Cochlear implant - which ear? Please help!

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sami3111

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Hi Everyone,

My mother is scheduled to have her implant on August 22nd and we are still not sure which ear to implant. Audiologists and doctors are not giving us definitive answers, and in many cases, completely different answers. I would really appreciate any suggestions you may have.

My mom has been wearing hearing aids in both ears for 6 – 7 years now. In March 2012, she had an arthroscopic knee surgery, which was unsuccessful (due to arthritis) and exasperated her knee situation significantly. To make things worse, immediately after the surgery, her hearing loss became considerably worse. She could not use the phone or understand speech anymore, and we had to get her much stronger hearings aids. But still, her right ear became completely useless and her left year (which still to this day has about 34% word recognition) now had a severe case of tinnitus and as a result, she lost clarity in that ear.

To make the long story short, and to get to my question, we are not sure which ear to implant. As I said, she cannot hear in her right ear anymore, which makes us want to implant that ear to preserve her natural hearing in the left ear. However, if the right ear is implanted, then tinnitus might not go away in the left side of her brain. And if the left ear is implanted, she’d lose her natural hearing in that ear, and we’re told, tinnitus would almost certainly go away (at least while wearing the implant).

I have taken mom to a couple of implant centers for evaluation. We were told different things at each place. One doctor made the case for implanting the worse ear. He said implanting it would preserve her natural hearing in the good ear, but might still get rid of the tinnitus in the good ear. Also, God forbid her surgery is not successful, well, at least she didn't implant the good ear. Another doctor said implanting the good ear will almost certainly alleviate the tinnitus in that side of the brain. Additionally, he warned that trying to preserve the natural hearing in the good ear might not be worth it, as many CI recipients discontinue use of hearing aid in the other ear after surgery.

Sorry for the long post. If you have any suggestions or advice, I would really appreciate hearing from you.

Thank you,
Sami
 
I do some some members on here still have severe tinnitus even when wearing the CI so I wouldn't get her hopes up about the tinnitus going away.

Personally I work implant the ear that doesn't have any speech discrimination.
 
I was lucky that my "bad" ear was also the one that had tinnitus. I am lucky that the implant has almost completely eliminated the tinnitus. I still get tinnitus once in a great while if I am not wearing the implant. When was first activated I did notice the tinnitus was worse at times but It is so much better now.

Your Mom should not rush into making a decision. What ever she decides she needs to be comfortable with her choice. Would your Mom be able to go bilateral?
 
NaidaUP said:
I do some some members on here still have severe tinnitus even when wearing the CI so I wouldn't get her hopes up about the tinnitus going away.

Personally I work implant the ear that doesn't have any speech discrimination.
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So true!!! Both my ears are completely deaf. I chose the side I don't sleep on. My CI did not cure my tinnitus, so in my opinion I would not base your decision on that alone.

Can she still wear a hearing aid in her "good" ear?

Good luck!!!
 
Many many people still wear a hearing aid in there other ear if they still have some hearing left.

I know from my friends, a lot of them use 1 CI and 1 HA, they get high frequency from their CI and the low frequency from their HA. Together they work well as the brain gets both low and high frequency.
 
wadeptab said:
I still get tinnitus once in a great while if I am not wearing the implant. When was first activated I did notice the tinnitus was worse at times but It is so much better now.
11.jpg
Click to expand...

Why are you calling everyone a FOOL?! Not on!
 
I implanted my worse (dead) ear, as I had nothing to lose in that ear. My right ear I still wear a hearing aid on, which helps with the tinnitus in that ear too.

List all the pros/cons of implanting which ear, and see which ear your mom thinks might be the best plan.
 
I think in your mom's case I would do the right (dead) ear too. With the low perception in the left ear, she may end up doing both anyway.
 
if I were you, I would do the ear that totally sucks big time! (yes, I'm talking dead ear man)
 
Reply as to which ear to implant

Hi Everyone,

My mother is scheduled to have her implant on August 22nd and we are still not sure which ear to implant. Audiologists and doctors are not giving us definitive answers, and in many cases, completely different answers. I would really appreciate any suggestions you may have.

My mom has been wearing hearing aids in both ears for 6 – 7 years now. In March 2012, she had an arthroscopic knee surgery, which was unsuccessful (due to arthritis) and exasperated her knee situation significantly. To make things worse, immediately after the surgery, her hearing loss became considerably worse. She could not use the phone or understand speech anymore, and we had to get her much stronger hearings aids. But still, her right ear became completely useless and her left year (which still to this day has about 34% word recognition) now had a severe case of tinnitus and as a result, she lost clarity in that ear.

To make the long story short, and to get to my question, we are not sure which ear to implant. As I said, she cannot hear in her right ear anymore, which makes us want to implant that ear to preserve her natural hearing in the left ear. However, if the right ear is implanted, then tinnitus might not go away in the left side of her brain. And if the left ear is implanted, she’d lose her natural hearing in that ear, and we’re told, tinnitus would almost certainly go away (at least while wearing the implant).

I have taken mom to a couple of implant centers for evaluation. We were told different things at each place. One doctor made the case for implanting the worse ear. He said implanting it would preserve her natural hearing in the good ear, but might still get rid of the tinnitus in the good ear. Also, God forbid her surgery is not successful, well, at least she didn't implant the good ear. Another doctor said implanting the good ear will almost certainly alleviate the tinnitus in that side of the brain. Additionally, he warned that trying to preserve the natural hearing in the good ear might not be worth it, as many CI recipients discontinue use of hearing aid in the other ear after surgery.

Sorry for the long post. If you have any suggestions or advice, I would really appreciate hearing from you.

Thank you,
Sami[/QUOTE]
 
Sami:

I am a bilateral CI recipient and have Advanced Bionics (AB) cochlear implants. Your post caught my attention. There are quite a few late-deafened cochlear implant recipients who chose AB as their cochlear implant(s) because of what AB has to offer. AB is coming out with a new generation cochlear implant sound processor called the Naida CI Q70 which is a behind the ear cochlear sound processor which will have 100% wireless connectivity to consumer electronics. The huge deal about the Naida CI Q70 is the fact that there is a new implant electrode(s) which will be paired with the Naida. It is called the mid-scala electrode implant and it was developed by AB's Engineers to preserve residual or "natural" hearing. It was designed to protect the anatomical structure of the ear. PLEASE contact hear@advancedbionics.com and there are hearing professionals who can give you technical advice and support. I was not late-deafened, but my life has absolutely been changed by AB's technology. I have been deaf since age two and a half and I never thought in my lifetime I would ever be able to hear speech over a smartphone!!

HUGS,

Mindy
 
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