I refuse to wait 2-3 months for a new slimline coil for my Nucleus 7 (recently emailed to Cochlear Americas about my new slimline coil after having the forms signed and they said the reimbursement process is gonna take around 2 months). So I’m really considering wearing an cheap but reliable hearing aid temporarily. But I talked to my mom about this and she said the nerves on my cochlea won’t work for the hearing aid and thus I can’t hear with it. Is she telling the truth? Is it still possible I can wear a hearing aid and hear with it? What happens if I wear on my right ear that have the internal cochlear implant inside? Is that safe?
My friend found her old hearing aid, 14 years after getting her CI.
She tried it on and she did hear something but the quality was very weak compared to her CI.
Of course, the tech in her HA Is considered old now.
The CI is simulating the nerve otherwise the CI wouldn’t work.
A young person who goes to my Deaf Centre has a ABI which looks like CI but his nerve doesn’t work so a CI wouldn’t work.
A CI is just a replacement for the cochlear and not the nerve.
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I think it would work only if you have any natural hearing left in your CI ear. As for safety, no idea. If you don’t have any natural hearing left before or after your CI, then there is nothring for the hearing aid to work with.
I would say it depends if you have any hearing after the CI surgery. If you have any residual left I would guess it might work. But if your residual wasn’t preserved I think you might struggle. There’s certainly no harm in trying though.