Does anyone here use BAHA?

After thought and consideration, I have decided to fill out the paperwork for obtaining bi-Cros HAs as my Audi calls them. Even though the BAHA technology has been around since the late 70s I don't feel like it is developed enough. Plus it's ridiculously expensive and the fact that I do not have insurance. I have contacted my Audi to let her know I am interested in the bi-CROS HAs as she suggested. She has given me financial aid forms to fill out and send in the mail. Hopefully within a couple of months we will have an appointment for a fitting and adjustments. Bi-CROS HAs are from Starkey, I don't know much about them but people have said they are good. I just have to come up with $125 for a non-refundable deposit. The rest is pretty much hurry up and wait from what I understand.
 
sounds like a good plan to me! Hope the bi-cros works out well for you when you do get them.
 
I am glad you made a decision that suits you.

I did not get bahas either.
 
Dixie said:
The magnet one does sound like a better alternative. They say they don't put you completely under for the procedure, they use localized anesthesia. Sounds freaky to me. I can't imagine being conscious while some one is breaking my skull open for an anchor. Do they remove hair follicles for the magnet?
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No. It is implanted under the skin, similar to a CI. There is a "small" incision made and the device slipped under the skin. Then using some type of a bone screws (I suspect about 2mm in diameter) the device is "bolted" to the skull. There is no "breaking" involved. Bone screws are very common in all types of surgery. Then the incision is stitched shut and heals.

Think of this as a CI surgery without making a hole in your skull and a hole in your cochelea. I do not know how long the surgery takes, but I suspect 15 to 30 minutes.

The cochlear corp baha is "similar" in that a bone is placed in the skull. From wha I remember from sample BAHAs that I have seen it is about a 6mm bone screw. This bone screw then protrudes through the skin and anything protruding through the skin must be kept clean or infection can occur.

-C1
 
Isn't the most important consideration is- exactly what is one's condition? That is a question of fact. Bone conduction "problems" are not the same as sensorineural problems.

This from my experience in getting considered for a Cochlear Implant after I became bilateral DEAF in December 06.

Implanted Sunnybrook/Toronto A B Harmony activated Aug/07
 
I believe the BAHA takes the sounds received by the deaf ear and "conducts" it to the hearing ear. I don't think it provides hearing to the deaf ear.
I could be wrong.
 
That is correct LoveBlue. It conducts the sound to the hearing ear via bone conduction in the skull. It is attached to the skull not the cochlea.
 
I was born complete deafness in my left ear and have had decreasing hearing in my right. I have had my BAHA for about 5 years now. In the past I was told that with my single sided deafness there was no options available. That all changed when I went to a new ENT 5 and half years ago. He had me try the BAHA in office, then gave me a loaner on a headband to borrow for a couple of days to see how it worked in my work environment (I work at a dialysis clinic). For the first time in my life I felt that I was really a part of the hearing world and not in that limbo that is between the deaf world and the hearies....At the time I got the BAHA I was covered by medicaid as a secondary insurance, my primary insurance, Health New England specifically excludes the BAHA. Now I really want to upgrade to the BAHA 3 (I have the Divino now) but it's $4000....and I just can't afford to at this time :( looking into programs that may help financially to get this as my life is truly better with the BAHA than without it.
 
debster592 said:
I was born complete deafness in my left ear and have had decreasing hearing in my right. I have had my BAHA for about 5 years now. In the past I was told that with my single sided deafness there was no options available. That all changed when I went to a new ENT 5 and half years ago. He had me try the BAHA in office, then gave me a loaner on a headband to borrow for a couple of days to see how it worked in my work environment (I work at a dialysis clinic). For the first time in my life I felt that I was really a part of the hearing world and not in that limbo that is between the deaf world and the hearies....At the time I got the BAHA I was covered by medicaid as a secondary insurance, my primary insurance, Health New England specifically excludes the BAHA. Now I really want to upgrade to the BAHA 3 (I have the Divino now) but it's $4000....and I just can't afford to at this time :( looking into programs that may help financially to get this as my life is truly better with the BAHA than without it.
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hi. i was wondering if you were using HAs prior to having a BAHA? i also have profound deafness on my left ear since birth but i didn't go to a doctor until i was 15 --- now i'm 25. my doctor recommended this to me but she wants me to try HAs first. i'm on trial fitting now. i think it's good because i can hear sounds but i can't understand speech with it...:(
 
In most cases - if one is a BAHA candidate with SSD they do better with a BAHA than traditional HAs ... this is because of the way the bone transmits sound to the hearing side.

Often to be covered by insurance, you have to do a trial fitting of traditional HAs, then a softband BAHA and then can be approved for the surgical BAHA.

I'd specifically ask the audiologist about doing a trial of the non-surgical BAHA (worn on a headband).
 
There was a woman who had BAHA here but I haven't seen her on AD in a long time.
 
deafskeptic said:
Bahas are kind of like cochlear implants expect it uses bone instead cohclear to conduct sounds. It's used for conductive/mixed hearing loss and unilateral sensorineural loss. I do not qualify for this implant because I do not have conductive hearing loss and I have bilateral sensorineural loss.
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I have bilateral sensorineural loss too so it would not work for either
 
Dixie said:
The magnet one does sound like a better alternative. They say they don't put you completely under for the procedure, they use localized anesthesia. Sounds freaky to me. I can't imagine being conscious while some one is breaking my skull open for an anchor. Do they remove hair follicles for the magnet?
Click to expand...

Not quite the same thing, but...I had bunion surgery on my foot about 3 years ago. They don't put you completely out for that, either, and there is a LOT of sawing into the bone and manipulating it around and all that.

I was VERY nervous about that and asked the surgeon if he was sure I would feel no pain during the surgery with this "not completely out" stuff, and he said I'd be fine.

And I was. It was weird. I felt the tugging and pulling, but mentally I was in some sort of trance-like state where it was all "la la la, I'm floating..." and I felt no pain.

(Felt a LOT of pain during recovery, a few hours later - but that's another story...)

Anyway, I guess it's all a moot point now if you're not going to have the surgery, but just saying, this "not completely out" stuff really does work. You're sort of there but not there, mentally. And you come to much more quickly than with the knock-out stuff, so that's all to the good.
 
Dixie said:
The magnet one does sound like a better alternative. They say they don't put you completely under for the procedure, they use localized anesthesia. Sounds freaky to me. I can't imagine being conscious while some one is breaking my skull open for an anchor. Do they remove hair follicles for the magnet?
Click to expand...

Dixie, it's a 2 part procedure- and they only drill a tiny hole then use a self tapping titanium screw - no "head cracking" required ;)

The first part is a small circular skin graft (the graft skin is taken from the inner thigh or other area). The grafted skin is placed where the BAHA ends up being, so behind the ear. This is done so there's no hair getting in the way of the abutment (not sure if it's needed for the magnet type).

The second part is just making a tiny cut exposing the skull, then drilling a small shallow hole in the skull bone and then the abutment anchor is screwed in (like a self tapping screw) - it's this screwed in part that transmits the sound. For the traditional BAHA there's another piece that fits onto the anchor and then after the skin and bone heal, it connects to the BAHA transmitter (ie the hearing aid part).

I'd assume that for the magnet type, the skin would have to be cut open enough to insert a quarter sized magnet, which would be attached/threaded onto the anchor. Once the magnet is attached the skin would be sutured, and then once everything is healed the BAHA transmitter would be attached via magnet.
 
I know someone who wears BAHA. He had cancer in his neck/jaw. The surgery removed some bone mass and damaged some nerves. Because of that, he lost his hearing in the ear next to where the surgery was. (It couldn't be avoided.) Now, he wears BAHA for that ear.
 
Please Be Careful

Please be very cautious as you consider getting the Sophono for you or your child. My daughter had the implant on both sides in September of 2012. She has been in constant and horrible pain since the day of the surgery. My daughter has not been able to attend school or participate in any other activities that she loves since surgery, she is 12 years old and her life has been completely taken away from her.
When I told the Sophono representative about her pain at the switch on in October, he said that he had never heard of anything like that happening and he would get back to us, we never heard from him again. It took me 4 months to get the doctors to take us seriously and she was admitted to Primary Childrens Hospital last week where the doctors can not even agree on a diagnosis. It has been incredibly difficult to get any support from the people at Sophono, they keep saying they are assisting us and then do nothing, meanwhile my daughter is in excruciating pain and has lost much of the quality of her life.
I have asked for their assistance on Facebook, and they give the cookie cutter answer that they are in contact with our doctors and audiologist which is not true, once again we are left with no support and no answers.
I am not saying this will be your experience, just saying, be careful and make the decision with your eyes wide open.

On a side note, the only other child who has had this surgery in our state, is also having the implants removed.

Good luck, our thoughts and prayers are with you.
 
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