Comments on: Had cochlear implant operation-am waiting to be “switched on”Can I still use my hearing aid if it doesnt work? http://www.ihearclear.com/blog/had-cochlear-implant-operation-am-waiting-to-be-switched-oncan-i-still-use-my-hearing-aid-if-it-doesnt-work/ Thu, 17 May 2012 20:42:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Maverick http://www.ihearclear.com/blog/had-cochlear-implant-operation-am-waiting-to-be-switched-oncan-i-still-use-my-hearing-aid-if-it-doesnt-work/comment-page-1/#comment-1034 Maverick Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:51:28 +0000 http://www.ihearclear.com/blog/had-cochlear-implant-operation-am-waiting-to-be-switched-oncan-i-still-use-my-hearing-aid-if-it-doesnt-work/#comment-1034 First off Congratulations!! I really believe you are starting on the road to recovering some if not a lot of your hearing. Now I'm slightly troubled that you ask this question after you have had your operation. I would think that something like this we would want to have a better understanding before we go ahead with the implant. To simply answer your question a hearing aid will never work on the ear that you have had your implant. The other poster said the implant goes into the brain or something like that but that is not true at all. Cochlear implants are not brain surgery. The implant goes into the cochlear...cochlear implant. A healthy cochlear takes sounds by way of hair cells and sends the signals to the brain through nerves. When hearing goes bad a lot of cases its because the hair cells are damaged or never worked correct in the first places. The implant has 22 sound electrods I believe which stimulates the nerves and in turns sends the signal to the brain. So what the implant does in replaces the hair cells. Once you have the operation these hair cells will never work again. Now with all that said you could use a hearing aid in the other ear and will work as well as it did before. You should have choosen your worst ear just in case the implant doesn't work but lets not be negitive. Its going to work!! The only way you will get the greatest benefit out of your implant is if you believe and keep working on hearing better. Its a process. When its first turned on you will be in for a let down. Not because you don't hear anything but you will have no idea what people are saying and the noise will be overwhelming. You will not understand speech. And the speech you do hear will sound like a computer or just very out of wack. But in time you will slowly and slowly get more and more. If I talk like I have one myself its because I do. You can't be negitive or you will give up. Don't not put on your hearing aid in other ear until 6 monthes after turned on. When you don't hear well at first that is normal. Now everyone is different. How long have you been "hard of hearing'? I went about 15 years of very poor hearing. When I was first turned on speech sounded like a train. AFter a week I could tell that this was going to work but I knew it would take time. In 6 monthes I could hear sounds in sound booth at the normal hearing range. I went from getting zero words to 70% of them in sound booth. I'm only a little over 6 monthes. I am doing very well and some people do better and some not as good in that time. So just hang in there!! First off Congratulations!! I really believe you are starting on the road to recovering some if not a lot of your hearing. Now I’m slightly troubled that you ask this question after you have had your operation. I would think that something like this we would want to have a better understanding before we go ahead with the implant. To simply answer your question a hearing aid will never work on the ear that you have had your implant. The other poster said the implant goes into the brain or something like that but that is not true at all. Cochlear implants are not brain surgery. The implant goes into the cochlear…cochlear implant. A healthy cochlear takes sounds by way of hair cells and sends the signals to the brain through nerves. When hearing goes bad a lot of cases its because the hair cells are damaged or never worked correct in the first places. The implant has 22 sound electrods I believe which stimulates the nerves and in turns sends the signal to the brain. So what the implant does in replaces the hair cells. Once you have the operation these hair cells will never work again.

Now with all that said you could use a hearing aid in the other ear and will work as well as it did before. You should have choosen your worst ear just in case the implant doesn’t work but lets not be negitive. Its going to work!! The only way you will get the greatest benefit out of your implant is if you believe and keep working on hearing better. Its a process. When its first turned on you will be in for a let down. Not because you don’t hear anything but you will have no idea what people are saying and the noise will be overwhelming. You will not understand speech. And the speech you do hear will sound like a computer or just very out of wack. But in time you will slowly and slowly get more and more.

If I talk like I have one myself its because I do. You can’t be negitive or you will give up. Don’t not put on your hearing aid in other ear until 6 monthes after turned on. When you don’t hear well at first that is normal. Now everyone is different. How long have you been “hard of hearing’? I went about 15 years of very poor hearing. When I was first turned on speech sounded like a train. AFter a week I could tell that this was going to work but I knew it would take time. In 6 monthes I could hear sounds in sound booth at the normal hearing range. I went from getting zero words to 70% of them in sound booth. I’m only a little over 6 monthes. I am doing very well and some people do better and some not as good in that time. So just hang in there!!

]]> By: Atom74 http://www.ihearclear.com/blog/had-cochlear-implant-operation-am-waiting-to-be-switched-oncan-i-still-use-my-hearing-aid-if-it-doesnt-work/comment-page-1/#comment-1033 Atom74 Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:21:14 +0000 http://www.ihearclear.com/blog/had-cochlear-implant-operation-am-waiting-to-be-switched-oncan-i-still-use-my-hearing-aid-if-it-doesnt-work/#comment-1033 If that is what the doctors told you then I would listen. I think the implant circumvents the ear, and directly goes right into the brain. From the little I know about audio implants. So with that in mind it would be useless, because your audio is not artificially being rerouted somewhere else besides your ear. I also know that it can take a few weeks for your brain to pick the pieces of this sort of signal up, and put them all together coherently. So be patient, and all the luck in the world. If that is what the doctors told you then I would listen. I think the implant circumvents the ear, and directly goes right into the brain. From the little I know about audio implants. So with that in mind it would be useless, because your audio is not artificially being rerouted somewhere else besides your ear.

I also know that it can take a few weeks for your brain to pick the pieces of this sort of signal up, and put them all together coherently. So be patient, and all the luck in the world.

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