Cochlear Implants Restore Hearing
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| Anne Kelly |
| 2/11/2009 |
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| Hearing aids help millions of Americans regain their fifth sense. But they don`t work for everyone, particularly those who can`t hear at all. In those cases, audiologists often turn to cochlear implants. Kyler Sabin is completely deaf, but can hear nearly everything you and I can. All thanks to cochlear implants. "They had surgery and they implanted a magnetic device inside, so that this piece here just kind of falls there and this is just the processor where the sound go through right here," says Amanda Sabin, Kyler`s mother. They basically give Kyler back his hearing by transmitting sound directly to the auditory nerve and on to the brain. Amanda can`t imagine life without the implants and says she`s seen her son make tremendous gains since the surgery. He`s started forming words, communicating better, and obeying her a lot more. "You could completely notice the difference," she says. A difference she says will likely lead to more opportunity for him down the road as well as a better quality of life. In fact, a recent study finds child born deaf who have cochlear implants have a perceived better quality of life overall. Audiologist Brady Ness says while cochlear implants may be life changing, parents of deaf children can`t wait forever to look into them. "If a baby is born deaf and they don`t do anything until they`re after five or six years of age, their brain doesn`t learn the communicative characteristics," says Dr. Ness. "We learn so much in our first five, six years of life the way it is and if you`re not being stimulated auditorily you miss out on so much and you can`t catch up on that." Dr. Ness says that`s why babies have their hearing screened soon after birth, so that doctors can intervene early on. Kyler`s screening caught a problem, which eventually led to his implants. Something his mother says has forever changed his life for the better. While cochlear implants benefit children, Dr. Ness says a lot of adults have them too. He says if hearing aids aren`t doing the trick anymore you may be a candidate for them, and your best bet is to talk to your audiologist about a possible evaluation. |
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