI's, then that is probably a very good indication of candidacy...past the point of no return.

There is more comprehensive evaluation done by the CI audiologist and those audiologist should have training in how to carefully counsel candidates, and I don't think the OP is taking this lightly, which is a good thing- even when one knows that they are getting to the point where a CI may be necessary. There is a big difference in hearing aids from the 90's and the new high power digital HA's today, and trying both the new HA's out AND getting a CI evaluation is probably the wise thing to do. In my experience it is really rare for a hearing aid audiologist to have your best interests in mind. Most of them are just out to sell a hearing aid. Makes sense when you look at it, given that many seniors or people with mild-moderate aging related hearing loss reject HA's for many years until it becomes even more necessary, and the small amount of people with severe profound hearing loss on their caseloads HAVE to use a hearing aid to function, or else.

As for what you can do with a CI, it depends on your hearing history, the amount of rehab you do with it, and in part the technology that comes with it.

I was a proud hearing aid user since age 2.5 and at 32 years old now I am 3 days short of being activated with my first CI for 2 months. I can do all of those things- converse with people at ease in quiet and noise, play and listen to music appreciably, watch TV/Netflix with sound, without captions. I would say with the technology today, you can hear far more with a CI than with a high power hearing aid, if you have severe to profound hearing loss. Voices all sounded human from day one. 2 days into my activation I was beginning to talk on my cell phone to my family and friends. Some were easier than others, but it was do-able for me. Some people were a little off in their pitch (mostly women), but their inflection was the same and in a few weeks time everyone's pitches became normal. I never had the mickey mouse voices, but YMMV. In noise, I can recognize voices of people I know without having to look at them and perceive them as the 'dominant sound' if I am involved in a conversation with those people. I have much better discrimination with music with a CI than I did with my hearing aid. Music with my CI does sound a tad less full, but given the right program settings and mode of listening, I'm getting a lot more than I was and it is still highly appreciable. It's like listening to the entire score vs. only hearing the main parts. Sometimes, I will learn lyrics to songs by passive listening...as in knowing the song but never knowing the lyrics, and now actually understanding some of the lyrics in those songs without knowing them beforehand. Not 100%, but that's something that even hearing people do not get 100% of the time either.

A CI is just different. In my case it has been "better different". I hear more with my CI. But I also have had to learn to understand sounds how they sound normally, not highly amplified. Some of it I am still learning. Some things I found soft with my HA, I find really loud with my CI and vice versa. A CI requires more fine tuning. I loved mine from day one, but I could tell what was missing and what was difficult and describe what voices sounded like. It was difficult to perceive changes in volume at first, but now that is getting easier. Things started out well for me, but they also got better with a combination of time & many listening experiences and increasing my M levels, IDR, tweaking different frequencies, etc. And things are only continuing to get better and better.

If you had hearing history in the implanted ear, and had that side of the brain decipher language then that would bode well for you. In that situation, your brain has been "primed" to receive and understand sound. CI's do not equate to "not having sound with HA's". The current guidelines are 50% or less speech understanding unaided and aided in the implanted ear, coupled with bilateral sensorineural severe to profound hearing loss. I was never without sound prior to being implanted.

 

[pintnight]

Thanks everlastingstorm for answering my questions.

You are correct about my hearing with my current hearing aids isn't working for me as well. My audiologist recommended me to go to a CI audiologist so he was actually turning down money because of how much worse my hearing has gotten and from the test he had done. But, I told him I wanted to try the hearing aids one more time with whatever new digital hearing aids can do that my 1996 analog hearing aids can't do.

I'm glad to hear that from you going from hearing aids to CI has about the same hearing sound and even better hearing. I was worried that the sound would sound like mickey mouse or a robot. When I was a kid, my left hearing aid would always sound like mickey mouse or dafty duck, it was annoying. Until the audiologist found the correct hearing aid after many years of trial and error.

 

[pintnight]

As I understood matters: re Cochlear Implants vs Hearing Aids. One should use Hearing aids till their loss reaches the "point" that one doesn'"hear anything" with their aids.
Usually around a 105 decibels.
Than a Cochlear Implant is considered. Thus the "state of your health/ your ears" are seriously considered.

aside: I got my Cochlear Implant in August 2007. I am bilateral DEAF.

further aside: since 1984 Sunnybrook/Toronto has examined just over 3000 adults of which 1000 were accepted/implanted. I was one. of that group-18 didn't benefit by their Implant. Info given at a patients meeting a couple of years ago.

Note: to your question one can't back to Hearing aids AFTER Implantation. This is clearly explained to you PRIOR to being accepted if suitable.

Sound of the Implant is better as one is picking up much than with their previous Hearing aids.

Much success on you journey.

I know that I cannot go back to hearing aids after the CI has been implanted. I know quite a bit about CI, just don't know about how it will help me going from hearing aids to CI and how the hearing will be effected.

 

[pintnight]

a CI MIGHT be a good idea, but on the other hand, it does sound like you're doing VERY well with HAs......I mean I thought that was pretty much the definition of a good HA user. I would trial some high power aids first, before implanting.......

I'm not doing very well with hearing aids. Why I had a new audio test and found out that my hearing has gotten worse where my hearing aids isn't helping. I'm already wearing high power hearing aids, but it's analog. I'm going to see if how the high power digital hearing aids do for me. If it performs the same, then I will have to setup a appointment with the CI audiologist.

 

[HOH-ME]

Thanks everlastingstorm for answering my questions.

You are correct about my hearing with my current hearing aids isn't working for me as well. My audiologist recommended me to go to a CI audiologist so he was actually turning down money because of how much worse my hearing has gotten and from the test he had done. But, I told him I wanted to try the hearing aids one more time with whatever new digital hearing aids can do that my 1996 analog hearing aids can't do.

I'm glad to hear that from you going from hearing aids to CI has about the same hearing sound and even better hearing. I was worried that the sound would sound like mickey mouse or a robot. When I was a kid, my left hearing aid would always sound like mickey mouse or dafty duck, it was annoying. Until the audiologist found the correct hearing aid after many years of trial and error.

It often does sound like Mickey Mouse at the start but that normalizes over time. My CI's are far, far, far better than anything I ever got with HA's. I was getting about 30% speech perception with my 2 year old, top of the line digital hearing aids pre-implants. I score 100% speech now (one implant is a year old, the other just over 6 months old). I can go to noisy restaurants and hear just fine, better than my "hearing" friends even. I talk on the telephone all the time with no issues. Music is fine. Some songs with big guitar rips are "off" but those are getting better. The fine tuning is a work in progress and gets better almost daily. You do have to do some research and not all processors are the same but I HIGHLY recommend the Advanced Bionics implants. They have the best technology on the market and the most forward capabilities, which is hugely important given that implants are a lifelong decision.

Downside, most of my residual hearing is gone. Every once in a while I wish it was not, then I remember all of the things I can do now that I haven't been able to do for the past 15 years or so and I get over it. I can go to movies without captions, I watch TV without captions, etc.

 

[pintnight]

I've been schedule for getting cochlear implant on Feb 10 for my left ear. Will get my right ear hopefully soon after.

 

[cdmeggers]

there is definitely an adjustment period going from hearing aid to CI... but as time goes on, it does get better. Right now, at about 2.5 months since activation for myself, things sound about normalized again, but still a work in progress. But I an still enjoy music and such. Have an appiontment on Thursday to get new MAPs on my right processor (and maybe the left, I don't know).

It will sound bad/weird/different at activation, but it'll get better the more you wear the implant and get used to it, and let your brain get used to the CI signals and making sense of the sounds. Hope your CI process goes smoothly!

 

[pintnight]

Got my left ear implanted on Feb 10. My vertigo was totally out of balance! Getting better slowly. Been on Valium and then Antivert (still on both). My vertigo is currently manageable until I need to get up out of bed (need to not move for about a minute or 2) before I can get up and move around. Hopefully the vertigo goes away completely soon!

So, my questions is how long did the vertigo effected you after getting the implant?

I'm getting my speech processor on March 10.

 

[jg1876]

For those of you that transitioned from hearing aids to cochlear implants - did you feel as though sound seemed muddled or foggy at first? I feel like I'm missing the overall clarity that I used to have with my hearing aid and I'm working the right implant to get it up and running, but it doesn't feel like I'm getting the big picture as much as I'm getting sounds filtering in through the fog. I'm about two weeks in to using mine.

 

[everlastingstorm]

For those of you that transitioned from hearing aids to cochlear implants - did you feel as though sound seemed muddled or foggy at first? I feel like I'm missing the overall clarity that I used to have with my hearing aid and I'm working the right implant to get it up and running, but it doesn't feel like I'm getting the big picture as much as I'm getting sounds filtering in through the fog. I'm about two weeks in to using mine.

I didn't feel like that, but then again, I've been using that ear to hear for a long time and the ear that I implanted had continious auditory stimulation. That makes a big difference in how quick one can adapt to the CI.

Two weeks is still really early and you will probably need more mappings and more volume to sharpen the sound of things more. If you've never heard on that side and/ or had the implant for a long time and never really used it....well, it's not going to be "up and running" very quickly.

 

[jg1876]

That's super reassuring, given that I will be getting implanted in my good ear, which has had continuous auditory stimulation. I just am trying to gauge what to expect with my bad ear, which I am now just starting the process for.

 

[HOH-ME]

For those of you that transitioned from hearing aids to cochlear implants - did you feel as though sound seemed muddled or foggy at first? I feel like I'm missing the overall clarity that I used to have with my hearing aid and I'm working the right implant to get it up and running, but it doesn't feel like I'm getting the big picture as much as I'm getting sounds filtering in through the fog. I'm about two weeks in to using mine.

Depending on how your audi is doing your programming, yes, what you are experiencing is pretty normal. As you go through your various mapping appointments and such, that clarity should improve. Also, the various strategies (S or P--I think you have AB correct?) are worth a try as well. Most people prefer S but some do better with P. It's a lot of trial and error to start and it takes some time.