Questions about cochlear implants

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Rickyrab

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1) Which one is the best for understanding people and listening to music, Cochlear, Med-el or Advanced Bionics? (I am leaning in favor of Cochlear for reliability and expertise reasons - many doctors are familiar with Cochlear, after all.)

A few questions re: daredevilry

2) Has anyone ever tried to use hearing aids in an implanted ear? If so, what was the result?

3) Has anyone had trouble going through airport security with an implant? If so, how was it resolved?

4) Has anyone had problems aboard a people-mover or maglev train or linear-induction train/ roller coaster with a cochlear implant? It's my understanding that linear induction vehicles and maglev both use magnets for propulsion.

5) Has any cochlear implantee ever stuck a refrigerator magnet to his/her head? What was the result of that? Did anyone feel/hear anything if he/she did that?
 
magnets get caught on my head all the time. no big deal. and nothing happened.
 
I am bit of dare devil too... I ride race horses, ski, sail.

I use Freedom.

No issues with xray mach at airports but to be on the safe side I take my processor off, switch it off, keep it in my hand, go through switched off X-ray mach and to be patted down, show card if they ask for it. The worst case scenario is corrupting the mappings which is not good if you are going on 2 weeks holiday.

Tried HA in my implanted ear, sounded very different (very muffled) to pre implant.

I was on roller coasters yesterday but did not wear my CI on the rides as i was bit cautious about my ear hitting on the seat bars and getting fat ears! I did same as when i wore HA's. Wore CI between rides, all ok.

I have tried the fridge magnets, they stick on with no problems but most magnets doesn't stick.
 
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I think they are all great and you can't go wrong with any choice. We chose Cochlear's Nucleus Freedom for 1. safety/reliability and history of making upgrades quickly and comprehensively available to previous models 2. technology (given my daughter's age at the time -2- our focus was language dev, music apprec. was secondary consideration, tho' important) and 3. our surgeon/hospital/ci clinic audis and staff expertise & familiarity with it over the other 2 brands -- I wanted a surgeon who had the perfect CI placement down pat to be using the one he felt most comfortable with.

It was such a close call, though, that on getting a second one a year later, I considered AB (Medel wasn't done in our area) to provide alternate approaches, but was told that even the slightest variations in sound strategies might have been difficult for my daughter's brain to reconcile.

I would go through security with if if we had to, but whenever we fly, I use her CI as a good excuse to send the wee one through the pat down line instead with CIs on head-- she gets a good tickling and I have less worry about unnecessary exposure to xrays. I haven't carried backups, bc I don't want them zapped, I totally mistrust those machines, and though I'll expose myself, I don't like putting the child or her equipment through.

Never noticed my daughter leaning to one side or the other in a people mover :) and have been on a few maglevs with her. I wish I'd thought about it though.

We had a set of magnets that stuck to her head when she had much less hair, but have lost them and much as we try we can't find any that will stick any more. It wasn't a full on 'thunk' like when the CI coil hits that sweet spot, but more of a faint attraction. She definitely doesn't stick to the side of the refrigerator, we try occasionally, which she finds hysterically funny.
 
I love that everybody, young and old alike, always go for the fridge magnets.
 
Re: music, I believe that getting music can be very hit or miss even for late deafened folks. There are people on here who enjoy music with their CI though. It is prolly a very indivdual thing.
2) Has anyone ever tried to use hearing aids in an implanted ear? If so, what was the result?
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JW why are you asking this? Do you have semi decent residual hearing with HA?You can always go bimodal (especially if you have an unaidable ear vs an aidable ear)
If I were you I'd go see an audi at a school for the deaf or a really good ENT hospital.
 
I think one's hearing history as well as the amount of effort put in to learning to hear with the implant (i.e. PRACTICE) makes more difference than the brand of implant as far as speech and music understanding goes. Comfort was the deciding factor for me . If you are going to have surgery to have expensive technology implanted it would be a waste not to use it just because it is not comfortable.

I found that music took the longest for me to enjoy with an implant. If you really like music bimodal might be the way to go. If one ear still has some residual hearing in the lows a hearing aid might bring out some of the bass. You do have to weigh the music against improved speech recognition when considering bilaterals. My speech discrimination in my unimplanted ear was
over 30%. It is now around 10% so I was told last month I am a candidate for a second implant. I am currently thinking this over.

I have not had any problems going through airport security but I always make sure I have the card I was given that has the implant information on it.

The craziest thing I have done with my implant is stick a key to the magnet. My coworkers got a laugh out of it.
 
deafdyke said:
Re: music, I believe that getting music can be very hit or miss even for late deafened folks. There are people on here who enjoy music with their CI though. It is prolly a very indivdual thing.
JW why are you asking this? Do you have semi decent residual hearing with HA?You can always go bimodal (especially if you have an unaidable ear vs an aidable ear)
If I were you I'd go see an audi at a school for the deaf or a really good ENT hospital.
Click to expand...

If you have residual hearing, check on middle ear implants. They will likely do better.

C1
 
CrazyOne you can also just stick with plain old hearing aids. The MEI aren't covered by insurance yet. (and may not be since we're currently in the middle of a GIANT debate about skyrocktening health care costs for everyone)
think one's hearing history as well as the amount of effort put in to learning to hear with the implant (i.e. PRACTICE) makes more difference than the brand of implant as far as speech and music understanding goes.
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That's correct. I just have to say that even if you went deaf as a baby, and had at least a month or so of normal hearing that might give you an edge. B/c the brain would know how to process sound as sound, and can "remember" how to translate the CI programming into sound the way someone who hears, does.
 
Rickyrab said:
1) Which one is the best for understanding people and listening to music, Cochlear, Med-el or Advanced Bionics? (I am leaning in favor of Cochlear for reliability and expertise reasons - many doctors are familiar with Cochlear, after all.)

A few questions re: daredevilry

2) Has anyone ever tried to use hearing aids in an implanted ear? If so, what was the result?

3) Has anyone had trouble going through airport security with an implant? If so, how was it resolved?

4) Has anyone had problems aboard a people-mover or maglev train or linear-induction train/ roller coaster with a cochlear implant? It's my understanding that linear induction vehicles and maglev both use magnets for propulsion.

5) Has any cochlear implantee ever stuck a refrigerator magnet to his/her head? What was the result of that? Did anyone feel/hear anything if he/she did that?
Click to expand...


Is it okay to put the hearing aids in an implanted ear? just curious
 
deafdyke said:
CrazyOne you can also just stick with plain old hearing aids. The MEI aren't covered by insurance yet. (and may not be since we're currently in the middle of a GIANT debate about skyrocktening health care costs for everyone)
Click to expand...

Lets just say that the ones that work very well aren't covered by anything at the moment because they are not on the market. If you know where to look, they are a great deal because they are in clinical trials and patients pay nothing.

C1
 
Most clinical trials require patients to pay. It help their funding.
 
A said:
Most clinical trials require patients to pay. It help their funding.
Click to expand...

I don't think this is true. I am currently involved in a clinical trial and everything is free and they are paying me for my time and travel.
 
krazykatkitty said:
Is it okay to put the hearing aids in an implanted ear? just curious
Click to expand...

My daughter's audiologist sees a child who wears both a CI and a hearing aid in the same ear. He has a ton of residual hearing in his implanted ear so he wears both.
 
well i think it's okay but if they do not have any residual hearing then why?? I do not have any hearing at all in my implanted ear
 
Rickyrab said:
1) Which one is the best for understanding people and listening to music, Cochlear, Med-el or Advanced Bionics? (I am leaning in favor of Cochlear for reliability and expertise reasons - many doctors are familiar with Cochlear, after all.)
Click to expand...

No one really can say unless they have a Cochlear in one ear and a another type for the other ear. Obviously, this leaves out the third one. I do have a friend who has a Med-El and a Cochlear. He stated that the Cochlear is slightly better for understanding speech.

This really doesn't mean anything as everybody is different. You really simply have to do your research and decide what is best for you. They are all pretty good. For the record, I have a cochlear.

Rickyrab said:
2) Has anyone ever tried to use hearing aids in an implanted ear? If so, what was the result?
Click to expand...

Why?!? Some 95% or more of the people with a CI lose all residual hearing in that ear and hence makes trying a HA a moot point (not worth bothering with). Even those with some residual hearing left probably have less hearing after the fact.

Rickyrab said:
3) Has anyone had trouble going through airport security with an implant? If so, how was it resolved?
Click to expand...

It's not really trouble as such. I just had to let them know and they wan-ed me personally and then they let me go around the security scanner.

Rickyrab said:
4) Has anyone had problems aboard a people-mover or maglev train or linear-induction train/ roller coaster with a cochlear implant? It's my understanding that linear induction vehicles and maglev both use magnets for propulsion.
Click to expand...

Have no idea really. I surmise that the effect of that force is very local and unlikely to have any impact on one with a CI. I have been on roller coasters many times and noticed no effect.

Rickyrab said:
5) Has any cochlear implantee ever stuck a refrigerator magnet to his/her head? What was the result of that? Did anyone feel/hear anything if he/she did that?
Click to expand...

What an interesting question. Early on, I think tried to see if a paper clip or such would stick (strictly out of curiosity :D)
 
Hearing aid in an Implanted ear? I understood from the my surgeon- Dr J Chen/Sunnybrook Toronto ALL hearing is destroyed by the operation to insert the Implant. Thus not possible " to go backwards" if Implant doesn't "work".

Advanced Bionics Harmony Atria activated Aug/07
 
It killed all residual hearing in my implanted ear.

Never been on a plane but i did get 2 cards showing the CI was a medical device and I had to have it to hear and gave the hospitals name, number and info along with my name and info and the implant serial number.

I have been through court security/metal detectors with no problem I told them about it and they didnt seem worried even when the walk through detector went off after emptying my pockets he just waved the hand held thing around my waist and it didnt go off and he told me to go ahead.
 
actually many CI users can still have residual hearing since surgeons are more careful inserting the electrode array into the cochlea
 
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