Will Bilateral Implants ever been available for Adults in the UK?

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Lissa

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What do you all think? I think it should be an option! I mean I think I will hear a lot better if I was given an option to become Bilateral.
I mean we ar supposed to have 2 ears to hear but some of you guys only have one implant and that's like having only one ear to hear. I mean now bilaterals are now an option for children and adults with vision loss or other problems now they should look into it
 
I agree with you, bilateral CIs should be available to adults.

When I was young it was NHS policy to only provide a HA for your better ear. Since getting bilateral HAs I've found it much better than having just one. If the NHS has changed their policy about HAs, maybe one day they'll change their policy about CIs too, I suppose time will tell.

Problem is that the bureaucrats at NICE, who make the rules, are probably all hearing. If they all went deaf, no doubt they'd soon change their minds.
 
Sorry but I don't think any implant should be available via National health service. You used to have to fundraise to get them.

If you can afford to buy two yourself great, otherwise NHS money should be there for people with serious problems like cancer or heart problems or for keeping premie babies alive.

There should be a seperate fund for assistive tecnology which include things like CI and computer devices.
 
dreama said:
Sorry but I don't think any implant should be available via National health service. You used to have to fundraise to get them.

If you can afford to buy two yourself great, otherwise NHS money should be there for people with serious problems like cancer or heart problems or for keeping premie babies alive.

There should be a seperate fund for assistive tecnology which include things like CI and computer devices.
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So quadriplegics like Stephen Hawkings should have to depend on a separate funding or pay out of their pockets for assistive computer technology to help them communicate and drive their power wheelchairs in the case that they do not have very much use of their hands? Is that really fair? I really think that NHS should pay for that.
 
If your surgeon refuses to give you a 2nd implant, I am sure a surgeon in America will. Just don't expect insurance to pay any of the cost. CIs are very expensive as we all know so most insurances refuse to pay for 2. I do agree insurance should pay for HAs though!
 
dreama said:
Sorry but I don't think any implant should be available via National health service. You used to have to fundraise to get them.

If you can afford to buy two yourself great, otherwise NHS money should be there for people with serious problems like cancer or heart problems or for keeping premie babies alive.

There should be a seperate fund for assistive tecnology which include things like CI and computer devices.
Click to expand...



Errmmm why are we as workers pay tax for, I paid tax since i was 16, i work very hard and i deserve to have my CI paid by my National health thank you very much!!
 
overthepond said:
Errmmm why are we as workers pay tax for, I paid tax since i was 16, i work very hard and i deserve to have my CI paid by my National health thank you very much!!
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Agreed, at least for profoundly deaf people like you who just couldn't benefit enough from HAs. Welcome back by the way!
 
Deafteen90 said:
What do you all think? I think it should be an option! I mean I think I will hear a lot better if I was given an option to become Bilateral.
I mean we ar supposed to have 2 ears to hear but some of you guys only have one implant and that's like having only one ear to hear. I mean now bilaterals are now an option for children and adults with vision loss or other problems now they should look into it
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I'm confuzzled. Why aren't they available? Has anyone told you why? I don't understand why they aren't available in the first place. *Hugs*
 
November gypsy as we are British (deafteen and I) we have National Health service who pays for our health out of our tax (I work full time and pay tax. Deafteen is in education she doesn't).
We recently had NICE guidelines released saying that we as adults are only able to have one CI unless we are visiually impaired or have physical disablities. Children can go bilateral but it has to be done at same time. Children under 19 also can have 2nd implant but they must show envidence that they really do need 2nd implant.

This Guidelines would be reviewed in 2011.
 
But....what kind of sense does that make? I mean...just because you are an adult doesn't mean you wouldn't need billateral as much as a child, does it?
 
November Gypsy said:
But....what kind of sense does that make? I mean...just because you are an adult doesn't mean you wouldn't need billateral as much as a child, does it?
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Part of the theory is that if done in childhood you may learn speech and get a big benefit.

For deaf adults (not late deafened) the result is not the same.
 
*Nodding* I see. Well, I still don't think that's right. If an adult, born deaf, wants to have two CI, I don't think there should be a rule againist it. CI works for deafteen, I know because she has one, and she wants two. I think that she should be allowed. Now, I'm saying she should be allowed if she wants them: I'm late deafened, and I don't want even one, I don't think they should be mandatory or anything, but goodness. The girl deserves two, really, since she wants them so bad.
 
November Gypsy said:
I'm confuzzled. Why aren't they available? Has anyone told you why? I don't understand why they aren't available in the first place. *Hugs*
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I think they are allow to have a 2nd one, but they have come up with the money. I know it is hard to get the money especially if you have to pay taxes, and you don't really make much (fixed cost of living, I guess? ) but I wouldn't know how they work.
 
LuciaDisturbed said:
So quadriplegics like Stephen Hawkings should have to depend on a separate funding or pay out of their pockets for assistive computer technology to help them communicate and drive their power wheelchairs in the case that they do not have very much use of their hands? Is that really fair? I really think that NHS should pay for that.
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At the moment nobody pays for computers. When I needed a braille display that cost 3k I had to find 3k myself.

I sure hope someone provides quadraplegics with all the assistance they get but as far as I'm aware it's not done by the NHS.

Besides I thought we were talking implants. I think that ALL such gadgets should be funded but the NHS is stripped for cash so they might get more in the way of help from another outlet anyway.

I had a friend who was deafblind who had an implant in 1993. She got some charity to pay for it.
 
They assume that children benifit more then adults but I see evidence to the contrary. Most people I know who have been successfully implanted are adults. Either HOH or Very deaf but with some useful hearing as children with hearing aid and then that denimishes and they get implants instead.

I'm not saying deaf people shouldn't have their CI's paid for but by doing it on the NHS it makes it out like its something that is needed to cure deafness. Not something that is wanted as in a piece of assistive tecnology. I don't mind the concept of CI being assistive tecnology.

I want the NHS to order a tactaid 7 for me. I'll pay for it but I've had one waiting list so far and now I'm being put on anohter and I'm getting worried that by the time I see someone willing to help the firm might have gone out of buisness.
 
Well the thing is that the benifit from bilateral implants isn't as drastic. Even the article on them in Volta Voices said that the benifit is basicly improved sound localization and ease of hearing in crowds.
Many people who are implantees can get the localiaztion benifit from just a HA. Besides, difficulty hearing in crowds is basicly a universal experiance for those of us who are hoh. Even people with unilateral loss have difficulty in crowd situtions.
You know.....I doubt that bilateral implantation will be the norm, just b/c a lot of people can get sound localization with a bimodal approach. (sound localization is basicly the first rung on the hearing aid use ladder right)
Even over here in the US, it's very hard to get bilateral CI.
 
Oh....before I'm attacked....I think that bilateral implants should be available....BUT be very strictly limited. Like people with absolutly no results with HA should be able to get it without a lot of hassle.
 
LadySekhmet was able to get bilateral CIs. If I remember correctly, her loss was profound and the bimodal approach wasn't really doing her any good. Two CIs are great for those without enough residual hearing in either ear, as well as for those with other disabilities.
 
Yes, but isn't Lady Sekemet in the US? It's easier to get bilateral implants in the US.
 
dreama said:
Sorry but I don't think any implant should be available via National health service. You used to have to fundraise to get them.

If you can afford to buy two yourself great, otherwise NHS money should be there for people with serious problems like cancer or heart problems or for keeping premie babies alive.

There should be a seperate fund for assistive tecnology which include things like CI and computer devices.
Click to expand...

As a student nurse I have learnt that there is a huge amount of evidence supporting the fact that many cases of heart disease and some types of cancer are caused, or made more likely, by lifestyle choices such as smoking, drinking excess alcohol, drug misuse, lack of exercise and obesity caused by overeating.

If the NHS is willing to spend millions of pounds treating people for conditions which could have been avoided, if they had led a healthier lifestyle, then why should they not spend a small fraction of that amount on people who, through no fault of their own, require bilateral CIs. The number of people involved would be tiny when compared to the number of people who stubbornly refuse to stop smoking, drinking and eating themselves to death.

Incidentally, some premature babies are also born too early because of poor lifestyle choices made by their mothers. Although obviously these children should be given the best possible care because they are not at fault in any way. Maybe their mothers should reflect on the consequences of their action, and the drain it is causing to the NHS.
 
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