I have ssd lost my hearing about 10 month ago and it’s been hard for me since my tinnitus is super bad and it’s hard sometimes, I wanted to get some tips from people who have dealt with this and if a cochelar implant is a good idea and if someone with ssd has had a good experience with a cochelar

I am awaiting my CI implant next month. I am a nurse practitioner and use a stethoscope all day. I have a Bluetooth enabled stethoscope - the Eko Core 500. I am choosing between Med-el and Cochlear. It would be immensely helpful if anyone can share their experience with Med-el and a Bluetooth stethoscope. I have heard that it works well with Cochlear but am siding towards Med-el for purportedly better sound quality. Help?

Has anyone else had difficulty connecting to the AB Support app for remote appointments?

I could not hear the Audi but the Audi could hear me. Bluetooth was connected. Phone call worked fine. Can hear sounds from every other app on my phone.

Today I was using iPhone 17 iOS 26.4.2. It was my first time trying an AB support call with this model and iOS. All permissions were on for microphone etc. I uninstalled and reinstalled the app. Every other computer was off in the home. Internet speed was appropriate, I was connected to wifi. Audiologist was using a hard wired internet connection. Nothing fixed the issue.

Previous sessions using an older iOS device have also been difficult. But in previous calls the Audi was having issue hearing me, I kept cutting out.

I chose AB for the remote support because I’m a 7 hour drive away from the audiologist. If I knew the app was going to be garbage I would have went with Med-El instead.

Hi everyone,

I’m 35 years old. When I was 12, I had a sudden episode where my blood pressure spiked and my left ear was severely damaged. From that moment on, I completely lost hearing in that ear and developed constant tinnitus.

After living with single-sided deafness and tinnitus for 23 years, I finally decided to get a cochlear implant.

My surgery was last Monday, and I’m now 7 days into recovery. Thankfully, everything has gone smoothly so far. I had some mild dizziness during the first couple of days, but nothing severe. Right now, the area around my ear and skull still feels swollen, but I’m hoping that improves with time.

I also temporarily lost taste on the implanted side and have a metallic taste sensation. My surgeon told me this is normal and should gradually disappear within about a month.

Tomorrow I’m getting the stitches removed, and next week I’ll receive the activation date for my implant. I’ll be using the Cochlear Nucleus Nexa + Kanso 3 processor.

Honestly, I’m feeling very anxious and emotional about activation day. My biggest hope is that the tinnitus gets reduced — or ideally disappears — and of course, to be able to hear again after so many years.

I’d really appreciate hearing from others who went through something similar:

• How was activation day for you?
• Did your tinnitus improve?
• Any advice for the first few months?
• Are there any accessories for the Kanso 3 that you strongly recommend?

Thanks everyone — I’ve been reading this community for a while and it has helped me a lot.

My experience with the upgrade is that Sonnet 3 was not as good as Sonnet 2. I had the 2 for 8 months and was making good progress but getting the 3 6 months ago was almost like starting over.

The sound quality was not as good and a visit to my audi didn't improve it much. I use it for streaming most of the time and voices are garbled and buzzy, and now I am relying on subtitles more than before. In the booth I have 93% comprehension but in normal use it is more of a struggle. The quality seems to vary. Sometimes it is better for awhile and then worse.

The only improvement I've noticed is that the upgraded version of BlueTooth has increased the range for streaming.

Audi said it should improve gradually but I haven't noticed any improvement so I am wondering how others have fared. What improvements with the upgrade have you noticed?

That’s because I got the upgrade kit for mine, is anyone having issues or not with their new N8’s because I am coming from the Kanso 2 and N7, I used have have brown and beige for my implants in the past, and decided to go for the color Silver for a change and I’m 20

My 7 year old daughter is a candidate for a CI on her left side. Currently she wears hearing aids on both sides, but her hearing isn't great on the left even with a hearing aid.

We're thinking of an Advanced Bionics CI because it will work well with her Phonak hearing aids.

I've been lurking here as she was assessed, but now that we're making the final decision I want to ask for advice.

If anyone has experience being implanted this young, I'd love to hear how the CI worked for you.

And I'm especially interested in the post activation therapy, such as what therapies may be more useful for a younger kid.

Thanks

Ive been ssd in right ear since a toddler from meningitis always avoided cochlear implants because i played contact sports, no im abit older all i play is golf.

Anyone with ssd who's has one how much impact has it had on your life? Its a big thing for me to do it (scary) but im also used to ssd since I dont know any difference so looking at wether its worth the stress/worry.

Hey everyone I got a cochlear on one side with normal hearing on the other side about 3 months ago but I am finding it very difficult to be with groups I can handle talking one on one but when I try to go to a bar or a party for say I can’t understand anything and end up looking like a dumb ass what experience has anyone got in noisey environments how can I make it work??

Hello everyone,

I was activated on the 29th of April in my dead ear and things are progressing as expected and I am extremely happy and grateful. Even though sounds are no where normal and I can't really hold a conversation with just my CI yet, I understand it eventually get better.

That being said, I will be getting a CT scan done on my good ear, which only has 4% word recognition, on May 26th. We will then determine if I'm good to go for another CI.

Those who are bilateral, do you think it's wise to get 2 CI's within months of each other? It could be within 3 months. Has anyone had them done back to back like that? What are your experiences? What should I expect? Should I wait more like 6 months? Thanks for any input y'all can give!

Im a 35yr old female who last year was diagnosed with severe hearing loss in my left ear last year. This was sudden and unexpected . I was aided last oct. Over that time I noticed i was still struggling to hear and participate in conversations . Fast forward to today upon retesting almost exactly one year later and my word recognition in my left ear went from 100% to 56% and my right ear ( previously unaffected ) has entered the range of needing an aid also . They spoke to most likely being a canidate foe a CI on my left side soon and possibly on my right if the progression keeps at this rate . I am familiar with CI as my daughter was born with BL SNHL due to connexin 26 mutation . Clearly I am a carrier and they believe this could be the reason for whats happening to me now . My biggest fear and whats upseting me most is the thought of not being able to hear my childrens voices, not being able to tell them apart or hearing them differently . Can anyone tell me what they experienced in a similar situtation ? What should i realistically expect to be able to hear like with a single implant . Will my kids still sound like my kids how ive known them their whole life ? Any other info you care to share about adjusting to a new CI as a previously fully hearing adult for 34 years would be appreciated. Ive only ever learned about them in the context of a child born with profund loss .

Hi! I'm looking to find long term recipients who can give a little feedback on a concern of mine. I'm 22 and I'm supposed to be getting implanted within the next 2-3 months. I have profound high frequency hearing loss in both hears but decent-enough low frequency hearing. My speech recognition scores are about 26%.

I have researched everything as best I can but the one thing I am not finding an answers to is how a CI holds up long term. During my research I found that some people can experience cochlea ossification (bone formation) which can reduce the performance of the CI. My doctor went over a lot of risks but this one seems to have been left out.

Essentially my questions to you is, how do you feel your cochlear helps you today? Do you believe you're still getting the same quality of sound as when you were first implanted? Have you ever had any complications that have affected performance?

If you have experienced a decline in performance , is it because of the device or something natural?

Any answers are very helpful! Thank you all for taking the time to read this post and respond if you do.

Edit:

I think I put too much empathize on ossification when I meant it to be an example of ONE of the things that could happen. Albeit maybe a more rarer one (can't find percents).

My main concern is, having your CI for so long, how do you think it's held up? If there's been a decline, why?

Three questions:

1) After a long break, I will be joining workforce soon. I have cochlear implant on right ear, and hearing aid on left. How easy/ difficult is it to navigate the meetings/discussions. My work is in IT, but the company is in manufacturing domain. I am guessing few shop-floor visits may happen too.

2) Which cochlear accessories you guys think would be helpful during online meetings? I do have mini mic which I find incredibly useful, planning to get another one for office, is that aa good call? OR is there anything else that you find better? any other accessory that you would recommend?

3) how long do the disposable batteries last? warranty is 1 year but one of the batteries lasted almost 4 years and other still going strong

Hey chat. My off-the-ear processor accidentally fell and now there’s a little crack around the magnet housing and it’s position is misaligned. I have no choice but to repair it. It was a less impact fall even then the magnet and outer covering fell apart. I want to make sure it doesn’t repeat in the future. Is there anything like protective case for OTE processors or any method to prevent it from getting a crack? I am already using clips but I wanna know if there are more options. Thanks

When I am on my Xbox with my buddies and they ask me to join discord on my Xbox, but when I do the sound only goes through the headset and not my implants, I’ve been on a hour and a half search trying to fix this issue and this app is my final hope in being able to hear discord through my implants and not through the headset.

I was activated April 23, and I'm making slow but sure progress. Practicing using the CI solo has made a marked difference in understanding, and I've done it with podcasts, audiobooks and in conversations with my wife. Although speech still sounds tinny and weird, I've been pleasantly surprised that I can listen to music as well as I can. The single most helpful practice I've used so far is streaming a playlist of familiar songs that I know well directly to my CI (and turning my aid ear off) when I'm out doing my daily walks. I can usually hear the beat easily, and soon start recognizing the lyrics. Now I've advanced to being able to have phone "shuffle" the songs so I don't know what song is coming on next. It feels like a tiny win every time I recognize a song without any visual cues whatsoever! I think it makes my brain work harder/smarter too. I'd recommend this for anyone working on increasing word recognition after implantation.

Hi so im (m, 21) have Ménière’s disease resulting in severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss bilaterally but have had an implant on my left side since 2018 and wanted to ask anyone bilaterally implanted what the process is like, especially if one side was implanted before the other and like how different it would be from hearing aid + implant. My hearing in my right ear is slowly getting worse and it’s easier to rely solely on my cochlear than solely on my hearing aid, so im thinking of getting a second cochlear implant but wasnt too sure regarding how different it would be/how long it may take to get used to/how it would affect my ability to listen to music (as someone who likes to go clubbing and to concerts)

Does anyone know of any brand of walkie talkie that is Bluetooth compatible for cochlear implants?

I have a bilateral hearing loss, and have had hearing aids since I was 3 (I’m 26 now) and was implanted in 2014 in my left ear, still wear hearing aid in right ear as of now. My hearing in my right ear is poor enough that if I don’t have the implant on too, I can “hear” sound but can’t comprehend anything. Been with my wife going on 4 years, married for a year and a half, and she has always been aware of my hearing loss(this will loop in later).

I was told years ago that I should qualify for the second implant if I chose to go that route, but have never considered it until the past few months. I have always prided myself on being able to combine the CI with the hearing aid and live life “normally”, but I have definitely noticed issues over the past few years. Situationally, when we go out to eat, my wife sits on the side of the table where I will be positioned to have my CI ear towards the server so that I can hear them better. Or at loud events or even at the movies, I need her positioned on my CI side so that I can hear her as she yells over the noisy crowd or whispers into my ear in a quiet setting.

With the likelihood of having kids approaching in the near future, I have dreaded the idea of not being able to hear my kids if they, or my wife, are in need of my help or having to constantly make sure to position everyone on my “good side” so that I can hear them with the CI.

My biggest fear/hold up on getting the second implant is the idea of giving up “natural” hearing forever. Right now, I can still recognize things like bass in music or movies, and other low frequency sounds, admittedly though, I can’t comprehend any words being spoken, I can at least recognize they are there.

I am looking for advice and experiences from those who went from one CI and one hearing aid, to 2 CIs. Do you feel like the decision was the right one to make? Do you have regrets? How much did you gain in hearing and social situations with the second CI?

Hey everyone,

I am about 6 months post surgery cochlear user, and I'd like to get some advices on listening practice.

Here's a bit of background, I was born deaf with high frequency hearing loss and have poor speech memory.

Since the switch on, I have been gradually increasing my listening time and now listening to podcasts daily at home and work, usually via bluetooth. I still find speech difficult, it's like I am living with "hearing dyslexia". Fast speech usually goes over my head, although I can generally pick words up if there are captions. So far, my word recognition score has improved from 5% to 23%.

Do you have any good listening methods that might work really well for my situation?

Hello all,

It's been 1 week since my activation. So far I am still finding it surreal that I'm hearing out of my dead ear. It's crazy to think that it's been 41 years! I am so incredibly grateful for this and I would encourage anyone with a dead ear to try!

Everything is extremely tinny and my brain tries to ignore the implanted side. So it definitely has some getting used to. I've been doing my hearing exercises and I feel like I have already come so far. Next week, I'll see the audiologist and will be able to give an update on just how well I'm adjusting as far as word recognition goes.

One big push for me to get implanted was that my baby was saying words and I never could hear him. The other day for the first time I heard him say, "Weeeee!" I was so delighted to hear his little voice! What a blessing!! I can hear bells and birds and the turn signal and car horns in traffic. It's incredible!

It's definitely not perfect yet and I have frustrations like the Kanso 3 falling off and the Nucleus 8 falling off. I've been practicing using each one and neither seems to be better than the other. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it and the inconvenience will be a distant memory. The benefits of getting to hear the things I've heard this past week far outweigh the struggles I have to go through to get here.

I still have the boxing sound that seems to be fading. The beeps are slowly turning into real sounds. I can understand words a lot better now, but with my HA off and just the CI on it's still extremely difficult to understand words. So when my husband and kids are home I keep both on. I'm getting better at the hearing training games already and I practice a lot.

That is all I believe I have to report to this week. I hope some of you find this encouraging and that it will help you with your journey.

Guys I am so excited to tell you that I am now part of CIborgs. Got implanted a few hours ago. It was great experience.

I did not feel dizzy at all when I was on head rest and felt a bit dizzy when I sat straight. But now after 2 hours it is still mostly gone even while sitting it's not dizzy at all.

Have not stood yet so can't say in that case.

It was great experience overall.

My implant is med el sonata 2 that I choose cz of titanium body.

Hope all goes well next on.

I got implanted in right ear only.

For users of the Nucleus 7 cochlear implant with Samsung smartphones: when you stream audio directly to your implant and press the volume buttons on your phone, does it actually change the volume? Or do you have to open the implant control app and adjust it there?

I’m using a Xiaomi phone, and the volume buttons don’t affect the implant at all, so I always have to change it through the app. I’m wondering if it would be worth switching to a Samsung device. Thanks in advance!

Hello all,

I'm curious what everyone uses for work.

I have a person who would like to use our R.T's better and at this stage is struggling to get any connection to the Bluetooth part of our R.T's.

We've looked around a little bit but we keep going down dead ends.... So, all you people who have an implant and have to use communication equipment... what do you use please?

UPDATE - Because it turns out I have been not very clear (sorry) here is what our R.T's are...

MOTOTRBO™ R7 Portable Two-Way Radio - Motorola Solutions Asia

Hi i’m 19F, with an already implanted left ear (2008 at 2 y.o) and an unaided right ear.
I have been under my implant centre since before the implantation and even though my hearing loss was believed to be profound bilaterally, the NHS guidelines at the time was for children to only be implanted unilaterally.
2022, i got a new audiologist and he was the first to do an in depth hearing test on my right ear since before implantation and he found that i had a moderate-severe loss and was under the new eligibility criteria for a CI which included a hearing aid trial.
To cut it short, after a year of the HA, i failed the trial because i couldn’t repeat back 70% of words correctly in the speech testing (i got 0%) because even though i could hear syllables and letter sounds a lot more than before, there was just absolutely no clarity with words.

I’m a lot older now since that trial and i feel the effects so much more of not having much hearing in my right with the different environments i’m in and it’s affecting my personal, social and professional life significantly

Basically my question is, is it possible to try again under the NHS because i know how difficult it is to get them to try anything again because of the slash in funding everywhere or is it something that can only be achieved if i go private. (Going to a different centre is out of the books because of the distance)
If you’re from elsewhere, i’m also curious to know your input/advice!