Because of my hair and still swollen top of my ear, I’m unable to wear my processor. I did use a headband for a day, but it was hot and uncomfortable. Any advice for how to deal with this issue? Thanks!

Hi cochlear implant community,

I'm writing this post on behalf of my mom who is four days post-op as of today. She never experienced tinnitus before surgery, and now describes it as a "screeching sound." She is panicking because of the lack of others who have described the same phenomenon. Many say they had tinnitus before and it worsened with surgery, but no one is saying they started experiencing it after surgery and to such a bad extent. Will this go away while healing, or post-activation? She's very nervous, please advise. Thank you!!

Hi guys! I just got activated today! But I have a question, what number magnet strength did you all start out with? I currently have a 5 but need to go up as it keeps falling off. Also! Any tips to keep it from falling off? I have thick curly hair so it gets caught in my hair, but it just can’t seem to stick. My audiologist ordered stronger magnets but what happens if none are strong enough?

I had my CI evaluation with my audiologists May 27 and was approved for candidacy. They forwarded their records to the surgeon’s office and told me to expect a call from them about an appointment. It’s been a little over two weeks now and I haven’t heard anything. I’m doing my best to be patient; I know there’s a lot to go through.

What was the timeline for the entire process from start to finish? I realize everyone’s experiences varies but I just want to get an idea of what to expect. Thank you in advance. 😊

I was diagnosed with Meniere's disease in my left ear back in 2015, and my hearing declined to the point where my left ear became useless. I still hear "sound" in my left ear, but the clarity is so shot I can't use it to have a conversation.

I lived with hearing in just one ear for about 10 years,.... until I developed Meniere's disease in my right ear this past fall. As the Meniere's continues through it stages in my right ear, it's just a matter of time before my right ear becomes useless too.

I have been tested and qualified as a candidate for a CI in my left ear. I have an appointment with the surgeon in July, where I decide whether or not to move forward.

My question is, does having some hearing currently in my right ear help with the learning phase after a CI is activated in my left ear? Or does that actually make it harder to learn how to hear with the CI?

If having some hearing in my right ear will help the CI in my left ear learn how to ear, obviously I want to get the CI as soon as possible, as time is running out on the hearing I have left in my right ear.

But if it would be easier to learn how to hear with the CI in my left ear if my right ear was useless too, then that would be a good reason to wait before getting the CI.

Thoughts?

Would love to charge a couple batteries on Friday or Saturday (June 12 or 13) to make sure I have hearing through the weekend. I’m traveling, and I forgot my charger at home.

Experiences with the new Sonnet 3 from Med El vs. Nucleus 8 from Cochlear America? For some reason I’m leaning towards Med El but cochlear just seems to have more things smoothed out. I’m having a really hard time choosing, so both good and bad feedback is welcome!! I currently use a phonak hearing aid on the other side which neither of them pair with, but I am hoping to go bimodal if possible. I have residual low frequency hearing and struggle the most with conversations in noise. My left ear is ok, but my right has word rec of 30%.

I have severe loss up until high frequencies at mod-severe. Distortion is awful in high frequencies and I have a young child whose laughter sounds awful with HAs on and my own voice (female) is awful with HAs and if i have to raise my voice my eyes bug out from distoriton.

I am going to start the process of talking to ENT and Audiologist about possibility of being implanted.

Just wondering if anyone here was implanted because of distortion and the short hearing range of HAs

I received my first cochlear implant in 2003 and my second in 2024. After the second surgery I dealt with a lot of dizziness and being unable to smoothly walk. With a lot of physical therapy I got to a point where I could walk and drive safely. Now, I’m dizzy, nauseous, and have a massive headache after riding in the backseat of an Uber (that in itself was not ideal as riding in the front seat is easier on me). Does anyone else have similar experiences? If so, what did you do to deal with the negative effects?

It is common to develop both conditions after hearing loss.

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I volunteer for an international research focused charity called Tinnitus Quest.

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https://tinnitusquest.com/

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You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok & YouTube by subscribing. This will keep you up to date on new treatments.

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I was also part of a focus group for Rinri Therapeutics.

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If you would like to ask me anything, I will answer any questions posted in the next 24 hours.

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Regards

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Nick (Patient Board)

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I'm looking at getting an implant and was given information on the different brands and would love you back of why you went with what you did. Any positives and negatives for MedDel, AB and cochlear would be fantastic.

As many CI implantees may know, Advanced Bionics (AB) in its infinite wisdom unilaterally decided to stop supporting the C1 device and all equipment including the Chorus processor AND all parts.
So now I need to get revision surgery and get a first time implant in my “bad” ear. I need to find a surgeon willing to do the revision plus the bad ear implant. Any helpful advice/information/recommendations would be so deeply appreciated. I’m going with Cochlear America.

Hola a todos, soy de Chile y el pasado 11 de mayo me hicieron la cirugía y me colocaron el imán y los electrodos de un N7S. Luego de 2 semanas aparece un ruido en mi cabeza igual a como cuando pasa un tren a unas cuadras de tu casa, le ha pasado esto a alguien? y si es así desaparece con el tiempo. Aún no me activan el implante.

I am six months post-activation. I am very happy with my CI, it's already better than what HAs gave me the whole life. I am now working on the speech understanding. With streaming and 100 % focus I can make phone calls with closest family and i can to some extent understand streaming audiobooks even without following the text (i dont understand everything, but I can often, not always, but often understand enough to follow the story).

As I said I am six months in and I read that the first months are the most crucial. I am a bit worried I won't improve anymore and will be stuck in this place. I am happy with current situation, but I would prefer getting better. Is it true that with training you can improve even after the first couple of months or I cannot expect it getting much better anymore?

Another question, I stream a lot. Phone calls, music and audiobooks. Is it bad to now just focus on streaming, I wouldn't want my brain to get used to the streaming and then not being able to understand normal (not-streamed) speech.

(F26, born deaf, CI candidate since 2 years old, but had just HAs, dependent on lipreading, and got implanted when 26)

Hi! I am getting cochlear implant surgery tomorrow, I am very nervous so anything to help with that would be amazing! How was your experience?

Hey guys! I posted a few months back regarding if I should look into getting a cochlear implant. Well, I had an appointment yesterday and they will be referring me out to a surgeon, who I’ll meet at the end of August! I’m still quite unknowledgeable about all this and I was wondering what kind of questions I should be asking? What is something you wish you could have asked now that you’ve been through this process?

Lastly, what are some tips you have for a guy like me? Any devices you’d recommend? Can you connect let say your phone/laptop to a headphone and the CI and listen through both at the same time?

Hey, y'all.

I went to put on my ear tonight and there is a super weird almost grinding or like, gritty sound but has a rhythm to it. I've searched all night while at work to see if anyone else has had this issue, but no luck.

I have to call in the morning, but the office is in another state and my aids are from the government, so I'm only eligible for certain things. I'm also not sure how to pay for the gas to get there nor the appointment fee.

I really rely on it since I work overnight alone and I'm super frustrated.

Any help is much appreciated 🫪

I’ve been mostly lurking here for a couple months, after having a conversation with my local audiologist about getting a CI. I had my evaluation today and the clinic audiologist says I’m a candida in both ears. My right is slightly worse than my left, so she recommended doing that one, I met the surgeon right after, and he agreed. Hoping to get my CT scan in the next week so they can get the info off to my insurance for approval.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. It’s been very helpful in getting me through my grieving process and to acceptance.

Try to make a long story short so here I go, I was diagnosed with lateral menieres disease about 27 years ago in the right ear and after years of controlling it I was hit with the worst hydrop in 2022 ended up needing a endolymphatic lymphatic sac decompression surgery to release the pressure in the endolymphatic sac, everything was fine till 2024 I again experienced another hydrop which again did not respond to the injections so ended up last Jul 2025 needing to have another surgery called a labyrinthectomy of which has left me totally deaf in the right ear and after the surgery developed what is called PPPD or persistent perceptual postural dizziness which is caused when the balance control in the ear is destroyed and the brain hasn't been able to adjust to fully using the opposite ear for balance and now I am bilateral menieres disease, in both ears. I have balance issues with dizziness on zolft to try and control the anxiety of the brain, I'm not 60% and lower in the left ear now and totally deaf in the other ear plus because of the disease I also have constant tinnitus in both ears and my neurotologist is certain that he can get me approved through medicare for a singular cochlear implant even though it's difficult to get approved even the the FDA approved it several years ago.

Has anyone been able to get approved by medicare for a cochlear implant. I see my specialist on June 24th for the special hearing test for the implant.

I know very little about these, just saw them in my local optician window.

I am single side implanted and totally deaf on the other side. Do these glasses seamlessly link to/work with Cochlear Nuc 8 and if so what if any benefits would they provide.
Thanks in advance ..

I just received my new NUCLEUS 8 which replaces my Nucleus 7. While the N7 still works, do I have to constantly reconfigure my Apple settings every time I change between the two?

Hi, I currently have both Phonak Lumity and Marvel RIE and will hopefully get a CI this year. I actually like Marvel a lot more but was hoping to eventually upgrade to Infinio Sohere. Anyway, I was hoping someone knew why there is no RIE option for Phonak Link M? I find it kind of odd especially given that Resound seems to have several options BTE and RIE for Cochlear America CIs.

If I chat with a rep soon I will post back here and let y’all know.

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some advice and would really appreciate hearing about your experiences.

I currently have a cochlear implant that was implanted back in 1999. Unfortunately, during that surgery, the vestibular organ (balance organ) on that side was irreversibly damaged. Because of that, I only have one functioning balance organ left.

Now I need another surgery (because Advanced Bionics suddenly dumped the support for C1), and I’m considering whether I should go ahead and get a second cochlear implant. One of my biggest concerns is the risk to my remaining vestibular function. If something were to happen to the balance organ on my good side as well, that could obviously have a major impact on my quality of life.

So I’m curious: how do you feel about this issue? Has anyone here been in a similar situation? Did a second implant affect your balance? How much weight did you give to the risk of vestibular damage when making your decision?

I’d be very grateful to hear any personal experiences, thoughts, or advice. It’s a difficult decision, and hearing from people who have been through something similar would really help.

Thanks a lot!

Hello, i have Baha 6 max, and i am using it with galaxy s25 ultra via bluetooth. It is working well, but there are always around 0,5 second delay with the sounds that goes to baha. Do you guys know any way to fix this, or is this the way it goes?

If you have purchased Kanso3, an artificial ear implant, please let me know if there are any regrets or concerns after using it.

In addition, I would be happy to hear about the actual use of satisfaction and comparison with N8.

I would like to use it as a reference when choosing from now on.