cochlear implant pains

coolgirlspyer90

coolgirlspyer90

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So, i had cochlear implant pains for a week now. the pain has started since last saturday afternoon. And I thought it would stop after a day or so. I usually get medicine to help relief the pain in my head. But apparently that didn't work at all. so, my implant has been giving me so much pain i just start to feel weak or tired. In my implant, i feel burning or i feel pressure or like someone is poking me with a small knife. And my parents thinks that i pulled a muscle in my neck that causes my implant to hurt since i play marimba and i practice everyday in band. We do a lot of cardio movement when we play. Right now all i feel is someone poking me with a knife and pressure in my implant. I tried heat pads on my neck, medicine, taking a hot shower, trying to lay flat on my bed. nothing is working. And i'm kind of scared if i need to go to the hospital. My parents have tried calling a CI specialist to figure out whats wrong. Apparently my next CI appointment with my specialist is on December 3rd sadly. And we're trying to find a local CI specialist near my home instead of traveling all the way to columbus to go to my appointment. But i honestly can't take this pain anymore. And this week is grand nationals for my marching band competition and i do NOT want to miss that. Its important to me. I had really bad implant aches where i cried and couldn't take the pain anymore in the past week. And i have no idea what else to do or where to turn to. Can anybody help or figure out whats wrong or give me advice? Thanks
 
When did you have your surgery? If its less than a month, you need to lay off from any activities and to give it a rest until recovered or no pains. If pain persistent, call your surgeon not CI center.
 
I think you should go and make maybe a appointment with a CI specialist for ASAP. Tell them you really need the app. Is it sharp pains? Like a electric shock?
 
I think we need more information. When was the surgery. Has it been activated? Mapped?
 
You need to call your surgeon pronto! One should not be experiencing this kind of pain.
 
My mother is giving me another day off from school tomorrow. I've been having my processor off since sunday. Right now it feels kind of like sharp burning pains. I went to a professional massuge today. and it helped my implant a little but my implant is still kind of hurting me. My mother called my surgeon who is my CI specialist, and they said the only avaliable appointment would be this week on thursday, but the thing is i have a BOA grand nationals competition on thursday and I really don't want to miss that. its our last competition that is a 3-day competition and the end of marching season. and its one of our HUGEST competitions ever in the band. and the most important one too. Because of me playing on the marimba alot i get really tight muscles in my neck area and my back. And my parents thinks its a muscle spasam thats causing my implant to hurt really bad. And thats why i went to see a professional massage today around 2:30 for a half hour. my implant is giving off like sharp pains right now. But they think i need to relax more and not worry about school and band that is causing my implant to hurt. They said if i don't feel better on wednesday or thursday, i won't be going to grand nationals and going to the doctor appointment. which means i'll have to miss BOA grand nationals. which really sucks because i really want to go. I was implanted in 5/23/2003 in my left ear. my last mapping was this summer, probably 2 weeks or 3 weeks before school started. My audi told me since my implant is about 8 or 9 years old now, it could break inside. And that i would feel vibrations on the outside right corner of my left eye from sounds or not hearing anything thru my implant inside at all since that is what many CI clients have told her what would happen if the implant inside stopped working. luckily mine is working ok. the last time i had it on was november 7th, all day, in Indy for a BOA super regional competition.
 
It has been a couple days but if you are still having problems, try turning down sensitivity and volume levels. I feel the stimulation when I have my sensitivity and volume levels really high and get around loud noises. Loud noises may not be high volume but sounds like a glass being set on a counter, crunching of paper, sounds that you wouldn't consider very loud but can be just over the comfort levels.

Even if your volume and sensitivity are set to the normal "for you" settings, try turning them down to see if it you can eliminate the sensation. I have found from time to time, I have to slightly adjust my settings for one reason or another for a few days. The slight adjustment is not much, one or two lower on either or both can make a huge difference.
If you find the sensitivity and volume are turned up, try removing the filter and listen to it but turn the settings down first. I run my processor at volume 3 or 4 and sensitivity at 10. Each person is set up differently but if your at volume 8 or 9 and sensitivity at 15-18, you might have a dirty filter and have turned them up over time.
I've noticed sweat and moisture getting into the filter causes me more issue than dirt and that can happen quickly. It just takes one rain drop at just the right place to mess up a filter. Doesn't happen often but it does happen.

This is just part of it.
Good luck and hope your able to find some relief.
 
coolgirlspyer90 said:
So, i had cochlear implant pains for a week now. the pain has started since last saturday afternoon. And I thought it would stop after a day or so. I usually get medicine to help relief the pain in my head. But apparently that didn't work at all. so, my implant has been giving me so much pain i just start to feel weak or tired. Can anybody help or figure out whats wrong or give me advice? Thanks
Click to expand...

It sounds like you're having inflammation but the doctor should determine if you have some bacterial infection because if it's infection, antibiotics would definitely help and reduce inflammation. If your CI doctor cannot see you sooner, consult your primary physician and he may prescribe antibiotics.
 
Hey guys, thanks for the tips and advice. I went to a professional massage last monday, my parents thought it was my tight neck and back from playing so much in percussion. And it did help a little because my neck was hurting me which hurted my implant. My dad mostly thought i had a bug virus. But not sure what kind of virus it was.
 
I notice tension headaches can cause a slight change to my ability to hear along with changes to my eye sight so that makes a lot of sense. I have never had it contribute to being over sensitive to the stimulation but I can see how it is possible.

Have you thought about having your audi try and figure out which electrodes may be contributing to it? Maybe this is new but you might want to mention it to your audi during your next mapping session. You may have some good luck in figuring out which ones are contributing to it. Depending on your speed settings, you might be in luck. I know at 900, I can have the pulse width increased for the two electrodes I feel when I push the C levels and have my volume and sensitivity cranked. By increasing the pulse width I can still have the volume with less intensity on the two electrodes thus a reduction in sensation I feel. If you are running faster speeds, you might not be able to increase the pulse width without affecting the speed. I normally just have my audi turn down the two electrodes and I'm fine mainly because I normally run 1800. No observable decrease in speech understanding as far as I can tell. People still sound normal to me.

Glad your finding things that work for you.
 
the pain you describe is more likely to be an infection then anything else esp if you are haveing pain ware the implant was placed , and you need to try and get it looked at ASAP
 
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