Cochlear implant problems!

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Tash_Dancer

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Hi all,

My name is Natasha, I'm 23 and I was fitted with my cochlear implant two years ago. I'm now approaching the need to replace my right hearing aid with a cochlear... but am reluctant due to the problems I'm having with the cochlear, the main one being that the outer-magnet falls off frequently.

I have tried using the huggie, headbands and have tightened the magnet strength... all of which have failed.

I'm a very active person, with dancing being my main passion. I previously did not have any problems with sports when I had both my hearing aids, but now have had to remove my cochlear on a number of occasions to prevent damages.

Has anyone had this problem or can advise me on what I can do to prevent it falling out all the time? I would love to go to a themepark and go dancing without worrying all the time!

Thank you,

Natasha
 
Well Natasha: I have had my Cochlear Implant for only 5 years with no problem of it falling off= magnet?
Like you do go dances-no comment on how "good" however- no problem.

Though I go swimming without my Implant again no problem of it falling off after head "dried".
Have you brought this to the audi's attention who "deals with you"?

Could the audi determine if the magnet inside your skull has "something wrong"?

Good luck in a quick solution to your annoying problem.
 
It means the magnet on the processor headpiece is not strong enough. Cochlear has 3-4 different strength magnets. The thicker your skin is, the stronger magnet you need. Your audi should have a bunch of them laying around.
 
My 6 year old is a gymnast and practices Kung Fu, so she's always flipping all over the place and doing sudden explosive movements (and a lot of contact). I find it a challenge, too. She finds that for normal everyday activities, her processors can just sit behind the ear, and the magnet stays put -- but doing these other activities we have to take a different approach.

When doing sports or swimming, she wears her processors atop her head with the mics facing the right direction, curling the snug-fit that normally goes on the ears around the base of a single or double pony tail or braid, she clips the cable between processor and coil with a flat barrette to her hair just above the contact point (so if the coil/magnet does swing away from her head, it falls right back into place) and we usually add an extra claw-like barrette here or there to keep things in place. Sometimes I braid the whole processor right into her french braid so it doesn't move at all and the coil remains still under a lot of hair holding it in place.

We've tried wig tape -- and I've seen others using it successfully, but it inflames my daughter's skin, so we don't use it. We've used headbands with the processors clipped to them, but my daughter tends to move those around a lot, she fusses with headbands -- maybe when she's older they will help.
 
I was very active in the band, and whenever i had to do my hair for band--for show purposes only-- My CIs would fall off because of the thickness of my hair because i used to have a ton of hairspray and hair gel, i remember I would have to wash my hair twice to get all the stuff out.

To me i would change the magnets, right now i'm using a strength magnet 4, (speaking of magnets i need to change back to a 3). I've been using a 4 because thats probably one of the strongest magnet that cochlear made. But when you go with a stronger magnet, you have to be careful with it because it can cut off your circulation in your skin because of the strength of the magnet itself. I mean, thats what my audi told me. I've been using the strong magnet for band because i have to be really aggressive with my music and act and stuff like that. I move my head a lot too to pay attention to the tempo and where we are in the music so i wouldn't get lost in it. But since i'm done with band i need to change it back to a 3.

If changing the strength of the magnets doesn't work, you should talk to your audiologist about it, hear her/his opinions about it and maybe the magnets are getting old for some reason and you need new ones for it to actually stick to your head :giggle: But i hope this helps!
 
You can pull back your hair into a pony tail and bobby pin the coil wire into your hair when you are dancing.

However, with the rides at the theme park you should not take the risk of wearing your implant on the rides. I wear a pair of shorts with zipper pockets and I stow my implant in there.
 
The strongest is 6 for Cochlear.

I am very active, I race yachts, competes on horses, I have thin skin so i don't require any stronger than #2 magnet. When competing i use stronger than usual magnet, tie my hair back tight as possible so that the hair holds the coil in place then use ear gear with cord to keep my processor safe from getting lost.
 
overthepond said:
The strongest is 6 for Cochlear.

I am very active, I race yachts, competes on horses, I have thin skin so i don't require any stronger than #2 magnet. When competing i use stronger than usual magnet, tie my hair back tight as possible so that the hair holds the coil in place then use ear gear with cord to keep my processor safe from getting lost.
Click to expand...

I didn't know they made a 6, and that sounds to me something like that magnet will cut your circulation off. the strongest i have is a 4.
 
I have this exact problem and I have a #6 strength magnet. It STILL falls off. The only guess the audiologists have is that I have thick skin and thick hair. I tried laser surgery but my hair kept growing back and it was too painful for me. The only thing that helps is headbands or hats that go on the magnet. I use the dollar store elastic headbands that are a bit thick and they help a little. Hats (especially ones that have elastic around them) have been the best option for me. It's really annoying and all the audiologists don't have an answer. We even tried surgery to remove skin tissue and replace the magnet inside but that barely helped. They did find someone else who had this problem with the strongest magnet and surgery helped him, he had thick hair too. Although if you haven't tried the #6 streangth magnet then they wouldnt do these drastic things.
 
deafinatlyme said:
I have this exact problem and I have a #6 strength magnet. It STILL falls off. The only guess the audiologists have is that I have thick skin and thick hair. I tried laser surgery but my hair kept growing back and it was too painful for me. The only thing that helps is headbands or hats that go on the magnet. I use the dollar store elastic headbands that are a bit thick and they help a little. Hats (especially ones that have elastic around them) have been the best option for me. It's really annoying and all the audiologists don't have an answer. We even tried surgery to remove skin tissue and replace the magnet inside but that barely helped. They did find someone else who had this problem with the strongest magnet and surgery helped him, he had thick hair too. Although if you haven't tried the #6 streangth magnet then they wouldnt do these drastic things.
Click to expand...
These help me on those occasions I feel I need to secure my headpiece. I clip it to the wire/cord just below where it attaches to the headpiece.

 
I had a small talk with my husband (electrical/ research engineer) about the magnet issue. He said something about atoms in magnet will become weak over the time- depends on what they are made of and temperature change.

Hopefully y'all find a solution to keep it on without using hats or headbands.
 
Ok I just got the kanso 2 today and it was falling off all until I tried this which held the processor in place for several hours.

My hair is long and relatively thick. I started by parting my hair (up vs down rather than right vs left) at the site of the processor anchoring site.

I then applied the processor

I then pulled one layer of the hair that grows above the processor down tight against the processor and clipped it to the hair underneath with one of those metal clip barrettes. It created a secure little “pocket” for the kanso.

I was then able to let the next layer of hair down above that layer to camouflage it all completely.

I am still using the tether cord since I haven’t been using the hack long enough to fully trust it but so far so good
 
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Or not…I can’t seem to figure out how to post photos on this thread. If someone can help me figure out how to post photos I will do so if anyone thinks it could clarify things
 
Natasha. I can relate to your problem. After the failure of a CI implant in my right ear leaving me deaf in that ear, I am reluctant to have a CI in my left ear. I am afraid it might leave me totally deaf. You can read about my CI experience at: www.cochlearimplanthorrorstory.com
 
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