Does distorted words go away after CI implant

[Rob Gellner]

I forgot to ask the surgeon a question last week. When I got SSHL one of the bad side effects was that everything became distorted where  sounds seem like they are underwater or muffled. These distortions make me feel dizzy like my nerve does like what it’s getting. . I wanted to know if anyone else has these  problems prior to getting a CI? I assumed that my hair cells are damaged and that’s why things sound the way they do and that a CI delivers “sound” electronically instead of through hair cells so hoping that I will have clarity of speech afterwards.  Just wanted to know what others experienced. 

[Mary Beth]

@Rob Gellner

CIs are a complete game changer!  Hearing aids can only deliver louder speech which results in louder sound delivered to already damaged/missing receptors in our inner ears.  CIs bypass that and we can receive sound equally distributed across the frequencies that the CI targets.  In other words, we can achieve a flat audiogram with the CI on.  It’s a different input signal and everything (speech included) will sound strange at first but after our brains learn to use this input, everything sounds very clear and natural.  Life changing tech!

[Anthony Canada]

@Rob Gellner I'm 4 1/2 months post activation and I agree with Mary Beth. This is such a huge game changer. When my battery dies in my CI and I briefly use just the hearing aid on the other side I'm shocked at how much I struggle. I have clarity that I didn't have before and I can hear nuances of speech that I forgot existed. It's like going from a 1080 TV a modern TV the quality of everything is just so much better. I'm still very much on my adapting curve and my brain is still learning to interpret the signals. For example, I get a higher frequency angelic like distortion when listening in complex environments such as music, sports announcers can be difficult to understand at times and if I'm around multiple conversations in loud environments. I'm confident in a year or so I'll overcome those last few hurdles and discover new ones. 

[Tim]

@Rob Gellner As an SSD person, 10 months post-activation, things still sound distorted/muffled when I stream to just my CI.  I can do most audiobooks and podcasts streamed directly.  Often at 1.2x or 1.4x speed.  Music is still a challenge.  Some songs sound okay but most are not very good. 

As for clarity of speech streamed to just my CI, at its best, it can seem like a low-fi AM radio station, and at its worst, can seem like a bad drive-through window speaker. 

The streaming to only the CI is a "worst case" test though and really understates the benefits. 

When I'm not streaming to just the CI, the CI and good ear blend together to not be noticeably different. The brain's neuroplasticity is truly amazing.  Speech using both together sounds like my good ear alone.  I get the benefits then of things like the sound localization, ability to filter background noise, understanding conversations from my bad side without changing seats, etc. All in all, it is so much better than the bone conduction device that I used before. 

While I have probably gotten the majority of the rehab improvement that I'll see, my CI side will keep getting better - unlike my good ear which will slowly decline with age related hearing loss! By the way, I try to put some time into rehab exercises every day. 

I'm probably a typical case - there are other SSD CI people that seem to have had more success and some that have had less.  All in all, I'm very glad that I have it but as long as I can compare it to a good ear, the audio quality on the CI alone won't ever seem perfect to me. Technically, I think it just isn't possible given the hardware limits of the CI technology.

If I ever lose my hearing in my good ear, I expect the CI side would become my new "normal" and seem perfect to me. 

Again, I'm not trying to discourage anyone and I definitely made the right decision to do it - I just think it is important to have realistic expectations. 

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As for the poor sound quality making one dizzy pre-CI, that wasn't an issue for me.  Sorry to hear about that. 

For me it was more a matter of being unable to hear conversations from the bad side, unable to filter background noise, unable to locate sounds, the 24x7 tinnnitus, and the  exhaustion from the brain working to compensate for all of these deficiencies.  All of these issues are greatly alleviated or  eliminated by my CI.  Again, getting the CI was the right decision for me.  Wish that I had been able to get it when I first tried 7 years ago.

 

 

[Dianna]

On 12/12/2023 at 8:58 AM, Rob Gellner said:

I forgot to ask the surgeon a question last week. When I got SSHL one of the bad side effects was that everything became distorted where  sounds seem like they are underwater or muffled. These distortions make me feel dizzy like my nerve does like what it’s getting. . I wanted to know if anyone else has these  problems prior to getting a CI? I assumed that my hair cells are damaged and that’s why things sound the way they do and that a CI delivers “sound” electronically instead of through hair cells so hoping that I will have clarity of speech afterwards.  Just wanted to know what others experienced. 

Hi rob. I just passed 24 months activated. I stream at least 2 hours per day to my ci only (tv), and several hours watching tv or music from speakers with both devices. While i still have a little to go for perfect clarity from ci, my ha seems to "fill in the blanks" i rarely stream spotify to both appliances because the volumes are difficult to get both devices going well. I am tempted to get earphones, but i truly wish to develop my "regular" hearing and learn how to adjust things for the best situation. I hear very much the best in my life and it does make a huge difference in my life.

[jcech344]

A common thread I have noticed elsewhere and in these comments is the value of the unimplanted ear to serve as a reference to "normalize" hearing through the CI ear.  Even in the 10 days since activation, it is clear that the qualify and clarity of my hearing is vastly improved because of the CI, even thought the sound I hear in just the CI is noticeably different than natural sound.  Maybe this is like people who have contact lenses with 2 different prescriptions.  One lens set for reading and the other for distances.  Over time they blend together for a near seamless sense of vision close and far, when in fact each dominates over the other for the situation faced the viewer.