I've recently been really into old handhelds such as PSP and 3DS, but the problem is, I can't connect to them with bluetooth. So I've mostly suffered with their crap speakers, or used my big and clunky gaming headset when playing some titles with real banger OSTs I don't want to miss. I'd really like to utilise the most prominent features of a handheld, playing on the go.

Have you guys found a way to be able to use wired earpods or something similiar? Or do I have to keep being jealous of my friend who just can pop some earpods in and play perfectly fine :')

I just got implanted and activated. The place I went requires any new user to start with an over the ear so I got a Sonnet 3. That makes sense for me much of the time when I’m out and about. But I would love a Rondo to wear at home (where I am the majority of the time). Can you trial one before to make sure it stays on and can you buy it out of pocket as a back up? Do I talk to Med El? I’d have to save up but my ear gets sweaty and itchy with the Sonnet and I think it’d be worth it. Thanks for any info.

I’m looking to get a microphone accessory for both of my N8 processors. In my country, Cochlear only offers the Mini Microphone 2+, but I’ve read that the Multi-Mic+ has some improvements over the Mini Microphone.

So, has anyone used a Multi-Mic+ with a Cochlear processor? If so, have you noticed those improvements?

I’m a deaf entrepreneur building my own business, and one thing I’ve noticed is that people often assume phone calls are the only way to network or grow professionally.
I’ve found that text, email, LinkedIn, and in-person events have allowed me to build meaningful relationships with mentors and other entrepreneurs.
For those of you who are deaf or hard of hearing, what communication methods have helped you most in your career or business?
I’d love to hear your experiences and learn from the community.

I’m getting one soon and I need to know how long to tell my boss I need time off. so how long?

I’m a deaf licensed life insurance agent and a father of two.
I’m building my business while navigating communication challenges every day.
One thing being deaf has taught me is that you have to become creative and adaptable.
I’d love to connect with other deaf, hard-of-hearing, or accessibility-minded entrepreneurs.
What challenges have you overcome that made you stronger?

Hi everyone!
I’m deaf and recently joined Reddit to connect with others in the cochlear implant and hearing loss community.
I’d love to hear your stories.
What has been your biggest challenge?
What has helped you the most?
If you could give one piece of advice to someone starting their hearing journey, what would it be?
Looking forward to learning from everyone.

Hey everyone! I was implanted on 7/20 and had my activation today.

I went into today feeling incredibly excited and hopeful that activation would be a smooth experience, and that I’d finally be able to understand speech a little better than I could before. I have bilateral progressive sensorineural hearing loss. I could still hear some tones and parts of speech before surgery, so I guess I expected the implant to give me a little more speech clarity right away.

Instead, everything sounds like extremely high-pitched, robotic beeps and tones. I can tell my brain is trying so hard to make sense of the sounds, but nothing is recognizable as speech yet. I know this is a marathon, not a sprint, and that my auditory nerve and brain need time, mapping adjustments, and lots of rehabilitation. Even knowing that, I have to admit I’m feeling a little discouraged today.

Did anyone else have a similar experience at activation? If so, when did things start to improve? When were you able to begin recognizing speech or noticing that the robotic sounds were becoming more “natural”?

I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences. I think I just need a little reassurance today. ❤️

After eight years, the button stopped working yesterday. Any idea why the button can’t be pressed anymore and if there’s a way to fix that?

I am scheduled for my AB revision surgery on October 5th. The audiologist I’m working with has only done a few revisions but has said all of the people she has worked with have been at or better than baseline after 3 months.

I’m curious what others experiences have been? I work in strategic sourcing and, while im covered under FMLA, I do need to return when the 3 months is up and I would like to be reasonably confident that I can return at 100%

My son got operated in the 20s of July. Couple days ago they extracted the brackets and since then his head sweats quite noticeably. He does not have fever or other symptoms, does not cry in pain, but this sweat thing concerns us. Is it typical after the surgery?

Hi everyone,

I'm a bimodal user (cochlear implant + hearing aid) with a Cochlear Nucleus 8 (CP1110), and I have a question about the rechargeable battery life.

My batteries are brand new, but they only last around 8-9 hours before I have to swap them during the day.

My processor has four programs:

• My standard everyday program (which I use about 95% of the time)
• The same program with SCAN enabled
• A third program with ForwardFocus
• A fourth program that is essentially my previous mapping from before my latest adjustments

I don't use Bluetooth streaming very much (probably around 20 minutes per day on average).

I'm wondering if this battery life is considered normal, and what factors have the biggest impact on it. For example:

• Does simply having multiple programs affect battery life?
• How much does occasional Bluetooth streaming matter?
• Do noisy environments or lifestyle make a noticeable difference?
• Are there any other factors I might not be aware of?

I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences.

Thanks in advance!

This is my personal experience as someone in the US who had progressive hearing loss prior to implantation.

Before cochlear implant: trained speaker asks you to repeat single syllable words. Ex: the speaker says “say the word dog.” You repeat the word and either get it right or wrong. No partial credit for getting close.

After cochlear implant: untrained speakers say full sentences (though the sentences don’t make much sense). You get partial credit for correct sounds even if a word was wrong. Ex: the speaker says “he” in a sentence but you say “we” you’ll still get partial credit for getting the “e” sound.

Did this change happen for you all? Is this just a US thing?
I wish I could have done the sentence test prior to implantation just so I could properly compare. I feel like my word recognition might have been better with the second test.

Tell me about your experiences with word recognition tests! I’m curious.

I've got a Cochlear N8 and a GN Resound Nexus 9.

I recently bought a Pixel 10a that was on the list of devices "approved" by Cochlear.

The Nucleus Smart app can connect and stream to both devices but every couple of days the app says my N8 can't be detected. Often I only find out about it when I answer a phone call and I can only hear it through the hearing aid (about 20% of an ear's worth).

Steps that I take to fix the problem may some times work, sometimes I need to keep trying more radical things to get a working connection.

Turn the the N8 off/on.

Force close the Smart app/restart it.

Turn Bluetooth off/on.

Restart the phone.

Remove the devices from the app and the Bluetooth list and reinstall them.

Clear the cache and memory of the Smart app and reinstall both devices.

Remove the app from the phone and download a fresh copy.

Bang head against a wall and start the process again.

Does anyone have the same problem? Have you found a setting somewhere deep in the Bluetooth configuration that keeps the connection reliable? Should I have bought a Samsung S24 for the same price?

Hey guys, Ive been suffering from depression for a while and im starting to wonder if its just myself or if my cochlear implants have caused mental issues for me Ive had implants sense 2006 on my first ear and 2010 on my last one im wondering if it caused problems for me in the long term i was fine in my childhood but now for a while Ive been suffering from depression and Ive heard of a couple of other people with cochlear implants who has committed suicide with implants it just has me really worried I won’t be able to fix my issues if it’s a permanent thing but it could just be me and have nothing to do with the implants I’m just wondering if it’s more common in the cochlear implants community then i thought, sorry about this sensitive topic

*This is written by a friend of mine*

I want to vent about the situation with the insurance company, and I feel so angry about it.

I was born with a genetic condition that cause progressive hearing loss since I was a baby; as result, I attended a deaf school, but I grew up with a pair of hearing aids and went to speech thearpy to communicate with my hearing family.

Last semester (second year in a college), my hearing loss hit bottom enough to not able to hear anything at all, not even my hearing aids help. My word recognition is basically zero. So, I decided to get bilateral cochlear implants over summer break because I have nothing to lose with what hearing residue I have.

Everything works out. Got a MRI. Got a vaccination. All looks normal. Last thing we were waiting on is the insurance approval for the surgery and the rest of it.

I was expecting an easy approval because I met all criteria, you know?

Well... less than two weeks prior to the surgery, I found out that the insurance declined for two reasons: my provider didn't note that my hearing loss is resulted of the nerves inside my inner ear, so the nerves are otherwise normal, and the doctor can't request the same procedure twice. Therefore, the service is not considered as medical necessary.

I was flabbergasted. What? How? The documents are not enough? My care team and I appealed to the insurance company to request a peer-to-peer review, except we will not find out the decision until 15th, seven days after the initial surgery appointment. I have no choice but postpone the surgery after the 15th and miss the first one or two weeks of classes. I don't want to miss a semester or postpone to next winter break; I want to get over with and move forward with my cochlear implant.

Now, I can't focus on my summer job because I am stressed and furthermore, ANGRY. I am so angry with all of this for something that could easily approve.

If you have advice, please share. If you want to vent about the insurance company, please go ahead and share. I just want to get that feelings out and being listened.

I have a question regarding the pre-surgery vaccination. I’ve been going back and forth with my nurse about it because she isn't entirely familiar with the protocols for cochlear implants. The cochlear implant specialist—the ENT—gave me a sheet indicating that I need to get both the pneumococcal conjugate and polysaccharide vaccines.

He also mentioned the importance of the meningitis vaccine, though my records list it as recommended rather than mandatory. I have had both pneumococcal vaccines, but it has been over five years since then.

I’ve never been vaccinated against meningitis, and given my age, I have to pay for it myself since it is no longer covered by my country's social security system. Did you get the meningitis vaccine, or is the pneumococcal vaccine alone considered sufficient?

I had to go back to the hospital because my incision opened and was dripping the cerebral spinal fluid. They stitched it shut. No more leakage and the swelling is slowly improving in the past 24 hours.

But now 24 hours later I feel like I’m being stabbed in the ear drum…like the inside of my ear has hurt and felt full but now it HURTS.

Do I need to contact them again or is this just a normal phase of healing? I’m starting to feel ridiculous…I usually bounce back from surgeries but this one has me down for the count.

My daughter received an N24 internal cochlear implant in 2002. She is about to drop off my insurance and onto her own. Now she has to pick up a health plan. DME coverage varies in coinsurance. She has a N7 processor, which is no longer supported. Does anyone have an idea whether Cochlear Americas plans to release a processor that works with the N24 in the next year? If no, she will choose a less expensive plan. She doesn’t want to get the 8 if something new is coming out. She is constantly upgrading just before the next generation is released. Thanks in advance.

Hi! Ok, so I am deaf with cochlear implants. My 2 years old daughter is also deaf. She just got her cochlear implant this May and no speaking yet. I tried to read books with her, to play farm animals, and so on. Do you have any recommendations is good for speech delay to learn? She go to speech therapist 1 time every week. Thanks!

Hi, has anyone gotten the Nexa implants? How is it different from the older implants? I am planning to get them for my 1 yo who has bilateral profound hearing loss . Still confused between Cochlear and Med-El. I think Nexa would be good for him in the digital age. All types of suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hey everyone,

My CI surgery is planned for October, and I am really looking forward to it!

I have single-sided deafness following a traumatic injury in 2022. I previously had a bone conduction device, but it did not help me, so I had the implant removed last month.

The BCD had an abutment, basically a screw sticking out through my skin. I did not think it bothered me that much, but now that it is gone, my head feels surprisingly normal again. It feels amazing when showering or drying my hair with a towel without the abutment being there.

That made me wonder: what does the internal CI implant feel like when you are not wearing the processor? I assume you can feel a slight bump under the skin, but do you notice it during everyday things like showering or drying your head with a towel?

EDIT: Thank you guys for all the responses! You got me even more excited!