How Well Do CI Work?

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Doug5

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I was told I dont have enough hearing loss for implants. Would that mean those with ci's cant hear as much as me?
 
Nope, it means you don't need CI because you still have sufficient hearing with your HA's. (Assuming you wear these... If not, HA's would be the next step..)
People with CI can hear over a wider range, but with less discrepancy.

E.g. My daughter can understand when I whisper to her. But she has difficulties discriminating different tones..

There are experienced HA and CI users that will be able to give a far better answer than me.
 
No becase ppl who qualify for a CI have diff hearing situations. It depends on the person with the CI and how much therapy and re-learning they do to train their "ear" to hear again or hear anything for the first time.
 
It means your hearing loss is too 'mild' for CI. CI is good for those who have severe to profound hearing loss and low word discrimination. Otherwise, your best best is more powerful HA's.
 
Doug5 said:
The hearing aid does help a lot.
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If it does, then why consider CI? For my whole life, HA were very helpful, but my residual hearing progressively gotten worse and music started to sound terrible, not like what I remember sounding like. So, I considered CI, and it works fabulously for me, why else would I get two? :)
 
how much can you hear with the ci's? Can u hear as much as people with normal hearing?
 
Doug5 said:
how much can you hear with the ci's? Can u hear as much as people with normal hearing?
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For me - yes. I can hear from 15db to 20 db across the board, so yes theoretically it's the same as a hearing person. HOWEVER - The discrimination is not there yet. There's a big difference.

For some others, it's lower. Where they are just about on 20db line or slightly below for someone who has mild hearing loss.

The one problem I have with having the ability to hear at a hearing person level is I cannot seem to filter out certain sounds. A.C. are very horrible for me. It just annoys the heck out of me.

Again, why consider CI if you feel the HA's work great for you? Maybe you just need a little bit more powerful hearing aid, or a digital hearing aid that has more ways to adjust the programming?
 
Doug5 said:
how much can you hear with the ci's? Can u hear as much as people with normal hearing?
Click to expand...

This varies from CI user to CI user. Some people can only distinguish enviromental sounds while others are able to use the phone.

Speaking for myself, I'm able to hear at 20-30 dB across all frequencies yet I have some difficulty hearing in background noise. Therefore, I use an FM system at meetings and class lectures. Overall though, compared to where I was pre-CI, I wouldn't trade my CIs for the world. Pre-CI I needed to rely on alternative communication techniques for the deafblind which oftentimes was very time consuming (for example, using print on palm -- tracing block letters into one's palm -- or a Braille/raised print alphabet card in which my finger would be placed individual letters to spell out words). Tactile interpreters were not always easy to find either. In regards to my level of hearing ability, I would say that I function as mildly HoH.
 
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