Cochlear Implant: Pros and Cons
What are the advantages of a cochlear implant (CI)? Are there any disadvantages? Here you’ll find information about the benefits of cochlear implants for people with hearing loss, along with a discussion of potential concerns.
The Most Important Points:
- Cochlear implants for severe hearing loss: A cochlear implant is typically used when even the strongest hearing aid is no longer enough.
- Hearing life with a cochlear implant: Cochlear implants enable individuals with severe-to-profound hearing loss to take an active part in everyday life again, identify sounds, talk on the phone, and listen to music.
- Speech understanding and sound recognition: People with cochlear implants can understand speech, recognise voices, and hear a phone ringing or the wind blowing.
- A life-changing impact: Many users say their cochlear implant is life-changing and emphasise the positive effects on their quality of hearing and living.
- Individual hearing results: How quickly and how well a person will hear with their cochlear implant can vary.
- Rare technical problems: There are isolated incidences of technical problems or complications, but they are very rare with MED-EL cochlear implants.
- Professional counselling before making a decision: A well-informed decision to get a cochlear implant requires carefully weighing the pros and cons, ideally together with professional experts.
Benefits of a Cochlear Implant
Cochlear implants offer individuals with severe-to-profound hearing loss a range of advantages that go far beyond just being able to hear sounds. A cochlear implant makes it possible to understand speech without reading lips and have conversations with ease. This makes both in person conversations and phone calls much easier. And verbal communication isn’t the only thing adults and children can achieve with their cochlear implants.
There’s so much more around us than just speech. We’re surrounded by all kinds of sounds. Birds singing, children laughing, leaves rustling, the hum of a motor, the vocals and guitar solo in a rock song: Being able to hear and feel all these sounds—and the emotions they’re connected to—is possible with a cochlear implant.
- Understand speech in loud environments
- Easily recognise and localise sounds
- Enjoy music and other sounds again
- Make phone calls with ease
- Have more confidence
- Experience improved quality of life
Interested in learning more about individualised cochlear implants?
What’s the Difference Between a Cochlear Implant and a Hearing Aid?
Cochlear implants are usually used when even the strongest conventional hearing aid doesn’t help anymore. Unlike a hearing aid, a cochlear implant does not use acoustic amplification—it uses electrical stimulation of the inner ear. It bypasses the nonfunctioning parts of the inner ear and sends the sound signal directly to the auditory nerve.
How Well Can You Hear With a Cochlear Implant?
Your cochlear implant will help you hear your family’s voices again, notice the ring of the telephone, and experience a gust of wind as clearly as you feel it. That will make it easier for you to understand what’s happening around you, find your bearings, and pick up on cues and requests. Everyday sounds carry important information—think of moments when hearing a car horn, a shouted warning, or an alarm can be crucial.
After losing my hearing, it was difficult to listen to music. And now with the cochlear implant, I appreciate music to the fullest.”
Russell
CI User and Oboe Player
Professional Musicians With Hearing Implants
At MED-EL, our philosophy is achieving closest to natural hearing with our implants. When cochlear implants were first developed, the priority was speech understanding. But the standards today are much higher. Our individualised cochlear implants stimulate the entire cochlea—like in natural hearing. They collect and process sound so precisely that users can not only take part in conversations, but they can also enjoy sounds as complex as the music of an orchestra. There are even professional musicians with hearing implants from MED-EL.
Improved Quality of Life Thanks to Better Hearing
Adults with cochlear implants report that a cochlear implant has a positive effect on their self-confidence and social life. They are more active in their communities and often notice a general improvement in their mental health.
With the ability to hear speech clearly, people with a cochlear implant can have conversations in loud environments, whether at a work meeting or when visiting a restaurant. Being able to experience concerts, plays, and movies means increased independence and quality of life.
Having a cochlear implant supports cognition, which is the ability to gain knowledge about the world through the senses and reasoning. A cochlear implant reduces listening effort and can contribute to improvements in attention, concentration, and cognitive abilities.
Being able to do the things that I used to be able to do has given me amazing amounts of confidence back. I’m going back to the person who I used to be.
Vera
CI User
Improved Speech Development in Children
Studies show that deaf children who receive a cochlear implant at a young age can develop language skills comparable to those of children without hearing loss. The more regularly and longer children use their cochlear implant, the more words they hear at a very young age, and the better their language development will be. Being able to communicate verbally also supports social inclusion and helps ensure a successful educational journey for children with cochlear implants.
Interested in learning more about individualised cochlear implants?
Are There Risks Associated With Cochlear Implants?
Cochlear implants offer significant advantages in everyday life—most cochlear implant users describe them as being life-changing. But the new hearing provided by an implant can come with some challenges.
Learning to Hear Takes Time
A cochlear implant is not a light switch—lost hearing doesn’t come back completely from one second to the next when your cochlear implant is switched on. After you hear the first sound with your implant, the process of adjusting to it and doing rehabilitation and active hearing training will begin. The more motivated you are and the more regularly you work toward your hearing success, the more quickly you’ll achieve it. Your hearing journey is unique, and so is the pace at which you reach your goals.
More and more I recognise the nuances that music has. But I’m still learning and music sounds a little better to me every day.
Laura
CI User, Singer, and Music Teacher
Technical Issues
Although cochlear implants are rigorously tested high-tech products, in rare cases, they can malfunction. This can lead to a reduction in hearing performance and require technical adjustments.
But the fact is, there are very rarely problems with MED-EL cochlear implants, and our implants are known for their excellent long-term reliability rate. We value communicating our reliability data and CSR data comprehensively and transparently.
Risk of Infection Is Low
For decades, cochlear implantation has been a successful and safe treatment for hearing loss. But there are—as with all surgeries—certain risks. But the risks are minimal and no greater than those associated with other ear surgeries.
Inflammation at the implantation site can’t be ruled out but occurs extremely rarely. It can be caused by bacterial infections or an allergic reaction. In such cases, fast diagnosis and treatment are essential in order to avoid complications and maintain the functionality of the implant.
Information and Counselling Are Key
Cochlear implants can be a valuable aid for individuals with severe hearing loss. The decision to get a cochlear implant is long-term and life-changing.
Before getting a cochlear implant, you should receive a medical examination, extensive counselling about hearing implants, and carefully consider the pros and cons so you can make an informed decision.
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