Invisible Noise: What is a Cochlear Implant?

About my hearing loss

I met a girl called Beth who inspired me to write a blog to help people to understand my hearing loss. I find it very difficult to talk to people about this and make it out to be all fine and dandy however I am profoundly deaf. (This means no hearing) My deafness started 18 months ago when I had a hearing test and was found to have a mild hearing loss. Since then it has been deteriorating rapidly. We don't know why this has been happening, but looking back, I think I have been deaf for a while longer. Being deaf came as quite a shock to me and has taken some getting used to but meeting other hard of hearing people has made me feel more ‘normal’. Without my friends and family, I don’t know how I would have got through this. I went to a place called The Ear Foundation to look at a new device called a Cochlear Implant that might help me hear. Currently I wear 2 hearing aids that I call bricks.

This is what a cochlear implant looks like form the outside

A cochlear implant (CI) is a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard of hearing. Having a CI involves an operation and for a month afterwards until it is switched on you will have NO hearing. A cochlear implant looks like the pictures below. If I were to have a Cochlear Implant, it would mean lots of time off school.

Right now, I am not sure if I want a CI because it is a long process and I feel that I am doing ok with my hearing aids even though others think differently.