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Hear Again

Hear Again

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Hi everyone,

I recently had an appointment with my audi who tested my ability to understand single words and sentences in quiet and in noise. Even though we all know that real world experiences differ from the booth, I still thought I'd share my results to encourage those of you who are struggling with your CI(s).

Here are my percentages:

Right CI:

93% sentences with background noise

99% sentences in quiet

60% on single words

Left CI:

51% sentences with background noise

83% sentences in quiet

34% on single words

Both CI:

97% sentences with background noise

100% sentences in quiet

70 % on single words.

As you can tell, I didn't score as well with my N24. I don't hear as well with it as I do my Freedom or with both CIs together. However, I'm working to improve my listening skills with the first CI by using it alone from time to time.

Anyways, just thought I'd share! :)
 
Either I'm misreading or you do better in sentences over single words?! Amazing! Way to go, Hear Again! :]
 
Hear Again. Awesome! Thanks for sharing it also helps those of us who are waiting for surgery. I will be getting the Freedom implant next month and I will continue to wear a HA in the non-implanted ear.

I was told that to get used to the implant I would only have to use the CI only for a couple of hours per day. I wonder if this will be enough? Hear Again, were you able to use HA one ear and the CI in the other.
 
deafmama78 said:
Either I'm misreading or you do better in sentences over single words?! Amazing! Way to go, Hear Again! :]
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Thanks! :) Yes, I do understand sentences better than single words. I've been told that single words are harder for people (normally hearing or HoH) to understand than sentences because with single words, you have no context. I also read that it's very difficult to score 100% on single words -- although I know several adults and children who have. I can't wait to see what the results will be when I'm tested next year! :)
 
set2 said:
Hear Again. Awesome! Thanks for sharing it also helps those of us who are waiting for surgery. I will be getting the Freedom implant next month and I will continue to wear a HA in the non-implanted ear.

I was told that to get used to the implant I would only have to use the CI only for a couple of hours per day. I wonder if this will be enough? Hear Again, were you able to use HA one ear and the CI in the other.
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Thanks set2! :) I'm glad my post serves as an encouragement for people like you who are waiting for surgery.

To use the CI effectively, it's important to use it as often as possible. This is because your brain needs time to learn how to interpret what it is hearing. The more you wear your CI, the easier it will be to understand what you are hearing. The less you use your CI, the more difficult it will be.

Yes, I wore a HA in my nonimplanted ear since my first CI was activated. In the beginning I found that it helped immensely in providing bilateral sound. One of the things I liked about wearing a HA with my CI was that the HA brought in low frequencies while the CI emphasized high frequencies. Together, the CI and HA complimented each other.

Over time though (6 months post activation), I found that my HA was negatively interferring with my ability to undertstand speech. As it was explained to me, I had a further drop in hearing and my brain could no longer make sense of the distorted signal it was hearing through the HA compared to the clarity of the CI. I worked with a HA audi at my CI center to make various changes to my HA, but nothing worked. The HA wasn't strong enough and was already the strongest model available on the market. I also tried switching from analog HAs to digital, but found that the digital did not provide enough power.

In addition to the problems above, I also began to notice myself being unable to hear traffic on my nonimplanted side. I was nearly hit by two cars I didn't hear on my right side and I no longer felt safe making street crossings.

My surgeon recommended bilaterals at my 9 month post op and I gladly agreed. I don't know if he was aware of the problems I was having with my HAs, but imagine my surprise when he asked, "How do you feel about bilaterals?" My response? "Can we do it today?" LOL!

Even though I wish I could have continued to use a HA in my nonimplanted ear, I'm very happy with my decision to go bilateral. If I had to do it all over again, I would in a heartbeat! :)

Note: Not all CI users have the same experience as I did with using a CI and HA. There are many CI users who are able to benefit from using a HA, so don't let my experience discourage you!
 
Thanks for posting that Hear Again. You probably don't know this but I am in the process of going bilateral - I've done all the tests and am waiting for formal approval, although my surgeon said at my appointment last week that everything looks fine to go ahead.

Did you find that going bilateral helped you a lot in noisy situations? I scored 92% in sentences with no visual cues in quiet but this score went down to 50% with moderate noise and 20% with loud noise. My hearing aid in the unimplanted ear doesn't seem to help at all and has sounded distorted and hollow to me since I got the CI.
 
You hear 93% in noise with one CI. AHH I'm green with envy. :)

My noise scores after 9 months weren't near that high, don't have the audio report but I think they were somewhere between 50 and 60%? I do concider the CI a success in noise tho because before they were 11%. :)
 
Hear Again said:
Thanks! :) Yes, I do understand sentences better than single words. I've been told that single words are harder for people (normally hearing or HoH) to understand than sentences because with single words, you have no context. I also read that it's very difficult to score 100% on single words -- although I know several adults and children who have. I can't wait to see what the results will be when I'm tested next year! :)
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Yes, this is correct. Pretty much everybody does better with sentences simply due to context. When one can't hear normally, one tends to fill in the gaps all the time and get really good at it. :D
 
R2D2 said:
Thanks for posting that Hear Again. You probably don't know this but I am in the process of going bilateral - I've done all the tests and am waiting for formal approval, although my surgeon said at my appointment last week that everything looks fine to go ahead.

Did you find that going bilateral helped you a lot in noisy situations? I scored 92% in sentences with no visual cues in quiet but this score went down to 50% with moderate noise and 20% with loud noise. My hearing aid in the unimplanted ear doesn't seem to help at all and has sounded distorted and hollow to me since I got the CI.
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No, I wasn't aware of the fact that you were considering bilateral. That's great! :) I can't wait to read all about your bilateral experiences. :) I think you'll find all kinds of advantages to being bilateral including sound localization, a more "natural" sounding quality to speech/music and improved hearing in noise.

As for hearing in noise -- my scores above only indicate a 4% improvement. However, in the real world, it's more significant than that. With only one CI, I struggled to hear in noise and also had the added problem of directionality.

With bilateral CIs, I can easily tell where a voice or sound is coming from and can block out the background noise I want to ignore.

From what I've read, the head shadow effect has an impact on one's ability to hear in noise. When a person is able to hear out of both ears, the head shadow effect is eliminated which makes it much easier to ignore background noise.

With two CIs I also find that I'm able to hear at a further distance than I can with one. For example, I'm able to hear traffic and other environmental sounds at a greater distance. I can also hear my name being called across the room even with the presence of background noise.

My ability to hear in noise isn't perfect, but even normally hearing people struggle to hear in noise. Having said that, I'll take any improvement I can get! :)

Best of luck to you in your bilateral journey! :)
 
sr171soars said:
When one can't hear normally, one tends to fill in the gaps all the time and get really good at it. :D
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This is what I've done for years (as I imagine many of us have). In fact, when I was evaluated for my CI, I was afraid that I wouldn't be considered a candidate because of my ability to fill in the blanks. As it turned out, I failed with flying colors scoring 22% for sentences in quiet, 0% for sentences in noise and 0% for single words.
 
set2: Do you know when you're having your CI surgery? Congrats on choosing the Freedom. Yanno what I like to say? "I choose Freedom 'cause I like having the Freedom to have the ability to hear!" ;) heh.

Which ear will you be getting implanted? My RT ear is implanted & my Left is intact, I wear a digital hearing aid. I don't know if my Audi will tell me to wear my CI & hearing aid both or what she'll have me doing. Of course, I will update when I get activated what she suggests me to do. :]
 
jag said:
My noise scores after 9 months weren't near that high, don't have the audio report but I think they were somewhere between 50 and 60%? I do concider the CI a success in noise tho because before they were 11%. :)
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I'm glad you pointed this out. For some, being able to hear environmental sounds is a success while for others success means being able to talk on the phone. Success is success no matter how large or small. :)
 
Hear Again: I just re-read what I wrote you earlier and I apologize, I realized I didn't make sense- I was typing so fast without thinking and just never noticed til now. heh. But it's obvious you understood what I was trying to say.

Why is sentence tests easier than one word test?

I always thought one word test is easier. I totally skipped on the sentence one when I had my CI evaluation 'cause I was having a bad 'T' day and by the time we started the sentence one my 'T' was at the highest level and was masking speech. So due to skipping, I scored a 0% on my HINT test. She didn't say what how I did on the one word test. My husband was with me in the sound booth and said I got most of the words, so I must've scored okay on that.

Oops- ignore my question above- sr171soars just answered & it made perfect sense! Thanks!
 
Hear Again said:
With bilateral CIs, I can easily tell where a voice or sound is coming from and can block out the background noise I want to ignore.

From what I've read, the head shadow effect has an impact on one's ability to hear in noise. When a person is able to hear out of both ears, the head shadow effect is eliminated which makes it much easier to ignore background noise.
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That's my problem with hearing in noise - you've articulated it well. Oh well, let's see - I hope that this can be improved. It certainly seems like the potential is there considering I do well in quiet situations.
 
R2D2 said:
That's my problem with hearing in noise - you've articulated it well. Oh well, let's see - I hope that this can be improved. It certainly seems like the potential is there considering I do well in quiet situations.
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Here is where I plug my ears and close my eyes. ;) I don't want any temptation to go bilateral...arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
 
R2D2: Like Hear Again said, I didn't realize you were considering going bilateral & can't wait to hear your bilateral CI experiences! I am very excited for you!!!

I myself am struggling wondering if I'll be happy with one CI and one HA. I hate things to be 'uneven' so I wondered if I'll try pushing for a 2nd CI after I find that I am loving the CI after like 6 mos-a year of using the CI. Of course I'll kinda be afraid of giving up all the last of my residul hearing in my non-implanted ear but if being bilateral truly what will help me, then that's what I would go for!

Hear Again: Another question or two for you, why do you wish you could have continued using HA in your non-implanted ear? How long have you been bilateral?
 
Oh and I forgot to mention in my last post - I'm already kinda struggling with hearing out of my HA but that is only 'cause of the dang 'T' masking speech at the wrong time, like when I am trying to talk to a hearing person & the 'T' would just kick in and take away my ability to hear speech, therefore making my HA useless. Grrrr. :/
 
jag said:
You hear 93% in noise with one CI. AHH I'm green with envy. :)
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jag,

:) My former audi and I had a conversation about what I attributed my own success to. We both agreed that my blindness played a major role since I can't rely on lipreading or other visual cues to help me understand what I'm hearing with my CI.

When my first CI was activated, I was a little worried that I'd be unable to identify sounds and recognize speech on my own without the help of a tactile interpreter who could help identify them for me and facilitate communication.

I only used a tactile interpreter during the time I couldn't understand speech (2 weeks), but after that point, most speech was clear enough to be understood.

I found it helpful to make a written journal which detailed what I was hearing on a day-to-day basis. The journal not only helped me see how my hearing was changing, it also helped me recognize the progress I was making. My former audi made this recommendation to me. In her words, "People often forget how difficult the early days are and how far they've come with their CI." I'm glad I took her advice because now I have something to look back upon for years to come.

Here's an experiment for soon-to-be CI users: Close your eyes and listen to the sounds around you or the speech of a TV, the radio or a talking book. Then do the same thing with your eyes open and compare how much you understand doing both. What you'll probably find is that you understand more with your eyes closed than you do with them open because your brain has nothing else to distract it.
 
R2D2 said:
That's my problem with hearing in noise - you've articulated it well. Oh well, let's see - I hope that this can be improved. It certainly seems like the potential is there considering I do well in quiet situations.
Click to expand...

I'm almost positive that you'll notice a difference -- most people do. You may not notice it right away, but it will definitely come with time. Unfortunately, I can't remember how long it took in my case, but I will say that the progress I made with my second CI was faster than my first probably because my brain was already used to the input it received from my first CI.

I'll be interested in knowing what kind of improvements you experience. :)
 
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