My Cochlear Journey

Cochlear Implants
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61

This is how it went for my second implant also.

Good to see you back.

62

This is not the case for me. When the processors are off, I can not hear anythingā€¦ā€¦except the tinnitus.

Itā€™s nice to hear from both ears. Do you have directionality? I donā€™t for the most part but seem to be getting it back very little at a time.

63

I am going to call directionality a work in progress, sometimes it seems I have it, sometimes I get confused. I think background noise is a factor, but I donā€™t have it all worked out yet.

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64

Thatā€™s good you still have some hearing.

Iā€™ve learnt something new today, I hadnā€™t realised loud noises could damage the nerves as well. :slight_smile:

65

See about halfway down in this article from the CDC

https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/hearing_loss/how_does_loud_noise_cause_hearing_loss.html

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66

I googled cochlear nerve damage from loud noise.
Didnā€™t find anything.
Your attachment does open my eyes some.

I mow with the processors off, canā€™t hear anything. Only way to know the mower is running is from vibration and the voltage gauge.

67

I donā€™t know if it matters much, but ear plugs are cheap. And I do have enough residual hearing to make it annoying. With ear plugs and the microphones turned down I can listen to podcasts while mowing.

68

Pat,
Iā€™m new here, just getting my first set of 'aids. I hope I never need CIā€™s but I know a lot more after reading about your journey and thay are less scary now. Thanks for posting and keeping up with it, I learned a lot (of course when you start from zeroā€¦)

69

Thank you, that is why I have this thread.

I donā€™t try to push CIs, but I do want people to have good info if they are in the position to consider them.

My audiologist will be the first to tell you that I have had an excellent experience, but it is my experience. And I did a lot of research before I went forward, so I figure I can share it and make it easier for others.

And we all start from zero, it isnā€™t like hearing loss is covered in school. Actually I think a lot of us start from negative numbers.

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70

hai @pathurley did you program the IC you to HC or you program them yourself ? sorry I am new here, maybe a lot of things that I miss

71

I canā€™t imagine anyone programming their own implant. The setup is completely different from hearing aids and you really want someone who knows what they are doing.

You are also dealing with a more select group of audiologists, the manufacturers keep a fairly close eye on them. I have met my audiologistā€™s Cochlear rep, apparently she comes through regularly and this is not a major city. And since you almost always have insurance involved with the implant, there is less financial reason to play with it yourself.

While I get the impulse to tinker, I am not sure it would be a good idea with something that is sending electrical impulses into my body, especially near the brain. I donā€™t think there is enough energy there to cause a problem (other then with hearing), but that is not something that I want to find out that I am wrong about.

72

you are very lucky, in my country of residence , IC is not supported by the insurance , are not in support of the social security amount to anything . so if there is a need implants merrka have to pay with their own money.

I have never seen the implant even program the implant. tp of the case of the previous case. I feel a tool can only be set by the owner. as I am setting HA bymyself . I never get comfort when the audiology program it first. even I see the results of the hearing test you are much more better than me . and Iā€™m very comfortable with my Ha now muse i2000 . I can hear in a lot of situations I laugh and interact with the same people around. just because Iā€™m setting myself by my self.

73

So for your amusement I do have one story from my second surgery. After the surgery you go home with a plastic dome over the ear held on by a rubber strap. This is to be worn for the first 48 hours.

Well that first night I wake up with to an awful pain and tinnitus the likes of which I have never had and never want to experience again. It seems that the tab that the strap connects to broke and the cup tried to come off. Fortunately my hand went up reflexively to the pain and I caught the dome before it went to far. My wife was able to secure it with an ace bandage and everything thing turned out okay, but I now understand how bad tinnitus can get and why people would go to such lengths to do something about it.

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74

I had really hoped my tinnitus would have gone away with the implants.
As it turns out I still have it, maybe worse, lower frequency stuff. Sometimes I think it is mostly my right ear but not sure.

Tinnitus can sure be bad for some.

75

Yes, I have been lucky in that department I have a little whooshing and occasionally a tone that I would never describe as more then annoying, and it doesnā€™t last long. It almost always occurs in very quite or unaided situations.

This was completely different, I donā€™t know if the pain was caused by the movement of the site, the band snapping against my head, or the tinnitus itself. Fortunately, once my wife got everything bandaged back in place it started to recede and I was eventually able to get back to sleep and by morning it was mostly gone.

There was a little while there where I was worried that some damage had been done and I would be stuck with the tinnitus, very happy that was not the case.

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76

audiology here promising , tinnitus lost with cochlear implants. . but after reading experience mamu about tinnitus, I became not sure with audilogi here.

77

I have 2 different sounds from tinnitus. With my processor on one I canā€™t hear and the other is just a very vague continual sound.

78

Tinnitus is a strange thing. No one seems to understand it. No one knows how to cure it either.

I really hoped it would go away with the implants but it did not. Everyone is different about this. Some people lose it with implants and others donā€™t. Itā€™s kind of a flip a coin thing. You just donā€™t know.

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79

now I understand thank you . @Raudrive

80

One thing I want to say, if you have Cochlearā€™s and havenā€™t played with the sensitivity setting, you really need to.

For those not familiar with it, while the volume setting changes the strength of the signal from the processor to cochlea, the sensitivity increases the power of the microphones. I have found it very useful outdoors and in conference rooms. I almost never adjust the volume but I use sensitivity all of the time.

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