There are some types of deafness which cannot be improved by wearing a standard hearing aid, that is a hearing aid which receives the sound via a microphone, boosts it and then replays it into your ear. Luckily some of the people who have these difficulties can be helped in other ways.
One of these other methods is a cochlear implant. A cochlear implant device has to be surgically implanted into the ear. Cochlear implants do not amplify the sounds entering the ear, but rather they stimulate the functioning auditory nerves inside the cochlear. This is achieved with minute electrical impulses.
These cochlear units are very complicated and consist of quite a few miniaturized parts including a speech processor and a radio transmitter. As you can guess, this is rather an expensive operation and is still nor carried out routinely, not least because there are other options that can tried first.
The up-side is that most people who have undergone the operation have said that it was worth the money and that the results were fantastic. In fact, most patients said that their hearing was nearly as good as normal.
There is a vast improvement in hearing immediately after the operation, but hearing continues to get better for six months or more afterwards by means of tuning sessions and the body's natural adaptation. The results are a lot slower for children as it takes them longer to become accustomed to the electrical stimuli.
Certain types of background noise can be a problem, but some of these issues can be tuned out, which is one of the reasons why it normally takes more than six months to get the device attuned to you and your way of life.
For this reason the degree of success from having a cochlear implant depends chiefly on the patient. Some of the factors playing an important role in the success of the implant are: how long, you have been deaf; how long you heard sounds before you went deaf; how well your brain remembers those sounds and the state of the cochlear and its auditory nerves
As stated above, the operation and tuning of a cochlear implant is expensive. Of course, the final price tag depends on which doctor installed the device and where he or she is to be found, but you could say that it will cost at least $50,000 and maybe twice that much. Luckily, many health insurance plans will pick up some of the costs, but the percentage they will pay varies a great deal.
The cochlear implant is the only device on offer at the moment to help sufferers with some kinds of permanent hearing disability - especially complete deafness.
Until 2000, children could only have this operation if they were above the age of two years in the United States, but this age limit was then lowered to one year. Nearly two- thirds of those who have undergone a cochlear implant have been children and the majority of the children were between two and six years of age.
One of these other methods is a cochlear implant. A cochlear implant device has to be surgically implanted into the ear. Cochlear implants do not amplify the sounds entering the ear, but rather they stimulate the functioning auditory nerves inside the cochlear. This is achieved with minute electrical impulses.
These cochlear units are very complicated and consist of quite a few miniaturized parts including a speech processor and a radio transmitter. As you can guess, this is rather an expensive operation and is still nor carried out routinely, not least because there are other options that can tried first.
The up-side is that most people who have undergone the operation have said that it was worth the money and that the results were fantastic. In fact, most patients said that their hearing was nearly as good as normal.
There is a vast improvement in hearing immediately after the operation, but hearing continues to get better for six months or more afterwards by means of tuning sessions and the body's natural adaptation. The results are a lot slower for children as it takes them longer to become accustomed to the electrical stimuli.
Certain types of background noise can be a problem, but some of these issues can be tuned out, which is one of the reasons why it normally takes more than six months to get the device attuned to you and your way of life.
For this reason the degree of success from having a cochlear implant depends chiefly on the patient. Some of the factors playing an important role in the success of the implant are: how long, you have been deaf; how long you heard sounds before you went deaf; how well your brain remembers those sounds and the state of the cochlear and its auditory nerves
As stated above, the operation and tuning of a cochlear implant is expensive. Of course, the final price tag depends on which doctor installed the device and where he or she is to be found, but you could say that it will cost at least $50,000 and maybe twice that much. Luckily, many health insurance plans will pick up some of the costs, but the percentage they will pay varies a great deal.
The cochlear implant is the only device on offer at the moment to help sufferers with some kinds of permanent hearing disability - especially complete deafness.
Until 2000, children could only have this operation if they were above the age of two years in the United States, but this age limit was then lowered to one year. Nearly two- thirds of those who have undergone a cochlear implant have been children and the majority of the children were between two and six years of age.
About the Author:
Owen Jones, the writer of this piece writes on a lot of topics, but is at present involved with hearing aids reviews. If you would like to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our website at Digital Hearing Aids Prices.
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