There are some kinds of deafness which cannot be enhanced by wearing a normal hearing aid, that is a hearing aid which receives the sound via a microphone, amplifies it and then replays it into your ear. Fortunately some of the people who suffer from these problems can be helped in other ways.
One of these other ways is a cochlear implant. A cochlear implant device has to be surgically implanted into the ear. Cochlear implants do not intensify the sounds entering the ear, but rather they stimulate the functioning auditory nerves inside the cochlear. This is done by means of small electrical impulses.
These cochlear units are very intricate and consist of quite a few miniaturized parts including a speech processor and a radio transmitter. As you can can imagine, 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 almost as good as normal.
There is a huge improvement in hearing right after the operation, but hearing continues to improve 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.
Various kinds 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 unit 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 became deaf; how well your brain remembers those sounds and the condition of the cochlear and its auditory nerves
As mentioned above, the operation and tuning of a cochlear implant is costly. Naturally, the final price tag depends on which doctor fitted the device and where he or she is located, but you could say that it will cost at least $50,000 and maybe twice that amount. Fortunately, most health insurance schemes 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 types of permanent hearing disability - especially complete deafness.
Until 2000, children could only have this operation if they were over the age of two years in the United States, but this age limit was then reduced 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 ways is a cochlear implant. A cochlear implant device has to be surgically implanted into the ear. Cochlear implants do not intensify the sounds entering the ear, but rather they stimulate the functioning auditory nerves inside the cochlear. This is done by means of small electrical impulses.
These cochlear units are very intricate and consist of quite a few miniaturized parts including a speech processor and a radio transmitter. As you can can imagine, 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 almost as good as normal.
There is a huge improvement in hearing right after the operation, but hearing continues to improve 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.
Various kinds 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 unit 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 became deaf; how well your brain remembers those sounds and the condition of the cochlear and its auditory nerves
As mentioned above, the operation and tuning of a cochlear implant is costly. Naturally, the final price tag depends on which doctor fitted the device and where he or she is located, but you could say that it will cost at least $50,000 and maybe twice that amount. Fortunately, most health insurance schemes 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 types of permanent hearing disability - especially complete deafness.
Until 2000, children could only have this operation if they were over the age of two years in the United States, but this age limit was then reduced 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 author of this article writes on a lot of subjects, but is at present concerned 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.