questions or thoughts for CI bimodal users

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chunkymonkey

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I am some questions for CI users. I was implanted with a cochlear america freedom implant about a year and a half ago. I absolutely love it. I am bimodal since I also wear a hearing aid. My question is that when I first put it on in the morning I do not hear well for about two minutes and then things are fine. It is almost like my brain or ears needs to adjust to both hearing aid sounds and cochlear implant sounds. Is this normal? Any suggestins.

My other question or thought is that when I use the listening accessory for the computer or the ipod I can hear very clearly but it is not clear when I use just the CI to watch tv or listen to everyday conversations without the hearing aid. Any thoughts on why.
 
Your first questions does describes what I am hearing in the mornings, it was hard to understand anyone at first then around 10 mins later, i am hearing well but the interesting thing is when I had my 2 year review, I had aided hearing test with CI and HA then CI alone, the audiogram showed idenctial, therefore I am not getting much benefit from HA with my 110dB loss. I still hear with HA for loud sounds and it gives me balance of wearing 2 ears. I wear my CI the most, after a day at work I take off HA first then had few hours with CI as I live alone it's easier to have the volume on TV excatly where I want it to be.

My thoughts about your suitation, I guess that the CI are good for High freq and the HA is good for lows (I am trying to picture what I can hear with mine...) I am hearing very little with HA alone, no clear speech etc. With CI alone, there is slight struggle with clear speech especially with male voices, with both on, it's slightly clearer... well, well, thats interesting.......
 
Yes, what you describe is quite common when first wearing the cochlear implant in the morning that is may take a few minutes to adjust to the electrical stimulation of sounds. I find the same thing happens to me when I change programs that involves a change in stimulation speeds. I am bimodal also and my CI actually gives me better low frequencies than my hearing aid. My hearing aid helps in giving a fuller sound especially with music in the midrange. Having two ears working together in spite of different stimulation modes helps me quite a bit.
 
thank you guys.. I thought I was going crazy. I am glad that it is not something unique to me.. if now I could just solve the listening difference of using the attachment with the computer and ipod to everyday listening with device.
 
I also find it takes a few minutes for my brain to adjust to listening with the implant in the morning. If you feel the hearing aid helps when watching TV then I would use the Hearing aid. You could also let your audi know about this and see what they suggest.
 
I am not sure I fully understand this. Are you using the hearing aid with the listening accessory and is it a corded connection to the computer and the Ipod?

chunkymonkey said:
My other question or thought is that when I use the listening accessory for the computer or the ipod I can hear very clearly but it is not clear when I use just the CI to watch tv or listen to everyday conversations without the hearing aid. Any thoughts on why.
Click to expand...
 
No I am not using the hearing aid as i listen to the computer and the ipod.
I use my hearing aid with the cochlear throughout the day
 
With a direct connection to your TV and IPod for music you can deliver a better quality of a signal since your are bypassing the weaker quality of the speaker in the TV and the room environment can degrade the sound quality as well. People with good normal hearing will notice this much less than people with some degree of hearing loss. Recordings that involve the human voice are usually recorded in better environments and the microphone is usually closer and that makes a big difference for some. I hope this explains some of the questions you have.:wave:
 
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