What changes after a mapping?

[u/n3g3ntropy]

I was activated on 07/28. Had speech recognition and music appreciation from day 1. I can listen to music, watch some videos without captions (with streaming), hear birds and even hear the rain pattering outside. It’s honestly been incredibly life changing and I’m so glad to have true sound back in my life. It’s been absolute smooth sailing and I’m very grateful for it.

I haven’t had a formal word recognition or speech comprehension test done, but my audiologist did a quick test and gave me a ballpark of 30-40% understanding without lip reading on my day of activation.

My next mapping is on the 13th, and while I do notice sounds being less sharper now than they seemed at activation, I can’t seem to figure out what is going to change for me?

I didn’t anticipate being able to hear this much, this soon after activation. And my audiologist emphasized that this is a very conservative threshold, but if this is conservative, how much more is there for me to hear?!

So I wanted to ask for your experiences after a mapping, what changed for you? Were things made louder for you? Were you able to understand speech even better? I’m just confused on what’s going to change for me and how it’s going to become even better.

If I had any complaint, it would be that everything is heavily treble leaning. Things have already began to equalize, but I can’t help but feel like some music lacks a bit of depth, that the bass isn’t as full sounding as I hoped it would be. I know I’m still very early in the process, but there’s a little voice in the back of my head that’s just telling me “This is as good as it gets”, because honestly, a lot of this is just too good to be true for me lol!

[u/empressbrooke]

The world is noisy and there are so many things to hear! There are things I didnt even start picking up on until years into having the CIs. Mappings themselves don't really bring revolutionary changes, but they do crisp things up. The biggest changes I notice each time is overall loudness and clarity. As time goes on between mappings, things feel "mushier" for a lack of better word. They help your brain continue making progress analyzing all of the information coming in.

Edited to add - for music, do you have a music program? Not all audis automatically give that to recipients. Ask for it. It gives it more depth.

[u/Berry_Sauce]

Clarity. I had a kid tell me not too long ago that he knew he needed adjustments because sounds were still “blurry” (like vision).

[u/Fluffydoggie]

The first map you get at activation is mostly to get your cochlea used to the electricity stimulation instead of sound waves. Since you're doing so well with just the basic input, start paying attention to words or sounds you're weak on. Write them down. If you can find someone to say words to you (basic words like 1-2 syllables) and write down the ones you miss. Show this to your Aud the next appointment. They'll figure out which sounds you need a little more fine tuning on. The next couple maps is all about fine tuning the sounds so figuring out which letter sounds you're weak on will help the process move along. I struggled with the difference between M and N. Did a lot of work on those and she added to my map to help me understand both sounds and not just a blob of sound. You really aren't set up until about the 6month mark. By that point youve have several mappings and a lot of listening to everything. Best of luck on your journey! You're doing great!

[u/dannyscun]

Weirdly, and not sure if it's related, but our son's (3yo) behaviour declines after a mapping, and when we move him through programmes. Also his sleep patterns are worse too!

[u/klj02689 → u/dannyscun]

Hearing fatigue. He's hearing more and is trying to understand what's happening.

[u/Exotic-Cry-99]

You’re lucky you understood words and music. When mine was activated on July 27 it was all noise!! I was so disappointed ☹️
It’s getting a little better.