Spinal Menegitis at age 3 carved out most of my hearing. As I used hearing aids in an attempt to compensate, I experienced a progressive loss until I was virtually totally deaf. I finally gave up on hearing aids around 1998. It had just been racket and noise for years. I can attest to the difficulty of functioning in an audio society while being unable to participate in spoken communication or appreciation of sound and music.

Thankfully I was elligible for a Cochlear implant. After 1 year with the implant I count myself blessed.

In June I sat outside, in the dark, getting all teary eyed just listening to crickets. I had not heard a cricket since I was seven.

I taught music for a semester at a school for the deaf, implants, we based everything on rhythm.

I have nerve degeneration which causes the constant noise without hearing aids. No ability to recognize direction in a crowd, everyone is in the same place.

I am very happy for your success story.

Not speaking for myself...just wondering...folks who have had to work around loud noises and later suffer from impaired hearing, is a Cochlear implant possible to restore hearing or is a Cochlear implant for very specific cases? Does one have to be all but totally deaf for this procedure?

I know someone that suffered the same problems as Rush. He lost ever bit of hearing in less than 3 months. He tried every specialist hospital, including the Mayo Clinic. The docs still have NADA

I also have nerve degeneration since I was born, mostly going thru life with 50% loss both ears, I'm now 47 and I'm up to 70% deaf.

Had lipreading since Kindergarten up to 9th. grade. I only use hearing aids while deer hunting, otherwise there's too much backround noise, all the loss is in the conversation tone level!!

My wife calls it selective hearing lol

Whoohooo. Yes, been there. With the hearing aids I had tinnitus like you wouldn't believe. I'd be sitting at my desk minding my own business and an air raid siren woudl go off in my head. That was the worst. Then there was the constant buzzing, that nearly drove me batty.

Thankfully the stimulus from the implant tends to mask most of the tinnitus now.

The degeneration creates that noise, without the hearing aids I can't hear.

Generally, cochlear implants are reserved for the "Profoundly deaf", those who gain no benefit from hearing aids.

I'd have to submit to professional medical opinion, but it was my impression that generally the kinds of hearing loss produced by loud noises do not preclude the use of a cochlear implant. Generally a cochlear implant is dependant on having a healthy cochlear and hearing nerves. Some hearing losses such as ossification of the cochlear and nerual tumors can preclude use of the implant.

For more info (and local implant centers) check out: Cochlear Corp. and Clarion

Anyone with question should feel free to contact me.

The implants when successful are incredible. The cricket you first heard is one of thousands I hear every time I remove my hearing aids. Nice to have clear sound. But I can't use cell or home phones without serious hassle. I can't hear the doorbell. I tell people ahead of time that I'm deaf so that I don't embarrass myself asking them to repeat...

"Had lipreading since Kindergarten up to 9th. grade. I only use hearing aids while deer hunting, otherwise there's too much backround noise, all the loss is in the conversation tone level!!"

How long ago did you get new aids?? The new computerized compensating aids have made WONDERFUL strides in coping selectively with background noise. My current aids are a generation out of date, but they are HUGELY better than my first set. In some high background noise situations, I can actually hear better than a "normally hearing person".

I lost 80% of my hearing in 1983 after a nasty bout of strep throat. Hearing anything is painful now. I can hear most of what people say by reading their lips. I must admit I prefer the silence instead. Rush will do okay.

what?

Implants rules are quite stringent. And with today's digital technology, even people in the 1k range can be increased significantly.

ha......... ......

..........

.....ha...

I doubt that. Average "hearing" is between 12 and 14k and best that can be expected out of the new digital technology is between 6 and 8k. Even in that range one must select "gives and takes" with the equipment. And considering high-end alone, you are not in the ballpark of "the hearing". I don't like it either, but it's the reality of where we are today.

I was born to deaf parents; my Dad's deafness was genetic, and some of that was passed on to me. I had virtually no high-frequency hearing. With the passing years, hearing loss from aging started cutting into the frequencies where most speech is. I would miss the occasional word, and by the time I was 40, needed hearing aids (this was near the end of my military career).

I don't wear them often, but always carry them with me for meetings or other gatherings where I might miss hearing the person with the softspoken voice (there's one in every meeting).

And yeah, I passed the same hearing loss on to my two boys.

Wow. Did you think of that one yourself?

I'm sure he hasn't heard it before......

��5{��������tarting this thread. My older brother has a hearing loss that resulted from a childhood illness. While growing up, it was always a struggle for me to talk to him because I have such a soft voice and I had to make sure he was looking at me when we talked because he relies so much on lipreading. I didn't realize until my adult years that I sort of gave up on trying to communicate in some ways. He tried a hearing aid years ago and it drove him nuts! I hope he can someday find a solution...

bless your heart, now i understand your screen name.