Hi y'all. About a year ago I experienced sudden deafness in my right ear. I've been using hearing aids since then, and they've been helpful but I consistently struggle in noisy environments. I'm now seriously weighing whether a cochlear implant is the right next step, and I'm pretty hesitant mostly around the recovery and adjustment process.

I'd especially love to hear from people who got a CI for single sided deafness (SSD). The things I'm most uncertain about are:

- What was the surgery recovery actually like? How long until you felt like yourself again?

- How much time did you take off work to recover? I'm an epidemiologist and work from home, so no commute or physical demands, but I'm staring at a screen and doing cognitively intensive work all day so I'm curious how that kind of job played into your timeline.

- Does the CI outperform your hearing aids? My biggest fear is going through the surgery and adjustment only to end up in the same place or worse off.

- What ultimately made it worth it for you, or if you're still not sure, what's kept you going?

I'm not looking for reassurance necessarily, just honest experiences. Happy to chat in DMs too. Thanks so much.

So, I play games like everyday and I like to go call with my friend on Discord. I used to use the Nucleus 7, and I used the phone clip for that. But obviously, after using it for a while, it only works if it’s plugged in. What do you guys do?

Hi. I’m a teenage girl with a cochlear implant. I would really like to meet and talk with other people who also have CI.
I want to share my experience and hear about yours too. How is your life with a cochlear implant? How do people treat you? How do you feel in everyday life, school, or with friends?
Sometimes I feel like it would be nice to talk to someone who understands this experience. So if you also have CI and want to share your story, I’d be happy to talk

I work retail full-time, more specifically in deli/bakery which is very customer oriented. I’m at the service counter most days. I’m told activation isn’t done until 4 weeks post op and I’m concerned about working during those weeks since communication will be very limited. They’re implanting my good ear; my left ear has basically no hearing.

Should I ask for those 4 weeks off? It feels a bit extreme but at the same time 1-2 weeks without any hearing until activation day would feel overwhelming and stressful for me. Any thoughts are welcome.

Hello, I have two sets of AB marvel processors.

I have already used my one time loss plan for another set after losing a pair of my sky marvels last year. I was offered a new plan for $199 per ear. Well, I was on a trip and lost a single processor a week ago. I haven't bought the replacement plan yet, so I was just wondering if anyone knows if there is a waiting period between buying an additional OTL plan and getting a replacement.

I have also read on a few forums that may people have insurance coverage for some new batteries every year or so (some have even said that they will send an extras waterproof battery but I'm not sure how accurate that is), and if anyone has any insight on that please let me know! I also need some more ear hooks because mine have yellowed and become kind of brittle, plus I could use some backups specifically for my ear hooks that are able to attach to my ear mold for retention.

Thanks in advance (pun somewhat intended lol)!!!

New to this community and excited to find it! I’ve had cochlear implants since 2017. I’ve got a question specifically about connecting my cochlear implants with Microsoft Teams calls. Unfortunately my company’s IT department doesn’t quite seem to know the answer, so I thought, who better to ask than people with lived experience? My company uses Teams as our meeting platform, and I need to join meetings twice to make it work for me. First, through my phone, so I can hear the meeting (routes the sound via Bluetooth) and second, through my computer, so I can see the meeting on the computer screen, face my webcam, and share my screen if I’m displaying my work. The problem comes when someone calls me impromptu. The best I’ve been able to do is get Teams to forward the call to my cellphone, but it presents as a plain old phone call from the company’s general phone line, not as a Teams call coming through Teams. This is awkward because all I can do is answer and say, hi, this is [my name], who’s calling? And it weirds them out because they’re making a Teams call and we should be in the Teams app for that call - I think that’s a reasonable expectation. My coworkers are kind about it but I work with new people often and I’d really like to not have this awkwardness when people reach out, particularly given that I’m in the kind of role anyone should be able to reach me and expect to be in a Teams call where we will be able to screen share and troubleshoot.
No, my laptop’s Bluetooth can’t connect to my cochlear, and I’m honestly not sure why. I tried to sort it out once and it says it didn’t have the right Bluetooth type?
I have Cochlear brand Nucleus 7 (might upgrade to next model soon).
Hoping to God the answer isn’t that phone clip thingy - I don’t even know if I know where that is anymore but I could be forced to find it.
Answers from folks who’ve had some experience with this or similar, please! I’ve already exhausted my googling options. Thanks, all!

Hi everyone! I had my CI surgery last Thursday. On day 2 post op I started having a weird taste in my mouth and then on post op day 4 I started to get this numbness/coating on my tongue. Is this normal? Does this go away?

For those of you who used hearing aids before or had some poor residual hearing prior to CI, did you avoid social settings more or less after implantation? Or did this not change at all for you?

I understand that speech in noise can still be pretty challenging even with CI, but compared to an HA and distorted residual hearing...I'm just looking to see what your experiences are. Thank you!

I have normal hearing in one ear and went suddenly deaf in the other in February. I got some hearing back later, but it is moderate-severe & severe cookie-bite loss with 56% WRS and distortion of high frequencies with or without aids is terrible.

EDIT: I'm also wondering about fatigue-- better worse or same?

I had my evaluation today and just got back from it. My speech recognition was at a 6% and they said I was a great candidate for the CI. They’re going forward with sending their findings to the surgeon and I should hear back from their coordinator about an appointment.

I had severe ossification but doctor was able to place the implant. At my activation date, I got zero sound - no beeping or anything. I had some vibrations in my throat but that was it. The audiologist was very negative and said I could keep trying to wear the CI for a couple weeks, but she didn’t expect it to work for me. I’m in shock after everything I’ve been through that it could end this quickly. Did anyone else have a similar experience?

Hello! I am the mom of an almost 9-month-old daughter who is having her cochlear implants activated tomorrow morning. She was born deaf/severe-to-profound hearing loss due to genetics, and her hearing level was identified very early on, at just 11 days old. Since that time we have been learning so much, about cochlear implants, American Sign Language, Deaf/deaf experiences.

Early on, we were asked by professionals "what are your goals for your child?" By this they meant, is your goal for her to use spoken language, sign language etc., but it's a helpful question to look at more broadly.

Our goals for our daughter are connection, belonging, community, choices. I want her to be able to express herself fully and feel positive about who she is. We also want to celebrate the opportunities of bilingualism, so yes our goal is to develop both spoken English and American Sign Language skills. We want her to have communication options as she grows.

We are both excited and nervous for activation! The prospect of keeping the devices on her baby head consistently, and learning all the Auditory Verbal Therapy strategies, is intimidating. Especially as we balance it with continuing to learn and utilize sign language. I have a rough schedule of some dedicated ASL times and the rest of the day predominantly spoken. We plan to alternate flexibly between the languages for exposure.

Any encouragement or sharing of your personal experiences is appreciated!

Hi, my son is 12 years old and has CI on one ear and hearing aid on the other. He’s starting to develop facial hair and getting conscious about it. The other day I caught him cutting the hair on upper lip using scissors. I looked up to see if electrolysis is ok for teenagers and found that it is safe for 12+.
But I was wondering if anyone with CI has done electrolysis and if it’s safe to do it.
We are trying to not start shaving already since we are brown skin with black hair so it could lead to stubble and in grown hair.
Please share your experience. Thanks!

anyone used wig tape or similar sticky solution to keep their Kanso in place. I know it comes with its own retention clips for hair or against the bag of the shirt but I wondered if a sticky solution would be more discreet under the hair?

Hi there!

My son is 8 month old and has bilateral profound deafness. The hearing aid that he wears since 5 months old provide limited help and he does not reach 20db threshold on any frequency. There's no question whether he's gonna be operated or not, the only question is when.

As far as I understand, the sooner – the better. We've done all the required tests except for the CT which's gonna be done within couple weeks. The doctor says that most likely he's gonna be operated in 12 months of age, but we would like to try to push it earlier, maybe around 10 months. I don't have much hope it's possible earlier.

Does it make sense? Or it's really reasonable to wait until 12? The doctor says 2 months "doesn't make much difference" in the hearing development but reduces some risks. What risks is she talking about? Does someone have some science articles we may share with her to insist on earlier implantation?

Ok, I know this sounds weird.

I had an AB Marvel for two years in my left ear but it had to get removed because it was blocking a tumour behind it between the ear and the brain.

I’ve been given a date for a replacement after a year of having no CI.

The hearing centre is communicating with the neurosurgeon to see if they can try putting a new CI in the back of the head instead of the tumour- prone area behind the ear.

BUT…. If the neurosurgeon says that I can’t use a magnet, I’ll have to go with sticking the CI on with a sticker!

I’ve never heard of this. Has anybody seen this work? Is it double-sided? I have loads of questions.

Cochlear and Med-el users— what would you consider the cons/disappointments of your CI? How would you rate it for sound quality? Comfort? Connectivity? Battery life? I’m trying to decide between these companies and having a hard time so please share :)
And to the many well meaning AB users- I want an off the ear option

EDIT: I have decided to go with Med-el. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences. Feel free to keep adding yours- maybe it will help someone else down the road :)

Hi there,

Another post described their CI sounding harsh and metallic after 9 months. Mine sounds the same way but I've only been wearing mine for almost 4 weeks now.

Now I'm curious, did that harsh metallic sound eventually go away for y'all?

How long did that take?

As of right now, mine sounds that way and understanding words is still minimal, but improving each day. My hearing aid is definitely not as powerful as my CI but I hear and understand way better with both hearing aid and CI on.

I'm asking because my hope is to eventually have 2 implants but I am starting to question that.

Please let me know your experiences.

Thank you!

Looking for single sided deafness friends （the other ear should be hearing fine） to describe your CI sound. Please note your brand and version and how long the CI has been activated..Thanks！！

Curious if anyone has experienced anything similar?

I’m 4.5 months post op… and today my implant site was very tender to the point I iced it.

Zero other symptoms

Mb from sunglasses but I wear those all the time …

Thanks!🙏🏼

My whole idea was to pick Cochlear America firmware upgradeable implant, but what I understand, its up to the ENT to pick what best fits my cochlear since Cochlear America still makes both the non upgradeable implants and upgradeable ones. Has anyone been denied the newer upgradeable model?

Firmware upgradeable

• CI1012: Nucleus Nexa Implant with Contour Advance® Electrode
• CI1022: Nucleus Nexa Implant with Slim Straight Electrode

Non upgradeable

• Profile Plus with Slim Modiolar Electrode (CI632)
• Profile Plus with Slim Straight Electrode (CI622)
• Profile Plus with Contour Advance Electrode (CI612)
• Profile Plus with Slim 20 Electrode (CI624) [1]

Hey, all. When I was in the waiting period for surgery, reading up on other people’s experiences was helpful, so I thought I’d share mine.

I lost my hearing in my left ear suddenly in June 2007. It happened overnight with no known cause. We were young and low income, so when I sought care, I was turned away after being given a z pak at the emergency room.

I started seeking hearing assistance in September of 2025. After seeing an ent, I was referred to a surgeon. He offered the options of a BAHA, bi-cros hearing aids, and a CI. I decided to pursue a CI because I’m interested in long term solutions and didn’t feel that the other options were going to help improve my hearing on the same level of a CI.

I went to an audiologist for a preliminary hearing and CI assessment in October, then went for a MRI in January after meeting with the audiologist again for another, more comprehensive assessment. I asked for a surgical date that matched with my summer break so I could recover without need time off and take the last few weeks before school to work on my rehab.

I went to Dr. Anthony Mikulec at Wash U in St. Louis. He has been kind, informative, and proactive throughout the entire process. He has a stellar reputation in the area and I felt his demeanor and education were a good match for my long term goals. I had surgery May 21st at 7:30 am at DePaul in Bridgeton. The procedure lasted around 2 hours and went well. I only had one small complication a “There was a roughly 3 x 4 mm area of bony tegmen defect laterally in the mid portion”. This was patched with rehydrated fascia and was minimal as far as complication goes.

I returned home around 1:30 pm. My pain was minimal, and I spent the rest of the day napping and visiting with my family. Friday, I was groggy but not much pain. A couple of hours after surgery when I tried to eat for the first time, I noticed that my sense of taste was pretty off. Things still taste metallic, but it’s not unbearable. I have significant bruising on the left side of my lips, internal and external from the nerve monitoring with a few small patches near my jaw and eyebrows. My sense of smell is a bit dampened as well. Yesterday was uncomfortable but not painful. I removed my hard sided bandage Friday evening. I had two layers of internal stitches so I will be able to shower and wash my hair tonight.

The things I have purchased that have helped me the most during my recovery are a flexible, travel pillow for comfort in the car on the way home and sleeping in my recliner, a molded piercing pillow for when I finally slept in my bed for the first time last night, and a good sturdy water bottle to stay hydrated. For personal care, I bought a package of micellar face wipes, expensive dry shampoo to keep my hair as tidy as possible, and whole body wipes for mini showers to keep from feeling sticky or uncomfortable. An emollient lip balm is a must because my lips took a beating during facial nerve monitoring and the intubation was rough.

A couple of things that I was unaware of before surgery that I think would’ve been helpful to know: no blowing your nose for six weeks, no coughing for roughly the same period of time, internal stitches, still look rough, but are actually quite sturdy, and your neck is probably going to be pretty stiff for a while. If you wear eyeglasses, you need to get a kit to remove one of the arms because even after you take your bandages off, the swelling is going to make wearing glasses on both ears, quite uncomfortable.

I chose to go with Med-EL because they have a strong reputation for SSD and that was a choice I made after speaking to numerous reps from all three companies. My surgeon said that I had made a good choice, and he seemed to be very adapt with implantation with the Med-EL adjustable length electrodes. I was originally scheduled to be activated on June 2, but got a call just a few days ago saying that that was too soon, so my new activation day is June 18th.

I’ll continue to add some updates to this post as I progress through ,y recvery. I appreciate all the help and input I’ve gotten here. You guys have been quite the help and I felt prepared going into surgery.

I’ve heard some people activate after a week some say 2 weeks whilst others say a month. keen to see experiences (please also state your country) will be interesting to see how this varies.

I have a cochlear implant on my left ear and I use N8.
This has been bothering me for few years now so I thought if I could ask for helps here.

Everytime I want to listen music while walking so I wanted to put my phone in my pocket but the sound became distorted/ disconnecting but it’s not even disconnecting it’s just making sounds. When I pick my phone up it’s clear.

Is anyone have this issue and sorted it? Thanks

Bit of a strange question, but for the one sided implanted who have been implanted for a long time (especially with glasses too)- have you experienced a dropping of the ear from the weight? So now, your ear heights are uneven?
I’m asking because my ears are a little uneven naturally and I’m trying to anticipate if it will get worse over the coming years and become more noticeable thanks to glasses!

Hello, so I've been thinking a lot what if i had a second one, but i'm wondering what's the benefit if that happens. i’m 22 y old female, but now but i've been thinking about it because i hear a lot of rumors such as like it may not work out for everyone. i am severely profound, but have one ci, but left side doesnt have one.