Hearing Implants

Hearing aid plants are a great second chance for those who are deaf or those who are hard-of-hearing. These not only break the silence with bursts of sound, but, like the smallest hearing aid implant, are also cosmetically beneficial in the sense that they cannot be seen at all or are barely visible. The typical hearing implant is surgically placed, either in the middle ear, under the skin, or, like BAHA entific bone conduction devices, attached to the skull. Hearing aid implants, non-surgical or surgical, can work in coordination with regular hearing aids that amplify audio waves so that sounds can be better distinguishable, although implants in no way completely restore the sense of hearing. A hearing aid implant, bone-conductive or situated within middle-ear, bypasses those areas of the ear that are damaged by sending impulses directly to the auditory nerve, which, in turn, carries those impulses on into the brain for interpretation and processing. The hearing aid implant, then, is a bridge between the brain and the outside world of sound.

Cochlear hearing implants, however, are very widely implemented by millions of people, thousands in the United States alone. These particular implants are designed for the deaf and those having acquired severe hearing loss exhaustion. Cochlear implants basically come in two parts: The first portion, the microphone, situated behind the ear, passes signals on to the sub-dermal second part, the speech processor/transmitter, which transforms those signals into impulses that go directly to the electrode array attached to the cochlea and then are sent into the main auditory nerve that shoots them into the brain. Instead of repairing the damage, cochlear implants and hearing aid devices work together to create a whole new means of sound generation. Those who receive them have to learn or relearn how to interpret sound types all over again, which is a common struggle for most, if not all, of those dealing with cochlear implants and hearing loss. Story-telling and discussions become a real challenge, at least at first, but when interpretative skills and sound distinction improve, the struggle is all worth the effort. Speech-language pathologists and audiologists work with the hard-of-hearing to get them used to dealing with sound again.

Whether using hearing aids or cochlear implants, people with extreme hearing loss are less frustrated. Yes, cochlear implants tend to be expensive, but the alternatives are far worth the price paid. Both children and adults who have long been deaf find themselves reintegrated back into the world.