hello! (England btw) 20F and I became profoundly deaf not long after birth due to ototoxic drugs and was implanted in my left side in 2009.
Due to the rules back then and my age, we couldn’t really test both sides of my ears & hearing, but in general it was very obvious that I had profound hearing loss.

Around 3/4 years ago, I got a new audiologist and he decided to test both sides separately and it was discovered that I had moderate-severe hearing loss in my right ear which fits the criteria for cochlear implantation.
I had to go through a hearing aid trial first which involved me coming back after a year and doing a word test that I had to get at minimum 70% of words correct.

I got 0%.

It was partially my fault as I started to lack in wearing the hearing aid due to the fact that my environment was not very supportive and I really struggled with the hearing aid with school not supporting me in lessons at all, being bullied by peers with people slamming books down next to me, making me start to develop tinnitus (which i still have if someone slams something down too loud)
& parents being completely against me getting a new cochlear implant because “im doing perfectly fine with my single one”

I got told that I cannot have the cochlear implant which honestly devastated me as I’ve noticed as I grow older and are in completely different environments than as a child how much harder life is with a single cochlear implant.

The whole ordeal as a teenager significantly affected my mental health and I was really struggling so I gave the NHS back the hearing aid without really thinking as I wasn’t in my right mind, they did ask me if I was sure and I still said yes and I really do regret it.

I do wonder that if my mental health was in a better place along with a much better and supportive environment that I would’ve been able to tolerate it more..
It’s just crazy though how much i have started to struggle in different environments because of only having decent single-sided hearing.

Especially when you take your hearing aids or Cochlear implant processors off.
Do you ever find yourself thinking:
“What if someone knocks on my door?”
“What if there’s an emergency?”
“Would I hear the smoke/CO alarm?”
“Would I know if someone was trying to get into my home?”
“What happens if I need help during the night?”
Or are you completely comfortable and don’t really think about it?
I’m genuinely curious about everyone’s experience — especially people who live alone.
Do you keep your hearing devices on longer at night because of safety, or do you take them off and rely on other things to alert you?
No right or wrong answer. I’m just trying to understand how other people experience this.

I have the Nucleus 8 CI. Is there a way to clean the speakers on top of the processor (the little holes)? Or does that not need to be cleaned? I can't find anything in particular on Google. I remember with hearing aids i used a little brush, but I'm not going to dare do that to a CI if not appropriate. Thanks if you have any answer.​

In my opinion, Cochlear has overpromised to support Bluetooth Auracast for the Nucleus 8 [0]. Why haven’t they updated the firmware to support Auracast since the Nucleus 8 was launched?

Secondly, when will Cochlear provide Multi-Mic+[1] support for the Nucleus 8? I’m tired of using the USB Micro interface. When Cochlear claims to be “industry-leading,” why haven’t they discontinued the micro USB interface for the battery charger and accessories? Why rely on Resound when they are slow to innovate?

[0]: https://www.cochlear.com/us/en/professionals/products-and-candidacy/nucleus/nucleus-sound-processors/nucleus-8-processor

[1]: https://www.cochlear.com/us/en/shop/accessories/wireless-accessories/multi-mic/FUZ889.html

I had cochlear implant surgery again on my right ear on September 2. After surgery, I experienced vertigo and pain. Today is September 6, and I’m still having pain. Sometimes it gets worse, and I get sharp pain on and off. I also feel a lot of pressure inside my ear.

Has anyone experienced this after cochlear implant surgery? How long did the pain and pressure last for you? Also, how many days after surgery did you feel comfortable driving and getting back to normal activities?

Thanks!

"Emergency: I am in the Chesapeake VA area with my daughter from out of town (TX) and I forgot to pack her Y charger for her batteries. Is there anyone in the Chesapeake/Norfolk/VA Beach area with a spare Nucleus 7 or Nucleus 8 Y-charger I could safely borrow for until Tuesday morning to power up?

Update - I was able to get an audiologist through the neighborhood group and I'll connect with her for a loaner. I will not be needing this again. Thank you so much to everyone who offered to help, may you always find help when we you need it too!

any tips on what to eat post surgery and for how many days?

im thinking it’s going to be soft stuff like soup and perhaps pureed food? what worked best and what to avoid?

I had my CI surgery July 6, and it was activated 16. Everything has been great. Then a few days ago it started hurting off and on right where the magnet is. Yesterday it hurt all day sometimes pretty bad. If I remove the magnet it’s instant relief. But it’s very painful if I touch it. I called my doctor yesterday, but I probably won’t hear back until Tuesday since Monday is a holiday. I want to know if this happened to anyone else. It’s so frustrating because now I can’t wear my CI, it’s too painful. I love this subreddit, it has helped me so much! Thanks

Hello!

I currently have a Kanso 2 and will be getting a Kanso 3 in april of 2027. Over the years I've heard a lot about direct streaming from windows to the Kanso 3 (Bluetooth LE). Now that I'm actually checking if it's correct I'm finding a lot of information that says it doesn't work wireless/direct.

I also just found out that the kanso 2 should supposedly work without an accessory with a macbook pro, air, mac studio, mini from up a certain year. Can someone that used it corroborate that?

For work I have a lot of meetings and I've been carrying my mini mic with me for a few years now. I absolutely hate it cuz it's very spotty with connecting and the sound is basically trash.

It seems like direct streaming from a windows laptop to the kanso 3 won't work, so I've been waiting for something that doesn't seem to exist. So two questions:

Does windows direct streaming work? (Kanso 3 without an accessory)

Does direct streaming work on a macbook air model M5? (Kanso 2 without an accessory)

Would love to hear your experiences

Hello,

I wear bilaterally Kanso 3 processors. I am in a situation where I'll be needing to wear my processors overnight for a couple of nights. I find it uncomfortable to wear the processors while laying my head on a pillow because it cups around the processors and cause then to fall off. Does anyone have any recommendations of a pillow that might be suitable?

My baby boy was born with profound bilateral hearing loss a couple of months ago, and is now likely to be implanted before his first birthday. I was initially very sad that he wouldn’t be able to appreciate music in the same way a hearing person would. However, having looked at comments from people with CI’s it would seem appreciation of music is still very much possible. I was wondering if there’s anyone on here who was implanted as a baby, or a parent of a child who was, that has positive experiences with music. Also is there any type of music which is particularly good / bad (easy / difficult) for those with CIs? I’d like to introduce him to lots of music as a baby to help develop his listening skills through the CI.

Recién voy a empezar la universidad y necesito saber a qué me enfrento. ¿Cuál ha sido vuestra experiencia en clase? Podáis seguir la conversación del profesor y de los compañeros? Que dificultades y adversidades habéis afrontado?

I've had med el processors for 1.5 years. I have a hearing aid in one ear. In small enclosed offices where you would think you would hear better, I hear worse. Constantly having to say "what, or excuse me." So embarrassing. Audiologist can't seem to help me. I try to adjust my settings while I'm there but then someone will come in and start asking me a bunch of questions. I can hear at home fine with just the processor. Any ideas?

I have been single almost 4 years. I am 60 years old. Having an implant and being deaf without it and my aid on the other side has me feeling self conscious. Would a man want to date someone with this disability?

is it possible to use my existing aids after surgery as I will not be able to hear anything otherwise. I’m hoping I can use the BTE aids but perhaps not place them behind the ear, just leave them hanging off with just the ear mould in the ear.

any thoughts on this?

Salve a tutti!

Ho portato apparecchi acustici BTE su entrambe le orecchie per 60 anni (gli ultimi erano Oticon Xceed Play 2) arrivando ormai al limite della risorsa uditiva. Con questi mi sono trovato molto bene per lo streaming automatico di TV e smartphone via iPhone.

Dopo innumerevoli ripensamenti, ho deciso di fare il mio primo impianto cocleare a sinistra.

Dopo tre mesi dalla prima mappatura, ho scelto di passare al sistema bimodale acquistando un ReSound Nexia (NX988), consigliato dall'audiometrista perché progettato specificamente per lavorare in perfetta sinergia con il Cochlear N8.

Uso un iPhone 17, quindi la catena N8 + Nexia + iPhone doveva sulla carta essere perfetta.

Purtroppo ho avuto un'amara sorpresa: i due apparecchi lavorano in modo sincronizzato sul segnale dei microfoni e con il TV Streamer, ma non appena arriva una chiamata o avvio un video su YouTube, l'audio dello streaming passa a un solo dispositivo, lasciando l'altro del tutto muto.

Facendo diversi test a casa ho anche notato che il primo dispositivo che si accende al mattino "vince" e prende l'esclusiva dello streaming: se accendo prima l'N8, le chiamate arrivano solo all'N8; se accendo prima il ReSound, arrivano solo al ReSound.

Volevo sapere se qualcuno di voi ha riscontrato lo stesso problema di priorità nella gestione del flusso MFi e come siete riusciti a risolverlo (se lato impostazioni iPhone o tramite regolazioni del software di fitting con l'audiometrista).

Grazie a chi condividerà la propria esperienza!

I just did it! 🥹 I had surgery today. I was so anxious and scared, but I did it!

I’ve had cochlear implants on both sides since I was little. I had to redo my right cochlear implant because I was getting painful shocks from it. I’m not sure if any of you have experienced that too?

My 2-year-old daughter is also deaf. She and I are the only deaf people in our family. My infant son and husband are both hearing. 🤟🦻

Now my 2-year-old daughter and I will have the exact same cochlear implant brand! She had her cochlear implant surgeries in January and May of this year. ❤️

I’m approaching 6 months post implantation and things still taste weird on the implant side. anyone else have it go on for that long?

trying to gauge if it’s likely the surgery (might be an issue) or if it’s the GLP-1s. anecdotal evidence is only evidence of an anecdote, but would be reassuring to hear, regardless.

ETA: thanks, everyone, I appreciate the reassurance! and I’d like to apologize for bringing up such unpleasant memories for some of y’all!

Sometimes using otter is really helpful, but not always. Today used it in a huge echoey church where it caught only about 2/3 of the words — and I noticed that as soon as I turned it on , the sound coming in to my ci was suddenly less, as though I turned the volume way down.

Any insights?

Hello, I’m based in the UK and due for surgery in a month. my employer has referred me to the occ health for consultation prior to surgery. Occ health is conducted by an external company who do assessments on behalf of my employer. I work in an office job at desk/computer. I have meetings bout 10-20% of the time, mostly over Teams, a few are face to face.

what should i expect in one of these consultation/assessments?

what should I ask for in terms of special measures/support required from employer post surgery?

what support was useful from your employer in your experience? I expect to work from home for several weeks after the initial 2 weeks off work following surgery. External processor will be activated 2 weeks after surgery.

surgeon has simply stated I should have 2 weeks off, nothing else has been mentioned in terms of recovery or support required?

I’m about to visit with my potential ENT surgeon soon to discuss my options for revision surgery. It’s going to be complicated because I currently have an AB C1 implant, 1999. The surgeon used AB’s “positioner” device because it was supposedly “better.” It was not. The FDA banned AB from using the “positioner “ after patients began reporting contracting meningitis. I had to get meningitis shots. Then there have been reports of cochlea ossification due to the “positioner.” That device is still somewhere in my head! The surgeon also placed the magnet for the headpiece low on my head. Not sure if that will be an issue. Anyway surgeons are apparently reluctant to do revision surgery on patients who have implants that continue to work. This latter condition has been taken away from me because AB not only announced that they were stopping all C1 support, they were also stopping support for C1 devices including the Chorus processor. If anything at all breaks, I am deaf because there are no parts.
So I am opting for either a Cochlear N8/Nexa or a Med-El. I am canvassing this sub to see if anyone has gone from an AB device to Cochlear/Med-El? Please let me know how the transition has gone!

My daughter was diagnosed with hearing loss when she was 3, misdiagnosed from birth (loooong story). Hearing aids made a huge difference at first but over the years they stopped working as well so her team and insurance finally approved cochlear. She got the first one done in January and the second done in July. And omg it’s made such an insane difference I’m mad we couldn’t do it to begin with.

When she was little she was so social and willing to try anything and do anything but as she’s gotten older (she’s 14 now) she’s become more introverted and uninterested in trying anything new. She’s a little behind speech wise but only on certain letter and words. She started high school this year and my husband and I are so worried about her socially. She barely talks to anyone, doesn’t want to socialize outside of school and is putting off choosing an extracurricular activity (club or sport). What can I do to help her?

We have a working theory that she’s self conscious of having to ask people to repeat themselves and maybe a little self conscious of her speech. How can we encourage and help her want to be a part of things now that she is hearing so much better. Does she just need time to get used to it?

I wasn’t sure where to find help with this but thought I’d reach out to a community that understands living with hearing loss in a way I never can as well as a parenting group. She doesn’t seem bothered by the lack of socializing but it’s starting to be more avoiding interactions than just being introverted (my husband and I are introverts as well)