Deafness

[mekon]

I know there's a few members on here with hearing issues.
Today after talking with a mate at work (who's daughter has a Cochlear implant) I was pointed to the Cochlear website.
I feel a little excited as I will go and get seen by a specialist. I was born with mumps, measles and viral meningitis and suffered profound deafness in my left ear as a result. No other dramas though.

I was always under the impression there's nothing that can be done for this as hearing aids won't work etc. So my hearing is fine in my right but I have no sense of direction of sound. I'm 35 and never really thought there was anything for my situation then I found this:

Baha - How Bone Conduction Can Help You Hear Better | Cochlear Australia

I'm kind of excited but with reserved anticipation as I may be no good for this. If this works well it will mean I can hear in both ears/stereo, thus get full effect from earphones etc, manage better in loud environments like pubs.

I'm wondering if anyone here has heard about this, has one, knows someone that has one etc? Please post up.

Incidentally I found out Apple have an accessibility option of interest to those with single sided hearing:

Apple - Accessibility - iPhone - Hearing

[Mo-Fo]

My Mum started going deaf in both ears when she was 14, she's been totally deaf now for about 20+ years. She's got special hearing aids in both ears which work pretty well and I'm pretty sure has had an operation on them too. I'll find out from her whether it was this op she's had and let you know.

[mekon]

Cheers Mo-Fo, much appreciated. If you can find out what caused the deafness. PM me if you don't want it out in the thread.

[Sventek]

I'll watch this with interest. I'm mostly deaf in my left ear, too, and it would be great if something could be done for it.

[mekon]

I got more info from Mum, had the Mumps at 2 and a half, couldn't be seen in the hospitals that time due to striking in the UK and a week later the meningitis. Left a bit of damage to the brain really. I'm fine but it's interesting the results of these things. I'll keep updates coming.

[Skut]

I got more info from Mum, had the Mumps at 2 and a half, couldn't be seen in the hospitals that time due to striking in the UK and a week later the meningitis. Left a bit of damage to the brain really. I'm fine but it's interesting the results of these things. I'll keep updates coming.

Your brain? If that is what you would call damaged, then surely not to the detriment of society! I would say evolution...

Damn thing rewires itself all the time...
Fight for what you believe, but get the legal angles sorted.

[Crisis averted]

My Brother in law and his daughter both have Cochlear implants, but the Baha system seems a bit different. They needed to learn to hear once they got their implants, as the sound is a bit different.
Not sure about Baha, but with Cochlear you still cant use earphones, as the unit basically ignores your ear. Col has a little box that his connects to and he can plug an earphone into that though.
They were gob-smacked with the new found hearing ability

cheers
Steve

[shmoo]

what?

[Darkbyte]

Curious, I have never heard of an option that suggests an aid for neural deafness
(i.e. the case where there is no connection between the brain and the albiet working mechanisms in the ear.)

"Totally deaf in one ear - Baha transfers the sound directly to your hearing ear."


Hopefully the specialist has something good to tell you. Do you know which part of your ear was damaged?

To be able to tell the direction of sound would be pretty cool though especially when playing sport.
Will be curious to see how you go.

[Crisis averted]

Curious, I have never heard of an option that suggests an aid for neural deafness

My brother in law, his daughter and both of my daughters suffer from Hereditary Neural Deafness, as did my wife.
The first two have had cochlear implants to correct severe loss. The others wear powerful hearing aids to partly overcome the disability.
They still aren't perfect but you can really tell the difference when their aids are turned off.

[Desmo]

what?

Four times this week I have come in with a killer comment and you have posted the EXACT same fucking thing I was going to post.

[BERT]

A bit OT but recommended by Dr Karl

The Brain: "Ringing in the Ears" Actually Goes Much Deeper Than That | Senses | DISCOVER Magazine

[BigTim]

Four times this week I have come in with a killer comment and you have posted the EXACT same fucking thing I was going to post.

Killer? Really?

[mekon]

Curious, I have never heard of an option that suggests an aid for neural deafness

"Totally deaf in one ear - Baha transfers the sound directly to your hearing ear."


Hopefully the specialist has something good to tell you. Do you know which part of your ear was damaged?

To be able to tell the direction of sound would be pretty cool though especially when playing sport.
Will be curious to see how you go.

Unsure of where the damage lies. So I assume from what I've been told I had hearing in both ears until 2.5 yrs, then gone completely in left, so not the bone, the little hairs most likely either nerve or brain. Either way worth a shot.
The lack of directional sound stopped me getting into the army as an instant medical fail. Extremely devastating considering the career plans I'd made in high school. Oh well can't live with regrets, everything else has turned out dandy.

Oh, the "What?" joke, I've seriously never heard it before.

[Desmo]

Killer? Really?

Don't you have something heavy to lift?

[Darkbyte]

My brother in law, his daughter and both of my daughters suffer from Hereditary Neural Deafness, as did my wife.
The first two have had cochlear implants to correct severe loss. The others wear powerful hearing aids to partly overcome the disability.
They still aren't perfect but you can really tell the difference when their aids are turned off.

I think we are talking about two slightly different things:

From my understanding:

Cochlear Implants and hearing aids are used for the treatment of conductive and sensorineural deafness (i.e. the parts up to the auditory nerve are broken).

Neural deafness is the case where the connection between the brain and the ear is broken or functioning incorrectly, hence hearing aids and cochlear implants will not help.

[mekon]

The Baha is different kettle of fish to the cochlear.

[Darkbyte]

Unsure of where the damage lies. So I assume from what I've been told I had hearing in both ears until 2.5 yrs, then gone completely in left, so not the bone, the little hairs most likely either nerve or brain. Either way worth a shot.

Definately worth a shot, it sounds promising in theory.

[Severina]

I was diagnosed with Otosclerosis 10 years ago. It has only affected my left ear which has severe hearing loss across all frequencies. The hearing in that ear had been diminishing for a long time before I was finally diagnosed though. The hearing in my other ear was much better than expected for my age and when compared to the general population.

My ENT specialist said they would be able to operate to restore some of the hearing in my left ear and tests after surgery would be able to show that hearing was better in that ear than it was previously. But, he said that as the right ear had been compensating for the left ear for a long time it would still act as the “strong” side and I would never really benefit from the surgery.

As you have the mono hearing thing going on as well, I would be very interested in what your specialist had to say. I’ve always wondered if mine just couldn’t be arsed doing the surgery!

[mekon]

Booked in for the 5th to be tested to see if there will be any benefit from the baha device.