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What are your real life benefits from using your CI with single sided deafness? (Normal hearing in one ear and a CI in the other ear)


Mary Beth

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Wow it's hard to know where to start... it's really changed my life and I can't believe you can't always get CI for SSD everywhere in the world because one ear is 'enough'. It's really not, if there is a choice of having 2.

  • I can locate sound and orient to it. Useful for safety like crossing roads, and people calling me, and my kids creeping up from behind, and playing hide and seek, and being able to track objects that aren't in my vision. My sound booth testing for sound orientation went from 0 to perfect in 6 months and I really notice it in daily life.
  • I can hear and understand things behind me, like conversation, quiet noises and music. My favourite use for this is when I'm driving - I can now hear my kids talking to me and hold a conversation, but when SSD I could not at all understand what they were saying - too quiet and distorted and no facial expression/lips to help.  Now we can chat and sing like before!
  • I can sit anywhere, instead of manipulating the room to sit people on my good hearing side. And my friends and family and colleagues can sit anywhere too, instead of having to ask me 'is this the right side? can you hear me here?'  Also I can sit further away - instead of having to sit at the front row of every meeting and concert.  
  • I can hear in noisy environments, that I was otherwise avoiding. I struggled at restaurants, weddings, funerals, parties, pubs, quiz nights - pretty much tried not to go out because I could hear soft babble but not understand it. I started to feel very isolated and disengaged from group settings, either not attending or sitting quietly out of the way. Now I can go anywhere and hear (nearly) anything over the din.
  • I can sing! I mean, I could still sing but I couldn't be sure what I was singing - not sure about volume and tone especially. Pitch was OK interestingly. As I sing in a small choir, the whole package is very important. I spent the time pre-CI constantly checking with my singing buddies how I sounded - am I too loud? can you hear me? did I get that expression right?   Now I can tell for myself.  However this remains the hardest aspect of my hearing - I do still struggle a bit to hear myself clearly (my voice sounds different to before) and my buddies on my CI side sound different to my 'normal' side. But I'm still getting used to that and hoping it continues to improve.
  • I can talk to people at a pleasant volume. Everyone tells me I tended to talk too loudly pre-CI, but I only found out after my activation - they were all too polite to mention it before that!
  • I am happier. Just all the time. I guess a cumulative effect of all the above!  My husband says even when I was newly activated and frustrated, I was still happier than pre-CI. 

I am looking forward to others' responses too!  This is a great idea @Mary Beth, it would have been very useful to me pre-CI too to get such targeted feedback. I did find bits and pieces throughout the forum though.

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@Kylie

I smiled the whole time I read your post about real life benefits of your CI with SSD.  I wish @MED-EL Moderator could make a video of you to share with people who are considering a CI for SSD.  Thank you for sharing.

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It's only been a couple of months since activation for me but the biggest benefit from day one was not hearing the tinnitus which was truly depressing. I can also localize sound much better and don't feel that I'm caught off guard if I can't locate a sound. Although my left ear is still dominating I find that w/the CI I hear a much fuller sound. I'm hoping with time, practice, & patience to reach achieve what @Kylieis taking about especially in situations with background noise. I can't imagine my life without it!

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@Mary Beth  @Kylie @Jared Charney
Im Not SSD I incorrectly raised my hand thinking the question was Single Sided Implant. My loss is similar in both ears.
BUT !!! Saying that I will be looking further into SSD especially here in Australia. I have had numerous questions about it.  At this point I can not say more about that other than "Watch this space" and as I learn more about it.

Cheers. 

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I have been activated for one year and been  wearing rondo2 every day.  Sadly Tinnitus still bothers me every waking moment, but it is a little bit less overwhelming than before cochlear implant.  I really struggle to recognize who is speaking and I have no directional sense of where sound comes from and I am still a hot mess in noisy environments. If I turn my volume on the Rondo up to where it helps me hear  a bit better than this, I hear way too much background static and amplification  of the background noise around me.  I am still exhausted every day from trying to hear what I need and trying to mesh my bionic ear with my hearing ear.

Depression and anxiety that set  in when I lost my hearing has gotten gradually better and the two ears work together better now than at the beginning. 

My life is noticeably better while wearing the Rondo2 than while not wearing it. I’m really waiting anxiously for more feedback from people who had Rondo 2 and now have rondo 3, especially in the background noise category. 
I would also love to find a solution for the fact that the Rondo and my glasses stem  bother all day the bump on the side of my head that I am left with after surgery.

I would also really appreciate an app with direct streaming. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Looking back as a CI user for 13 years, I definitely don't regret it. It made my life so easy that I am very happy. Youth made it easier for me to understand in my high school and university life. Now I continue my journey with Sonnet 2. I definitely don't have days without music. I always keep in touch with the music. And I am very happy to be with you. 😊💙

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  • 2 months later...

@Kylie

I nearly cried when I read about your positive experiences post implant.  After a bout of labyrinthitis in February of this year I lost all the hearing in my right ear.  I can, as I'm sure most people with SSD, relate to almost every pre CI bullet point (the exception being was I a terrible singer prior to my hearing loss, lol).  I am very fortunate in that I didn't have to jump thru too many insurance hoops, received my CI at the end of May and got it turned on 2 days ago.  Right now I am just making may way thru weird, scratchy electronic sound in that right ear.  I know my brain has a lot of learning to do in order to make sense of the very alien sound currently being transmitted to my brain but your post certainly lets me know I have lots of benefits to look forward to.  I can't wait for my new normal!!

Thank you for sharing your experiences!

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Welcome @Cheryl and congratulations on your activation!  Which processor do you use?

 

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7 hours ago, Cheryl said:

@Kylie

I nearly cried when I read about your positive experiences post implant.  After a bout of labyrinthitis in February of this year I lost all the hearing in my right ear.  I can, as I'm sure most people with SSD, relate to almost every pre CI bullet point (the exception being was I a terrible singer prior to my hearing loss, lol).  I am very fortunate in that I didn't have to jump thru too many insurance hoops, received my CI at the end of May and got it turned on 2 days ago.  Right now I am just making may way thru weird, scratchy electronic sound in that right ear.  I know my brain has a lot of learning to do in order to make sense of the very alien sound currently being transmitted to my brain but your post certainly lets me know I have lots of benefits to look forward to.  I can't wait for my new normal!!

Thank you for sharing your experiences!

Thanks @Cheryl. My loss was also sudden from labyrinthitis. What a shock! But it will absolutely get better from here.

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