@charlene1961

The BiCros has a receiver (similar to a hearing aid) which is worn in the ear with the worse or little hearing and transmits sounds to the other better ear where a regular hearing aid is normally worn. This is for people who may regularly wear 2 hearing aids and the aid in the bad ear is very limited or almost useless. Many stop wearing the aid in the bad ear and get by with wearing only the aid in the good ear.

If you have little or no hearing in one ear but perfect hearing in the good ear then the Cros receiver is worn in the bad ear. However you will still need a hearing aid in the good ear to receive the signals from the Cros receiver. That hearing aid is programmed for amplification. A lot of people dislike wearing 2 devices especially since the good ear is fine and they have now gone from wearing nothing to wearing 2 devices. But you need a device to receive the signals. My BiCross receiver is smaller than my regular hearing aid and a whole lot cheaper. There is a small bud like portion that sits at the edge of the ear canal and is attached to a small behind the ear device by a thin wire. Very comfortable and you forget it’s there. I would think that something similar would be worn on the perfect ear except that it is an actual hearing aid. This is a very comfortable solution.

Another alternative is a bone conduction implant mainly used for conductive as opposed to sensorineural hearing loss. I was evaluated for one one but did not qualify. The implantation is just under the skin and less invasive than a Cochlear Implant. This implant bypasses the parts of the ear that are not working and sends sound vibrations to the inner ear. People have raved about the Osia 2 implant and it’s more natural sound.

There is also something called the TransEar which uses the cochlear but is not appropriate for those with a narrow frequency range of bone conduction. I know I am not a candidate for that either. I believe the device is placed on the eardrum. There are very specific requirements for use and the TransEar has to be inserted by a doctor. I think I got that right.

Anyway, your regular audiologist will be able to help you with the BiCros and Cros system. For the Bone conduction devices you will be referred to an audiologist who usually handles Cochlear Implants and Bone conduction implants and those implants are performed by a doctor in the practice.

Hope I made sense and I would really push to try the BiCros/Cros system.

FL Mary

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