Recent Bonebridge Implant

[Karth]

Hi guys,

Long time lurker, first time poster

B/g- L cholesteatoma when I was younger causing erosion of my L middle ear bones with lifelong conductive hearing loss in L ear and relatively normal sensorineural hearing in that ear. Had L mastoidectomy and canaloplasty in childhood with no further disease recurrence; one failed attempt at reconstruction to restore hearing in high school, then left it as I was sick of operations. Have coped reasonably well since but bone conducting headphones kept reminding me of the joy of '3d' hearing.

I was following the BB development closely and finally bit the bullet and had a L sided bonebridge inserted 4 days ago! Kind of in that phase of cautiously hoping for a good result. I have a couple of questions for recipients of the same;

- Has the device limited your physical activity in any way? In particular I used to dive and do a lot of contact sports; I know contact sports will probably be limited now, but it would be great to still be able to go diving in the future, or even sky diving etc. I'm sure gym etc will be no problem.

- Anyone have a clear idea of the lifespan/duration/durability of the device (implanted section)? I understand it has a 5 year warranty but is to be considered a lifetime device. I guess I'm looking for some reassurance that the device will be robust enough to last me.

With thanks, and looking forward to joining the team,

Karth

[Ivana Marinac]

On 08.09.2016. at 10:41 AM, Karth said:

Hi guys,

Long time lurker, first time poster

B/g- L cholesteatoma when I was younger causing erosion of my L middle ear bones with lifelong conductive hearing loss in L ear and relatively normal sensorineural hearing in that ear. Had L mastoidectomy and canaloplasty in childhood with no further disease recurrence; one failed attempt at reconstruction to restore hearing in high school, then left it as I was sick of operations. Have coped reasonably well since but bone conducting headphones kept reminding me of the joy of '3d' hearing.

I was following the BB development closely and finally bit the bullet and had a L sided bonebridge inserted 4 days ago! Kind of in that phase of cautiously hoping for a good result. I have a couple of questions for recipients of the same;

- Has the device limited your physical activity in any way? In particular I used to dive and do a lot of contact sports; I know contact sports will probably be limited now, but it would be great to still be able to go diving in the future, or even sky diving etc. I'm sure gym etc will be no problem.

- Anyone have a clear idea of the lifespan/duration/durability of the device (implanted section)? I understand it has a 5 year warranty but is to be considered a lifetime device. I guess I'm looking for some reassurance that the device will be robust enough to last me.

With thanks, and looking forward to joining the team,

Karth

 

Hello Karth,

Welcome to the family

Questions:

1. Nope - not in any way... I do whatever I want: run, ride a bike, gym exercise... Just, you need to protect it against sweat - here is a catch: there is no a specific cover for Samba-BB so I buy the one from the RONDO cochlear implant. It is too big but... whats the heck... Also - put it in the Sportband to secure it of falling down when I play basketball or similar sports. Regarding contact sport or something more dangerous - this can be issue, because, up to now there is no protective helmet for this kind of implants...:(

2. Well, they have to declare a certain value but it is hard to predict something like this. Imagine how it is like to the people with cochlear electrode inside of the cochlea....;) I have passed 3 years with my implant already, everything works perfectly well... Hard to tell you longer predictions but, again, if CIs last now more than 20 years - I believe there shouldn`t be a specific worry. But - even BMW breaks down...

[Karth]

Hi Ivana,

Thanks for your reply, I've seen your many many helpful replies to other recipients while browsing the forum I'll have to look at the RONDO cover and sportband when I get back into the swing of things.

For you and anyone who is interested, I messaged MEDEL directly as well earlier on as well in case they had some rough figures- they've given a surprisingly prompt reply. The long and short of it is

1. The bonebridge has been pressure tested up to 6 BAR (equivalent to a diving depth of 50m) without any damage being caused to the implant. The Floating Mass Transducer (FMT) does not sit tightly in the well that is drilled into the mastoid bone, so there is air around it, however the elasticity of the skin flap overlying the implant allows for some expansion of air within that space (relevant to pressure changes when diving).

2. As expected, BB recipients are strongly encouraged to use head protection whenever possible during sports and activities in which head trauma may occur by accident, and are not recommended for sports where blows to the head are common (eg boxing or martial arts that include contact with the head).

What does this mean for me, personally? I think that I won't be engaging in martial arts again anytime soon, likely ever, unfortunately. I'm a little bit more cautiously optimistic about diving, although that will be a fair while away at any stage and well, well within the depth distance tested. This is my own personal opinion though.

I stress that each operation would be operator and patient dependent (including complexity and location of surgery) and the advice of the individual surgeon should be sought in regards to any decisions made regarding the above, and again that no real recommendation or advice was provided by the representative who responded re diving, simply the facts. I am actually very impressed at the prompt and detailed nature of the reply.

Again, thank you Ivana and best wishes to the rest of the team,

Karth

[Ivana Marinac]

4 hours ago, Karth said:

Hi Ivana,

Thanks for your reply, I've seen your many many helpful replies to other recipients while browsing the forum I'll have to look at the RONDO cover and sportband when I get back into the swing of things.

For you and anyone who is interested, I messaged MEDEL directly as well earlier on as well in case they had some rough figures- they've given a surprisingly prompt reply. The long and short of it is

1. The bonebridge has been pressure tested up to 6 BAR (equivalent to a diving depth of 50m) without any damage being caused to the implant. The Floating Mass Transducer (FMT) does not sit tightly in the well that is drilled into the mastoid bone, so there is air around it, however the elasticity of the skin flap overlying the implant allows for some expansion of air within that space (relevant to pressure changes when diving).

2. As expected, BB recipients are strongly encouraged to use head protection whenever possible during sports and activities in which head trauma may occur by accident, and are not recommended for sports where blows to the head are common (eg boxing or martial arts that include contact with the head).

What does this mean for me, personally? I think that I won't be engaging in martial arts again anytime soon, likely ever, unfortunately. I'm a little bit more cautiously optimistic about diving, although that will be a fair while away at any stage and well, well within the depth distance tested. This is my own personal opinion though.

I stress that each operation would be operator and patient dependent (including complexity and location of surgery) and the advice of the individual surgeon should be sought in regards to any decisions made regarding the above, and again that no real recommendation or advice was provided by the representative who responded re diving, simply the facts. I am actually very impressed at the prompt and detailed nature of the reply.

Again, thank you Ivana and best wishes to the rest of the team,

Karth

 

Thanks Karth! - Did not know these facts, cool! 

I have unilaterally, ear canal atresia so as I can not effectively equalize pressures, I avoid diving... After, even a short diving, my head hurts and I feel fuzzy... 

Unfortunately, getting a kick in that area could mean a lot of bad news so ... No, I would not also...

I always underline the importance of the surgeon in the process of exchanging informations, most likely he or she will be involved if something happens - responsible behaviour is at least what we can do.

Anytime, if I can help somehow...:)

 

[ColinY]

Karth,

 

It seems we have a similar history. I too had Cholesteatomas, in my right ear though. I lost the bones as well and had reconstruction surgeries, the last one being in 2006. It lasted some time and finally I had the Cholesteatoma come back again (6 times overall), so the final solution was an open cavity procedure, remove everything. I had a Bonebridge put in this past May and had my activation later in the summer. I asked my surgeon about martial arts, he said super light contact to the head while wearing headgear would be ok, but he wouldn't recommend anything full contact for sure. I still train and teach Wing Chun and have not found any issues. I have also played around with some JiuJitsu and find it is still ok for the most part as long as I am conscious of what is going on.

I do have the headband and have tried my Samba in it, it works good, but I haven't actually had to use the headband for anything yet, so I can't help you out there.