I read today in a blog how much the author hated Cochlear implants. He then went onto say since there were hearing aids why is there a need for a Cochlear implant. He made it sound as if there was a choice - use a hearing aid or instead have a Cochlear implant.

I would have loved to answer this person, but I was unable to. This person displays a total lack of understanding about the differences between aids and the implant. If this person had it wrong I'm sure there must be many, many others who do too.

I have a Cochlear Implant because hearing aids will not work for me. It is not a choice to have an implant instead of wearing a hearing aid. It doesn't matter how powerful a hearing aid you put on me I cannot hear anything. It's the same as putting glasses on a blind man. Doesn't matter how good the lenses he will still not be able to see. I had the implant because I wanted to hear and a cochlear implant by-passes the damaged section in my ear, directly stimulating my hearing nerve with an electrical impulse in much the same way as the normal hearing process. This has allowed me to hear again when I am totally deaf. I hear better now than I had heard in the more than 30 years while my hearing was deteriorating before it disappeared altogether. After living deaf for 15-20 years I am still wowed by being able to hear again.

Congratulations on your new found hearing!!!

My Mom was deaf, and the implants were not recommended for her. The hearing aid never assisted enough. She felt the loss of her hearing was one of the greatest blows to endure with aging, and was willing to try anything to improve her ability to hear. As a result, she tried an experimental drug therapy that almost killed her. She didn't get her hearing back, but always felt it was worth the try.

What a wonderful thing the implants are!

Thanks Carol. I have certainly never been sorry I got my hearing back. I no longer deal with deafness on a day to day basis and I am no longer isolated.

Sorry implants weren't suitable for your your mum. I must say I have heard of specialists telling people they weren't suitable or do it as a last resort, or the implant gave them mickey mouse sound and such. I've often wondered why we have to learn to live deaf before we get our hearing back. If a person loses a leg they don't have to wait until they've learned to get around on a skateboard before they get a prosthesis, so why isn't it the same for us deafened as adults? But things are changing these days.

PS: Phew - it's so hot here in Adelaide Australia 44 degrees C and we've had this for about 4 days in a row!! with at least 4 more to come

I find cochlear implants are much better than hearing aids, being deaf since birth and having worn hearing aids for most of my life. Hearing aids have improved over time, yes but I couldn't hear high frequency sounds at all even with the most powerful hearing aids available today as my high frequency hearing nerves were zilch.

I have been implanted for three months now and am amazed at the range of sounds I can hear now such as the hissing of an aerosol spray can, the sizzling of sausages on a frying pan and so on that I never knew existed until I had my cochlear implant.

People who are against cochlear implants are generally misinformed or have out of date information, I believe or have only heard horror stories from people who were implanted years ago, technology and surgical methods have improved a lot since Professor Clark first implanted the CI.

Great to hear your implants have returned so much hearing for you. The main difference between aids and implants is that the implant by passes the damaged section of your ear and so you hear sounds you didn't even know existed. It's fantastic to hve the full range again isn't it.

Cochlear Implants vs hearing aids is something readers are interested in. Take a look at the Cochlear Implant link on the deafness home page for more information. You may also like to read stories of implantess atBellaOnline ALERT: Raw URLs are not allowed in these forums for security reasons. Please use UBB code. If you don't know how to do UBB code just post here for help - we will help out!

i think it's great that there are so many success stories out there. Deafness is not something I deal with home or with me immediate family. i am a teaching assistant and one of our students is deaf i met him first when he was almost four and his implant was only a few month old. for him the implant was frusterating and annoying at times, when he's mad he'll through it at you, but even then he was very dependant on it. he loves it, he loves hearing new sounds and to see his face light up at the sight of those new sounds is one the single most greatest sights to witness. i learned sign for him, and I am still learning for him. He's had the implant almost two years now and his speach has improved greatly. I have tons of contact with him outside of school his grandmother and I are good friends, he's just an awesome little guy. At his last doctors visit just a day ago, they updated his (sorry i don't know all the terms correctly we have our own terms, that's a five year old for ya)"battery pack" so the whole unit is now on his head he no longer has to carry the battery pack on his hip with a wire hanging loose (which a bad thing with a class full of EC kids)during the visit the specialist said he may be a good candidate for a bilateral cochlear implant. more tests need to be done first. from what i understand it could be a really good thing for him, all of his deaf sign teachers and family are excite at the though alone. his translater however is mad at this idea and i can't understand why? it saddens me that a woman who is supposed to have this childs best interest at heart for a large portion of his day would not want him to better his quality of life. i can understand why a deaf family memeber that cannot use implants or aids wouldn't want another family memeber to use tham also, it may be their only special link to each other. but this woman has no family tiesand i can't understand why she'd feel so strongly one why or another.

This lady's opinion comes from the Deaf Community who have been against implants because it returns children (& adults) to the hearing world. They see this as 'attacking' and diminishing their Deaf culture and there will be no new people learning their language so the culture will die out. The Deaf do not feel they have lost anything but someone like me, who had hearing, feels very much that they have lost something and they want to get it back.

There is also a mistaken view that implants don't give 'normal' hearing. True in one sense... but what I hear and understand is very, very close to what I remember sound was like before I went deaf. I would far rather my implant than being deaf.

Bi-lateral hearing does improve the sounds people get, not so much as giving them more sound. I hope to have a bi-lateral implant later this year. From it I expect better direction of sound, better hearing in noisy situations and better quality of music sound. Have a look at the web site www dot c-a-network dot com (I am unable to put in a true web site address in this forum) where you will find a number of implant stories including some of children especially under 'other stories' found in the menu.

Being deaf in my left ear and hard-of-hearing in my right ear, I have been seriously thinking of asking my doctor about getting the implant. The only thing is that I can't seem to find information on what the eligibility is for getting the implant. I am frustrated with my hearing loss and would really like to consider the implant an option. I am frustrated as well with hearing aids. Due to an auto immune disorder, my hearing in my 'good' ear has begun to go down as well and this scares me.

Hi Kelli
I'm sorry to hear your loss is getting worse. It is well worth exploring the implant option - even if the answer is no or not yet. Find a CI clinic near you and make an appointment.

The guidelines for implantation currently (in Australia at least) is
(1) At least a bilateral moderate-to-profound sloping sensorinerual hearing loss. Hearing below 40dcbl in low tones and hearing below about 80-90 dcbls in high frequencies.
(2) A severe, progressive sesorinerual hearing loss
(3) Less than 79% correct keywords on open-set, pre-recorded materials presented at 65 dcbl in the best aided condition (without lip reading)

If your loss is not sensorineural you may be a candidate for a Baha which is a bone conduction hearing aid.

Only a specialist can really tell you whether you are a suitable candidate. It is certainly scarey as we get deafer and it becomes harder to communicate in our normal environment. I can honestly say I wish I had done it 10 years earlier before my deafness really impacted on my life.

Let me know how you get on...or if you need information about clinics in your area contact me. felicity@bleckly.com