r/Cochlearimplants

Good morning,

It has been 3 weeks since my activation and new sounds come to me nearly every day.

Earlier this week, as I was walking in the park I could hear the man near me with his flip flops flapping.

That came day, I heard my necklaces in my rear view mirror clanging. I never knew they made a sound. It just never occurred to me, haha!

I can now hear the washer make its lovely musical tune that it does when it is finished.

Yesterday, as I was in the carline waiting to pick up my kids from school, I suddenly noticed I was hearing a familiar song perfectly and I was only wearing my implant at the time!

My husband and kids are enjoying coming up with random sentences for me to repeat back. Which is so helpful and fun!

I have come such long way and I am so grateful for this gift of hearing in my right ear! It amazes me that after 41 years of not a single sound, it works! I've been doing my listening exercises faithfully and it seems to be less and less daunting as I am becoming more successful in the apps.

All the frustrations and listening fatigues I experienced before my activation is basically non existent. I'm am definitely more relaxed and content throughout the days!

Thank you all for your encouragement as I continue my journey! God is so good! God bless!

has anyone taken advantage of the patient support they offer such as introducing you to an implant recipient, etc.

what services were you offered, what did you actually receive and was it worth the time?

Thought about this with totally implantable cochlear implants coming (TICI) soon.

With TICI’s, everything will be inside.

So I got to thinking, for those of you who have had implants for a long time, have the processor upgrades been a big deal? What improves? In a world where a TICI is an option, would you still choose an external processor for the ability to upgrade in the future? Or are the processor upgrades just not that big a deal?

Thanks

Hello everyone, I was wondering if people could offer me some advice or share personal experiences regarding going bilateral. 

I lost my hearing at around 5 years old, in which I developed profound loss in my left side and moderate loss in my right. I was implanted on my left side in 2014 at age 7, and have also had a hearing aid in my right side ever since. For the last 4-ish years, I have found that I prefer my left side significantly more. I prefer people to sit or stand on my left and find it significantly harder when people are on my right, especially at school. I’ve been to my audiologist who looks after my right (HA) a few times over the last couple of years and basically been told that my hearing aid is as loud as it can be, yet i always feel like I want more! I am consistently frustrated in social situations when I feel like I can’t hear someone, no matter how many times i ask them to repeat themselves, and I am constantly tired out from concentrating so hard. 

I have recently gone in for a consultation to get a second implant on my right side. My hearing loss in my right ear is only JUST bad enough to make me a candidate for a second implant, but my audiologist seems to think it would be a good move. 

I’ve booked a date with my surgeon, but I’m starting to chicken out a bit. Is this the right decision? I still have around 30-40% natural hearing in my right ear, so even though I find my left stronger, am I silly to throw away the natural hearing I have left? I’m worried about making myself completely deaf. My left cochlear side sounds natural to me, but I’m wondering if that is only because I still have natural hearing in my right, and if it will sound very different with two implants. I’m someone who loves music, so I'm particularly worried about this. It also only properly hit me last night how scary the prospect of being completely deaf is, and I think it might be a very big shock to me. Any advice, positive or negative, would be greatly appreciated, particularly from anyone who has gone from the cochlear implant & hearing aid combo to bilateral implants. 

Thanks for letting me vent, it’s hard to talk to hearing people in my life because they don't quite understand what a cochlear implant sounds like! 

This is such a non-issue in the grand scheme of things but I got implanted 10 years ago when I was 11 and I'm getting a growing itch of frustration that the few sports I'm interested in are discouraged. My mental health is down the drain and I desperately need to get out more, and the one thing I found locally that sparked some interest (that I don't need extra equipment for) was woman's kickboxing. When I was 11 I didn't care about doing contact sports, so it was a non-issue when deciding on this surgery, but now I'm like ?!?!?! It would be so fun! And I can't??? Fuck's sake!

The other thing I want to do is cycle, but I live on a dangerous road so it'd be difficult to cycle around. I would have to join a local cycling group, which is fine, but my parents (who I live with) are concerned that I won't be able to hear signals or survive on a bike on the road. I sometimes wish I could walk into a soundproofed room and scream lmao

(see audiogram pic below) I have 56% wrs on the deafened ear and distortion with high frequencies. It has been 3 months since onset, but I don't know how a hearing aid will make things better. I have been trialing one for a week and the high frequencies come through and are so overpowering/towering over the rest of speech, I have to keep volume low but words don't come through wholly when i do that (just the shrill broken guitar string effect of high freq and some lower tones). I don't think I'll be comfortable at the final stage of hearing aid adjustment with that distortion and the still somewhat muffled voices.

Wondering if anyone had a similar experience and went with CI. If so, please share and include whether any residual hearing interferes with CI, helps, etc.

Thank you!

https://preview.redd.it/j9ng1u6p342h1.jpg?width=2488&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9ef4425d22a37d4e79bd48e4737fd69db23b6fe0

I had CI surgery on April 22nd. I have a Cochlear Nucleus N7 implant. Today was my first use. My impressions are mixed. I was able to communicate with the doctor and understood about half of what she said. However, as far as I was told, this is a good result for a first use, considering I've been deaf for six months. But as far as I know, there are tuners like the Wireless Mini Microphone 2, which make it easier to communicate in loud places or during active recreation, and also connect the CI to a computer. But the price of this device is steep, considering it's essentially a simple Bluetooth microphone. Are there any similar devices that are cheaper? And will they work with my implant?

Hi everyone!

I’m scheduled for surgery this Thursday! I know there are many posts about this, but please let me know how your surgery went, recovery after, and any tips!

Thank you!

looks like most surgeons now treat this as a day case and you are sent home the same evening.

is there any benefit of staying overnight as an inpatient and worth pushing for?

surgery

cost of implant device

cost of processor (external device)

rehab and tuning/mapping appointments

asking as still awaiting approval and whether I will need to fund any of the above items or anything else

Had my cochlear implant activated yesterday and the audiologist did the initial programming. I have genetic hearing loss that runs in my family. My father and one of my siblings has it. Two of my nephews have the genetic hearing loss as well. I had been wearing hearing aids for 27 years progressing from the CIC model to the Behind the ear model as my loss progressed. I have a CT scheduled for next week. The audiologist said they analyze the CT and implant placement to plan to make further adjustments. I was unsure of what to expect when the implant was turned on. I've read people experience bells and whistles to an angry swarm of bees sounds. I didn't have any of that. Actually, I was understanding the audiologist speaking to me. I even took my hearing aid out of my non-implanted ear to test just listening with the cochlear implant. I was actually able to understand the majority of what she was saying. She said the fact that I still had some residual hearing in my ear that was implanted probably helped the transition since my ear the nerve was still active and being used. I'm excited and its strange hearing things I haven't heard in a long while. The only thing is right now when people speak to me, it sounds like I am in a steel drum. The audiologist said that eventually will go away. I was hesitant to get the surgery. But now I am glad I did.

As I recently got my CI done after the 4 months of sudden hearing. I would really like to know how people are earning their living as am really worried that I need to be dependent on others.

Hi everyone,

I’m deaf and lost my hearing due to sudden hearing loss in 2024. After spending about a year completely unable to hear, I received cochlear implants in 2025.

For a school project, I’ve been thinking about a product to make life easier for me and other people that are deaf or hard of hearing. Since losing my hearing, I’ve noticed that things like alarm clocks, fire alarms, doorbells, or other household alerts are often not very practical or reliable for me, especially at night when I’m not wearing my implants or when I’m not near the device. Even accessibility devices like vibrating alarm clocks often feel unnecessarily impractical to me.

My idea is a watch that connects to different devices around the home and gives clear alerts by vibrating and with light signals. I also want it to be simple and accessible for older people.

I wanted to ask:

* Do any of you have similar problems with current alert systems?
* What devices or situations are the most frustrating for you?
* Would something like this actually be useful to you?

I’d really appreciate honest feedback.

Thanks a lot

I have Rondo 3 and my hair is normal short ( 45m Greece) and since I'm sensitive to strong sun heat I wear baseball caps during the summer. Now with Rondo 3 I can't find a way to wear my cap on my head because it comes in contact with the processor that is sitting atop and few inches back of my right ear ( that's where the surgeon put my internal magnet ) . If someone ( preferably a short haired CI user ) knows how or has a video of how to do it correctly please tell me

I have a toddler implanted shortly after 1st birthday. He is nearly two years wearing implants. He can listen to instructions and basic sentences. But he doesn't speak any words yet. Audiologist assured mapping is on track. SLP doesn't say anything as of yet. We are waitlisted to be seen by pediatrician in a few months. We are anxious and worried since he won't speak clear words but babbles a lot. He babbles basic syllables like ma, ow, ah, u, ya, among others. He can understand basic sentences with any gestures or pointing like bye bye, take a bath, turn off lights, go sleep, drive, go outside, wear clothes and many more.

Anyone able to share stories based in similar experiences? Would love to hear it. We are in Calgary, AB btw.

Edit: we are working with SLP. We are seeing our SLP regularly

Hello everyone,

I want to know about cochlear implantation. After getting a cochlear implant, is a person able to communicate normally without needing to look directly at someone’s face (for lip reading)?

Can they understand speech clearly in everyday conversations, especially when they cannot see the speaker’s face?

I would really appreciate hearing from people who have cochlear implants or from anyone with experience or knowledge about this. Thank you.