CI/HA Combination

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Gemma

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Vocational Rehabiliation said that they would be happy to buy me a new digital hearing aid for my left ear. I have a CI on my right ear.

I am wondering if anyone has CI/HA combination? Is it worth having this? I was raised with 2 HAs so since I got a CI a few years ago, I was feeling a bit out with just one aid.

My insurance wont cover the second CI nor will VR but will be happy to get me a hearing aid instead. So I am wondering if anyone out there have some experience with HA/CI combination :fingersx:
 
Gemma,

Prior to receiving my second CI, I wore a HA in my nonimplanted ear. It worked beautifully for 6 months by providing binaural sound and helping to give speech a more natural sound quality (during the period of time my CI sounded "unnatural"). I found that the CI and HA complimented each other -- the CI brought in high frequencies while the HA emphasized low frequencies.

After 6 months, my brain could no longer make sense of what it heard through my HA. My CI audi said this was due to the clarity I received from the CI as well as a further decrease in hearing.

I don't think you have anything to lose by trying a HA in your nonimplanted ear -- especially since VR is willing to pay the cost for the HA.
 
My philosophy on CI and HA combos...........definitly try it. Yes, there are people for whom HA alone really sucks, but if you have some speech understanding, with HA then the combonation will serve for more "three d" understanding.
 
Hear Again said:
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After 6 months, my brain could no longer make sense of what it heard through my HA. My CI audi said this was due to the clarity I received from the CI as well as a further decrease in hearing.

I don't think you have anything to lose by trying a HA in your nonimplanted ear -- especially since VR is willing to pay the cost for the HA.
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My expericence was pretty much the same, only I quit using the HA after about 3 months. I stuck it in a few weeks after i quit using it and it was very awful.
 
But then agian, it's VERY indivdual, so it's definitly worth it to experiement. It's sort of like the digital aid thing.......Some people find digis amazing, others don't really find them all that helpful.
 
I'm like Jag - I quit using mine because it didn't help me at all, BUT - I'd definitely give it a try if I were you. I've heard of many people successfully using both.
 
I'm like Jag - I quit using mine because it didn't help me at all, BUT - I'd definitely give it a try if I were you. I've heard of many people successfully using both.
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Sure would be interesting to find out what percentage of CIers use the CI/HA combo............
 
deafdyke said:
Sure would be interesting to find out what percentage of CIers use the CI/HA combo............
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I am using the CI/HA combo and it makes a huge difference for me. Lucky for me since the cochlea in my other ear is not accessible for a cochlear implant. I have my hearing aid tuned to work with my CI the best I can. I am mostly concerned on finding what works the best for me. I have several hearing aids and I pick the ones that will work with the CI the best rather than just for the ear.
 
john57 said:
I am using the CI/HA combo and it makes a huge difference for me. Lucky for me since the cochlea in my other ear is not accessible for a cochlear implant. I have my hearing aid tuned to work with my CI the best I can. I am mostly concerned on finding what works the best for me. I have several hearing aids and I pick the ones that will work with the CI the best rather than just for the ear.
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My daughter wears HA and a CI. She is much more depend on her HA. She does have some hearing on her HA side. She received her CI at age 11. I would say is someone else is paying for it try it and then see how it goes
 
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