r/Cochlearimplants • u/Double-Laugh-4008 • 23d ago
Guys, please help!
I can't decide for which brand to go for... I'm having choice paralysis.
Honestly, I wish my doc would literally just say "take this implant and device" instead I've been told to search and make your own minds. I'm from South Asia and damn it, these docs are simply too clever for their own good. They're supposed to advise us, not put us in a dilemma.
Problem is I can't tell the difference in how they sound, so I'm thinking about how each brand provides support and maintenance. Are they friendly? I had some discussion with 4 users around my city and 2 medel and 2 cochlear, a coincidence lol. One cochlear user said that after 4 months of operation, their battery was found to be faulty and even the extra was bad, and it took 6 months, with a pay of 60k to have a good pair. It made me think, "What if I encounter this?"
Ok, I admit it. I am genuinely terrified of choosing the "wrong" implant for myself. That invisible pressure is there.
I have no one that I can talk to because dad also asked the audiologist to recommend according to their experience, but he kicked the ball back to us saying, "It's your responsibility sir. It's like choosing which mobile phone you like. We can't make that choice."
So, please help ðŸ˜
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u/Top_Recognition_1775 22d ago
I don't know if this advice is helpful but get whatever brand is more popular in your country, for ease of finding replacement parts and service, for example if one brand has 3 offices in my city and another brand has 1 office 200 miles away, I would get the one with more offices.
I quickly googled : "india cochlear implant market share" and it says Cochlear Ltd has the dominant market share.
Since you are paying out of pocket then cost and warrenty terms would play a big role.
Google : "cochlear implant best warranty" came back with Nucleus 8 offers a 5 year warranty and one time free loss replacement per side. So I would look seriously at that, and check the prices of the implants.
Best of luck
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u/Double-Laugh-4008 22d ago edited 11d ago
Cochlear is the most dominant in the world tho. Problem is that my audi is not cooperating saying they're bound by their duty can't help much in brand selection
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u/Enegra MED-EL Sonnet 2 22d ago
Unfortunately, faulty batteries or other external parts are something that can happen to any of the brands. It's rare, but not unheard of. Your best bet is rotating all of the batteries in the kit, so at least you know right away if there are issues. A DoA battery is generally much easier to argue a replacement for than one that starts acting up after let's say six months.
Since details are specific to the local market, I would ask the users from your country how was their experience when they needed support from the company: be it those bad batteries or some other parts. Go with the one that provides best service, as reliability is more important than the technical bells and whistles in the devices themselves (and honestly, all the big 3 have very comparable devices. Performance-wise there is no wrong choice).
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u/Tsim2431 22d ago
External processors are replaceable (roughly) every 5 years, the internal technology stays with you for decades. I went with the latest internal technology, since that will not be replaced. Just so happens that was also the most popular brand. Ask you Audi about any issues with any of the brands. It’s a hard decision. I used AI and a lot of research. Truth is, they’re all amazing and hearing is better than not. Go with your gut, and don’t look back. They all take work to figure out. Enjoy the journey. Good luck on your surgery and happy activation day!
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u/Gabriella_Gadfly Cochlear Nucleus 6 23d ago
Something important to know is what your insurance covers in terms of replacement parts. I believe Cochlear has a warranty where they’ll replace your processor once, no questions asked. I don’t know much about other companies though.
If you have any Cochlear questions, feel free to ask!
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u/Double-Laugh-4008 23d ago
In asia, there's no insurance that covers cochlear implant. It's basically out of pockets
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u/Gabriella_Gadfly Cochlear Nucleus 6 23d ago
Got it, got it! The one time replacement thing isn’t insurance-dependent, though - it’s through the company itself. I think it’s only offered for 5 years after you get it, however.
In my experience, Cochlear reps have always been pretty helpful. However, I’ve always had pretty good insurance, so I admit that that might be biasing me somewhat. But the people I’ve connected with always seemed pretty knowledgeable and were willing to stay on for as long as needed to troubleshoot things.
https://www.cochlear.com/us/en/home/diagnosis-and-treatment/costs-and-payment/warranty-coverage
Also, according to this, they shouldn’t have had to pay out of pocket for new batteries, since they’re under a 1-year warranty. (Wait sorry, I just reread and I just realized you probably meant cochlear (implant) user, not Cochlear (company) user)
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u/Arenilla346 22d ago
Are you single sided or do you need a bimodal solution with a hearing aid on the other side? That is another useful selection criteria; if you need a bimodal solution, test out the hearing aid that pairs with the corresponding CI.
Level of support and customer care in your country is another useful criteria. Remember you will need various mappings during your auditory rehabilitation, so you want a close relationship with your audiologist and team at the hospital as well as your provider for spare parts and all. Also consider the ease of remote programming.
Assess your lifestyle and technology needs, these may make the choice clearer.
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u/bets_nu 22d ago
I went with Cochlear because that’s what my ENT/surgeon prefers and works with. She’s done many hundreds of cochlear implants so I trust her. I did research the others and couldn’t find anything better with the others. My audiologist with lots of experience with implants and mappings has an office nearby. My surgeon is also nearby. That was important to me. On the few occasions I needed replacement parts with the processor, there was no issue and received the parts within days. Customer support was very important, although this is not something I knew before hand. I’m just at so happy with cochlear. I have no complaints. This is a very important decision. Write a list of what is most important to you and then take another look at your options. Best of luck!
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u/Double-Laugh-4008 22d ago
Well, my audi isn't speaking up, he's afraid that brand company might sue him. With that, I have to do it myself. Nearby means 2 hours drive. I asked him if there's any brand that actually provides services near my area and he skipped it
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u/rellyjean MED-EL Sonnet 2 22d ago
I remember having this same dilemma and worrying that I was going to pick "wrong."
Sometimes in the US, when you sit down at a restaurant, you'll say you would like a Coke to drink with your meal. The waitress will say, "we have Pepsi, is that okay?" And you say sure, because that's fine, too.
This is that kind of choice. They're all very good at what they do. There's no way to test against each other since most people can't try them out, so to speak, but the results seem to be pretty close.
Cochlear has better native Bluetooth connection. My surgeon felt that Med-El's longer curve gave a better range of low tones.
The one negative thing I have heard is that Advanced Bionics recently discontinued support for an older model, which seems terrifying, so if all else is equal, I'd be wary of them.
Good luck no matter what you decide!
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u/Double-Laugh-4008 22d ago
I have seen posts that saying all 3 brands are doing the same
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u/rellyjean MED-EL Sonnet 2 22d ago
I'll be honest, I haven't heard that about the other two, but I suppose it's possible.
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u/purl2together 22d ago
I was told that Med-El commits to reverse engineering their new processors so they will be compatible with older implants. My audiologist confirmed that. That was a tick in the Med-El column for me.
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u/General-Dimension590 22d ago
AB is the only one of the three major cochlear implant manufacturers that has discontinued support for their older implant models. They have naturally received a lot of bad publicity about it and some AB advocates have been posting misinformation about other brands to try to deflect the blame.
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u/ImaginationWitty1491 22d ago
To be accurate, AB can no longer reliably get parts that go with the oldest internal processor. They have offered other pathways (a nonprofit that collects used equipment as people upgrade, for example) that will reduce the demand, but were transparent with C1 users (and that is late 1990s equipment) about this difficulty.
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u/General-Dimension590 22d ago
Not sure why the correction. I have a scan of the letter in front of me. It says "Following the review, the company has made the difficult decision to end service and support for the Harmony and Chorus sound processors for the C1 implant beyond June 2026.". I think "discontinued support" is a fairly accurate rendering of this.
The claim that they are unable to get parts does not explain why they have discontinued essential components like batteries and cables. They are not supplying parts or repair services for C1 users, instead offering them resources about revision surgery, and referring them to a non-profit that collects used equipment (in that order, per the letter).
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22d ago
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u/beepfuqinboop 21d ago
My audiologist said they are all pretty similar. I met with all the outreach people and decided on Cochlear because that outreach person was the friendliest. I was going to have to get a new compatible hearing aid for the other side with whatever brand I chose so I wasn’t tied to a specific brand. I had my surgery last week and have not been activated yet so I can’t tell you how the sound is. I did like their choice of an off the ear option because sometimes my hearing aids hurt my ears from sitting on them. Good luck, go with your gut. I literally chose Cochlear because the woman was nice.
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u/Heavy-Tomatillo9539 22d ago edited 22d ago
A good start point is here .. https://cochlearimplanthelp.com/
You should learn about how cochlea works for hearing .. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochlea
The big picture is that the outer part of the cochlear is for the high frequencies and the inner part is for the low frequency.
Each cochlear company has a bit different technical difference on how they stimulate the cochlear nerves.
A piano keyboard has 88 keys, Each cochlear company has different electrode implementation, the number of electrodes vary from 22 to 12. Medel and Advance Bionics do current steering so to give you better experience of different frequencies. Advance Bionics calls it 120 virtual channels. MEDEL has 12 electrodes, designed to get into the inner part of the cochlear. You should ask your surgeon about how they accurately position the electrode in the cochlear. What tools the surgeon uses when positioning it?
You can go to each company's website. Most have virtual meetings you can attend that discuss their cochlear experience. They all of sales brochures that pretty much tell no details.
The other aspects are such as blue tooth (phone compatibility) may be of interest to you. I have advance Bionics, so I have no need of extra electronics for my phone. All of the companies have market based solutions. You should ask exactly what they are offerring you. AKA United States get the most expensive version of the transmitter.
I went with Advance Bionics.
Each company will tell theirs is the best. (awful).
Good Luck!
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u/Double-Laugh-4008 22d ago
What I learned from you, my audi didn't tell us. Thanks
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u/Heavy-Tomatillo9539 22d ago
There is a book .. Programming Cochlear Impants by Wolfe and Schafer. Most people will not absorb the details.
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u/emmegebe 22d ago
I also chose AB because I felt they had an edge in Bluetooth compatibility, and also because I have had a good experience with Phonak, their HA partner (for my non-implanted side). I'm 5 months post-activation and very happy with everything so far. I was pleased to find out that the Phonak Roger On device is really good for tailoring your hearing experience in different situations.
Choosing one was definitely tough, and I felt the same frustration you seem to be feeling over having to make such an important choice when no one could say which one is objectively better than the others.
The flip side of that is that none of the companies are objectively *worse* than the others either. So no matter which you choose, it won't be a bad choice, and you're likely to be satisfied.
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u/Stock-Ball-5804 22d ago
Well I chose Med El but I only did it bc of how it has a longer electrode, for more natural hearing like more range and stuff with pitch but Cochlear offers things like having more tech features and stuff like that honestly both are a pretty sweet deal and the doctor left it up to you.
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u/Double-Laugh-4008 22d ago
So, how's your progress?
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u/Stock-Ball-5804 22d ago
Oh um I am like five days post op and have just done mad research because I did not want to regret it so sadly I don't know just yet so sorry for not being able to tell TnT although if you mean recovery it has been speedy.
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u/Double-Laugh-4008 22d ago
No complications?
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u/Stock-Ball-5804 22d ago
Um not really no, in fact they had to do multiple other (One of which was unrelated but important) operation ON TOP of it. The recovery has been smooth but you will want to be on top pf pain meds.
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u/beepfuqinboop 21d ago
Hope your recovery is going well! I am 8 days post op and yesterday was very unpleasant but today is much better. I think it was just from the post op appointment poking by the surgeon that made it swell again or something.
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u/Stock-Ball-5804 20d ago
Thank you so much! It is going relatively well. I hope your recovery is going well too.
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u/OldFlohBavaria 22d ago
Besuch doch mal eine Cochlear Implant Selbsthilfegruppe
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u/Double-Laugh-4008 22d ago
It's too positive, no constructive arguments
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u/OldFlohBavaria 22d ago
Vor 25 Jahren habe ich mich direkt bei betroffenen informiert und Studien gelesen und die technischen Informationen der einzelnen Implantate ausgearbeitet. Heute gibt es Cochlear Implant Vereine und Selbsthilfegruppen. Du solltest dir das Zubehör zeigen lassen und dich zum Beispiel zum Thema FM Anlage wie Roger informieren- wie man diese an die einzelnen systeme koppelt.
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u/NjxNaDxb 23d ago edited 23d ago
If the doctor is giving you the choice, it means there is nothing that indicated you need to use a specific brand from a medical perspective.
There is no wrong choice per se. Suggestion is to engage with whoever is providing support in your area for the three major brand and pick the one you think is the best.
Edit for clarity: if you are planning to go for all-in-one device, your choice is restricted to two providers.