Cochlear Implants

I'm very happy that your CI has been so successful. I just joined Mayo Connect today.....want to learn more about my options to treat my hearing loss which happened suddenly 3 years age. At the point now where hearing aids do not help much but my docs have told me that hearing aids have to be completely useless before I qualify for a CI. Were you also told this? Profound hearing loss and also major balance problems have been a real life changer for me and I miss my old life so much. Thanks for listening. Judy

Be sure to get tested at a cochlear implant center in your area. I know several people who were told they did not qualify for a cochlear implant by their audiologists and/or ENTs. I also encourage you to use the telecoils on your hearing aids with assistive technology. A lot of people give up on their hearing aids because they are inundated with noise they find difficult to deal with. Hearing Assistive Devices can be very helpful in noisy settings like restaurants, church coffee hour, bars, sports events, etc. I believe that the tests for speech discrimination are a key factor in determining candidacy for CIs. So if you're doing OK in the testing booth, you may not qualify. Of course that environment isn't 'real life' if you are a social person who enjoys people. That's where the ALDs may be helpful to you. I use both a CI and a HA, which is called 'bimodal'. Both technologies were working well together. However, prior to having the CI and the time it took for my brain to adjust, I was doing poorly with the HA. The brain's ability to relearn to hear is amazing. Good luck to you.

Dear Judy, 4 months since my CI was connected and I still feel like I’m a miracle everyday! My 3 m evaluation showed that before CI with both hearing aids my sentence recognition was 14% and now it is 100%! hearing in noise was 0, and now is 60%. Amazing. My audiologist says I am a Superstar and I certainly feel like one. I am grateful every single day. My story similar to so many others, diminishing hearing then profoundly deaf and Hearing Aids not helpful and such a misery, for me especially but also my husband and family who felt a great loss. I didn’t know of anyone who had a CI or about HLAA so my research was long and arduous. I tried to “keep up” socially but so exhausting. I even took Italian lessons! Which were so difficult but ultimately helped with CI in ‘stretching “ my brain as my audiologist said. After 3 years of being deaf and all that entails, I chose John Hopkins and began my journey to hearing. At first evaluation I was “overqualified’ for a CI and Medicare coverage. Still I continued to research, I found and walked into an HLAA office one day and met 2 women who had CIs and one who had used Johns Hopkins and same surgeon I was considering. One woman very young and the other my age and I was so excited! From that point on my decision was made and began the process, including meeting with surgeon, audiologists, CAT scans, physical etc. Surgery in mid January and connected one month later. I chose Cochlear brand because it is the most compatible with IPhone and Resound which were my former hearing aids. I was told that all 3 companies are very good and just a matter of individual differences, like IPhone. As I mentioned, I could hear and understand immediately, I can talk on the phone with Cochlear program and works like a charm, I can hear TV although accents and dialects not so much. Background noise is an issue because I am hypersensitive to it but can hear as well as a hearing person in noisy restaurants and places. Sometimes difficult with wind or person not close by to be able to tell where sound is coming from but that is minor to me. I was supposed to have an evaluation for a hearing aid on my left year but decided to wait til 6m visit to see if I want one because I hear as much as I want right now. Haha. I can’t praise Johns Hopkins enough, every doctor audiologist technician and support has been outstanding and continues to be. I understand that this is just my experience and others vary but I can only speak of mine. This is very long Judy but I hope it helps, I would have been happy to have such input when I was first considering. I am happy to answer any questions you may have . I wish you the best on your journey, Christina

Thanks for your reply. I don't know what "telecoils with assistive technology" means. Is that when you use your phone to adjust the hearing aids?

A telecoil is a tiny component in a hearing aid or cochlear implant processor that allows one to connect directly, with a variety of audio technologies. The telecoil really should be called an 'audiocoil'. It is referred to as a telecoil because it was originally designed to be used with older landline telephones. Today it can connect with all personal audio devices that have an input jack. That includes your cell phone, computer, iPad, radio, etc. It will also allow you to connect wirelessly to a public address system in a large venue if a hearing loop is installed in that room. In all instances, turning the hearing aid to telecoil mode allows you to hear ONLY what is coming into the microphone or from the device it's plugged into. It does not pick up background noise in the environment, as it brings the sound direct to your ear. Some say it's like having binoculars for the ears! Because this component was originally designed for old landline telephones that were used in the 40s, some who don't understand its myriad uses consider it 'old technology'. It IS old technology that remains invaluable to hearing device users who wish to remain in the hearing mainstream. And, it is available in most hearing aids with the exception of tiny in the canal aids that don't have space for the component. If present, it must be activated by the fitter to be functional. And, the person who fits your hearing aids or cochlear processor has an obligation to tell you about it and to explain how it works. If you ask about it and they say "It's old technology you don't need." They are wrong.

Too many people, including those who sell hearing aids, think that BlueTooth technology has replaced the telecoil. In some instances it has, but not in large group/room settings. (Theaters, performing arts centers, lecture halls, worship centers, etc.) Consider this: If there were 20 hearing aid users in a lecture hall with 100 listeners, the speaker would need to have 20 BlueTooth microphones to transmit to those 20 people. With a hearing loop and telecoils, only the main microphone that transmits to both the hearing loop and the public address system is needed to transmit to all of them. No receivers needed. All one has to do is turn the telecoil on to connect.

It doubles the value of your hearing instrument.

Thanks for your reply. I don't know what "telecoils with assistive technology" means. Is that when you use your phone to adjust the hearing aids?

I had a cochlear implant 5 years ago and it was so successful I had the second ear done 3 years later. My hearing tests revealed an improvement from 9% to 96% in the right ear and 14% to 70% in the left ear.

The church I attend with my wife just redid their sanctuary and installed a hearing loop. Now, I hear every word of the sermon crystal clear. It's like it goes right to my cochlear implant (and without any background or other noise). The difference in UNDERSTANDING and COMPREHENSION is remarkable. I can't stress it enough. I went from understanding 75%-80% of the sermon with my cochlear implant on Manual mode to understanding nearly 100% of each sermon on Telecoil mode. And, when I need to talk to someone next to me, I switch to M/T (manual/telecoil) and then can hear the person next to me while still hearing the sermon. The difference is amazing.

Dear Judy, 4 months since my CI was connected and I still feel like I’m a miracle everyday! My 3 m evaluation showed that before CI with both hearing aids my sentence recognition was 14% and now it is 100%! hearing in noise was 0, and now is 60%. Amazing. My audiologist says I am a Superstar and I certainly feel like one. I am grateful every single day. My story similar to so many others, diminishing hearing then profoundly deaf and Hearing Aids not helpful and such a misery, for me especially but also my husband and family who felt a great loss. I didn’t know of anyone who had a CI or about HLAA so my research was long and arduous. I tried to “keep up” socially but so exhausting. I even took Italian lessons! Which were so difficult but ultimately helped with CI in ‘stretching “ my brain as my audiologist said. After 3 years of being deaf and all that entails, I chose John Hopkins and began my journey to hearing. At first evaluation I was “overqualified’ for a CI and Medicare coverage. Still I continued to research, I found and walked into an HLAA office one day and met 2 women who had CIs and one who had used Johns Hopkins and same surgeon I was considering. One woman very young and the other my age and I was so excited! From that point on my decision was made and began the process, including meeting with surgeon, audiologists, CAT scans, physical etc. Surgery in mid January and connected one month later. I chose Cochlear brand because it is the most compatible with IPhone and Resound which were my former hearing aids. I was told that all 3 companies are very good and just a matter of individual differences, like IPhone. As I mentioned, I could hear and understand immediately, I can talk on the phone with Cochlear program and works like a charm, I can hear TV although accents and dialects not so much. Background noise is an issue because I am hypersensitive to it but can hear as well as a hearing person in noisy restaurants and places. Sometimes difficult with wind or person not close by to be able to tell where sound is coming from but that is minor to me. I was supposed to have an evaluation for a hearing aid on my left year but decided to wait til 6m visit to see if I want one because I hear as much as I want right now. Haha. I can’t praise Johns Hopkins enough, every doctor audiologist technician and support has been outstanding and continues to be. I understand that this is just my experience and others vary but I can only speak of mine. This is very long Judy but I hope it helps, I would have been happy to have such input when I was first considering. I am happy to answer any questions you may have . I wish you the best on your journey, Christina

Hearing loops greatly increase the usefulness and utility of hearing aids and implants. Are you aware that the Hearing Loss Association of America has developed a whole Toolkit for Hearing Loop advocacy? Their members are working to foster more loop installs. We could use your help. 🙂 See http://www.hearingloss.org