Which Cochlear Implant is best?

[Agent X]

So, it's been around 3 months since the surgery. I have recovered, and am able to do just about anything. I started swimming a month after the implementation. I begun drinking about 2 weeks after surgery, too.

What I learned: The doctor warned me not to drink, because it would cause dizziness - but guess what? I only felt slight dizziness, eventually disappears.

The first month of using the actual device - I felt nervous using them because it seemed expensive. I mean it is expensive. I was very careful with the glue, too. Checking every once in a while to make sure it's not damaged, dirty or anything like that.

Then when my specialist modified the device, I could hear just about any kind of sound. I used to only be able to hear from my room to the next room, but now I can hear the TV in the living room. I hear things from a distance that I've never been able to hear from before. I'm surprised by the results.

I even can hear speech, although it's not currently 100%, but it's getting there.

 

[cdmeggers]

pretty amazing technology, isn't it?

 

[marcopollo]

When I went to my audiologist, they recommended Baha Implants...but they plant a screw in your head, and I am a black male....I cant grow hair to cover it up quickly. So it really wasn't an option for me, but you may like it.

 

[drphil]

BAHA is for BONE conduction problems not comparable to a Cochlear Implant-which deals with "sensorineural problems".

 

[ecp]

BAHA is for BONE conduction problems not comparable to a Cochlear Implant-which deals with "sensorineural problems".

Argh. This keeps coming up on Facebook. I know a few people (very few) have had a choice between a BAHA and CI but they are not the same! People ask on the Facebook groups "which is cheaper?". Um....they are totally different.

[this is off topic but has been bugging me for a while]
People with single sided deafness being approved for CIs are getting pissed because they want to be considered deaf despite having perfect hearing in one ear.
I have read the studies that show that single sided deafness negatively affects academic outcomes in children, I know it is a big deal but so I'd being deaf in both ears.
It really bothers me when people with normal hearing in one ear try to tell me that I only need one cochlear implant because one ear is enough yet they are clamoring for a cochlear implant in their deaf ear.
I'm deaf in both ears and a CI doesn't give me perfect hearing. Two CIs might give me better hearing but if you have a perfect ear can't you just be happy with it? (<---I know, this makes me a terrible person)

 

[ambrosia]

I spent a few years with SSD, no big whoop. I didn't even peruse getting a hearing aid until it started going in my other ear.

Forget the baha vs CI......can you imagine not getting either because you can't cover it with your hair?

F that man Hearing beats vanity any day of the week

 

[Bottesini]

When I went to my audiologist, they recommended Baha Implants...but they plant a screw in your head, and I am a black male....I cant grow hair to cover it up quickly. So it really wasn't an option for me, but you may like it.

I spent a few years with SSD, no big whoop. I didn't even peruse getting a hearing until it started going in my other ear.

Forget the baha vs CI......can you imagine not getting either because you can't cover it with your hair?

F that man Hearing beats vanity any day of the week

Baha can now be just a magnet under the scalp, no screw abutment required.

 

[ecp]

I spent a few years with SSD, no big whoop. I didn't even peruse getting a hearing aid until it started going in my other ear.

Forget the baha vs CI......can you imagine not getting either because you can't cover it with your hair?

F that man Hearing beats vanity any day of the week

Haha. I didn't see the hair comment. Yeah, my cochlear implant processor and headpiece are bright blue. I wouldn't want to hide it because I can finally hear.

 

[Jane B.]

I spent a few years with SSD, no big whoop. I didn't even peruse getting a hearing aid until it started going in my other ear.

Forget the baha vs CI......can you imagine not getting either because you can't cover it with your hair?

F that man Hearing beats vanity any day of the week

We are so similar in this way. I lost all hearing (at least what they could detect in 1947) in left ear at age 5 following an infection that followed being very sick from measles. Over the years they never have been able to detect any response from that left ear. I was told many years later that it did not look like most infection damage but that it got to the nerve.

During my growing up years the right ear was excellent. I had no problems in school; although I did make it a point to sit in the front (or in one class to the side because the teacher spent most of the time at a blackboard on that side of the room).

Otherwise there was at least one advantage to being "one sided"! I could do things like sleep at night even if dogs were barking by turning over on my "good" side.

I did not have noticable (sp?) problems with my right ear until in my 30's. Different BTE hearing aids (which anyone that cared to look could see as I have worn my hair 'UP" for years) made a very big difference over the years but it is now profound and I do not get the help I once did from any hearing aid.

I have gone through a number of years where anything regarding hearing was an exclusion on my insurance. By the time I hit 65 medicare and my supplement policy might cover it. But in addition to this I do not have family left and the closest centers are in St. Louis a good 80 miles or more away as near as I can tell because where in St. Louis can make quite a difference as far is distance is concerned.
I have no desire to drive in the city especially alone. So . . . I have turned into a procrastonator (sp) as age 72 comes up in about 2 weeks.

 

[AlleyCat]

I spent a few years with SSD, no big whoop. I didn't even peruse getting a hearing aid until it started going in my other ear.

Forget the baha vs CI......can you imagine not getting either because you can't cover it with your hair?

F that man Hearing beats vanity any day of the week

Baha can now be just a magnet under the scalp, no screw abutment required.

Wow, I didn't even know that about the no screws needed anymore. That must be somewhat new? At any rate I have never cared about whether anyone can see my HAs or not. I wear my hair in a ponytail most days as it is, so my HAs are quite visible.