Questions about implant/hearing aid options

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DarwinIsMyHomey

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Hello to everyone, and please excuse my noob status here in literally every regard. :) Also, I apologize if I am posting the wrong forum.

I have been recently diagnosed with SSHL and am looking for some insight on my new reality and the way forward.

A quick bit of background... I woke up a bit more than two weeks ago completely deaf on my right side. After an ER visit, a generous helping of prednisone, and a handful of subsequent ENT appointments, it appears as though a viral infection is to blame. Two and a half weeks later, I have regained only the very highest frequencies, and have no speech recognition capabilities even at 100 decibels. I am also dealing with tinnitus in the right side, which varies with intensity.

I have been given the option of intra-tympanic steroid therapy as well. However after reading more about the erapy, I am not exactly feeling like it is a realistic option. Even the otolaryngologist said that describing it as a longshot would be an understatement considering how much prednisone i have been taking orally.

I am scheduled for another followup in 5 weeks, as well as an appointment with an audiologist. I was advised that because of the level of hearing loss, a traditional hearing aid wouldn't help me. Instead, a BAHA system would be better suited or using two devices that resemble traditional hearing aids, with the right device acting as a transmitter to the left. (Please forgive me, as I can't remember the technical name for that setup.)

Of course, those options will be better discussed with my audiologist, but in the meantime, I was hoping to get some input from others who have been in my shoes. What are your experiences? What questions should I be asking? How long should I wait before its reasonable to assume that my hearing will never recover and move toward hearing assistance options?

Generally, I am accepting of the fact that this may very well be the new normal. Thankfully I have a wonderful wife and two great kids who keep me grounded and remind me of how others are dealing with far more than I am.

Thanks in advance for any advice or input.
 
Bi cros is the type of hearing that will transmit from the bad side to your other ear.

But as for BAHA, it is an implantable aid for conductive loss. Who told you it works for sensorineural loss?
 
Bottesini said:
But as for BAHA, it is an implantable aid for conductive loss. Who told you it works for sensorineural loss?
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I'm with Bott on being bewildered by the fact a BAHA is coming up in this discussion. The type of loss you experienced has nothing to do with conduction. If you have experienced hearing loss on only one ear, count your blessings. It's a far cry from being deaf, as disorienting as it is to not be able to localize sound.

A Bi Cros hearing aid would be the logical solution since a cochlear implant is the only other solution for your type and level of loss and will generally not be considered if you have your left ear hearing intact.

I don't think you'll find anyone here that have been in your shoes as it is a forum that is populated with folks who are outright dealing with deafness in both ears at varying levels, not normal hearing in one ear and deaf in the other. You may hear from those who were at your point on the way down to truly experiencing deafness. Those of us who have lost our hearing would love to have full, normal hearing in one ear again. Ask anyone how happy they were just getting one cochlear implant to hear again after being deaf in both.

We can definitely give recommendations for Assistive Listening Devices that can help you along in difficult environments. Like you said, this is the new normal... so you will have difficulty hearing in noisy environments. You will figure out what works for you and adapt.
 
Would they put the BAHA on her deaf side and it'll vibrate the sound to her working cochlear on the other side so she will be getting sound from her deaf side altho in her working ear??
 
BleedingPurist said:
I'm with Bott on being bewildered by the fact a BAHA is coming up in this discussion. The type of loss you experienced has nothing to do with conduction. If you have experienced hearing loss on only one ear, count your blessings. It's a far cry from being deaf, as disorienting as it is to not be able to localize sound.

A Bi Cros hearing aid would be the logical solution since a cochlear implant is the only other solution for your type and level of loss and will generally not be considered if you have your left ear hearing intact.

I don't think you'll find anyone here that have been in your shoes as it is a forum that is populated with folks who are outright dealing with deafness in both ears at varying levels, not normal hearing in one ear and deaf in the other. You may hear from those who were at your point on the way down to truly experiencing deafness. Those of us who have lost our hearing would love to have full, normal hearing in one ear again. Ask anyone how happy they were just getting one cochlear implant to hear again after being deaf in both.

We can definitely give recommendations for Assistive Listening Devices that can help you along in difficult environments. Like you said, this is the new normal... so you will have difficulty hearing in noisy environments. You will figure out what works for you and adapt.
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Thank you for clarifying the type of hearing aid. Also, the doctor did say that the cochlear implany would not be considered for unilateral deafness, as you mentioned.

As for counting my blessings, like I mentioned above, I am definitely aware that there are people dealing with much more difficult circumstances than I am, and as a result, I haven't spent any time feeling sorry for myself. The idea of something similar happening to my left side down the road is admittedly intimidating, but I'm not dwelling on it. Again, I am very fortunate to have a support system around me that I can count on...something else I am not taking for granted since so many people in all walks of life lack the same, regardless of the hardships they face. I am truly appreciative of that.

I also thought (perhaps naively) that unilateral deafness would be a larger portion of the population here than what you seem to say. Nothing wrong with that, of course, and it does makes peerfect sense since I would assume that theose with more profound hearing losses would seek each other out even more given similar and greater circumstances. I'll apologize again in advance for what will no doubt be my ignorance on matters of deafness, and especially the deaf community at large since all of this is so new to me.
 
NaidaUP said:
Would they put the BAHA on her deaf side and it'll vibrate the sound to her working cochlear on the other side so she will be getting sound from her deaf side altho in her working ear??
Click to expand...

I guess I didn't mention it prior, but I am a 39 year old married man . :D

But yes, the function that you descibe is exactly how it was given to me by the doctor. I was also shown an illustration that showed the conduction from right to left, with the drawing even going so far as to "X" out the right cochlea and show vibration being carried to the left.
 
BleedingPurist said:
I'm with Bott on being bewildered by the fact a BAHA is coming up in this discussion. The type of loss you experienced has nothing to do with conduction.
Click to expand...

After thinking a bit more on this, I can only assume that the loss on my right side is so profound and based in the sensory cells of the cochlea that having conduction through a BAHA to the right inner ear would be of little or no use? I wasn't aware that using a BAHA for conduction across the skull to the other ear was a lesser known/used approach.
 
Single side deaf

I went through a similar experience over four years ago. All the steroid injections did was was cost a lot and hurt like the dickens. I was told I was profoundly deaf on the left side. (You can read my complete story on Oticon Medical's web site)

After lots of research I had baha surgery and was fitted with an Oticon Ponto. I regained the ability to hear things on my left side, not to the level I originally had, more like about 60%, but holy cow was that an improvement. Since then I have upgraded to the latest Oticon Ponto unit, the Ponto Power Plus and the volume has improved even more, so I really recommend that unit. Because of the ability to wear my hair over the baha implant, and the restoration of a significant amount of my hearing on the left side, nobody knows I have a hearing device, which is a minor miracle. Check them out.....and if you want to discuss this in depth I can be reached at hjbuter@sbcglobal.net.
 
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