Are your hearing aids no longer enough?

Have you or a loved one ever thought “I don't think my hearing aids do enough anymore”?

Or maybe you have noticed that conversations have become more difficult, even with hearing aids, or that you’re straining to hear more than usual. These are all potential symptoms that hearing aids may not be enough. As we age, hearing loss can progress. It is important to stay up to date on your hearing care, monitor for changes, and make sure that your residual hearing is treated optimally.

Have you heard of a cochlear implant and wonder if you or a loved one would benefit from one?

A cochlear implant (CI) is a surgically implanted device that can provide sound perception for a person who has moderate-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss. It's a two-part device; an internal implant and an external processor that communicates with the internal device. While a cochlear implant does not cure hearing to normal, it can provide access to speech in a way that hearing aids could not. With a combination of a cochlear implant and sound therapy, CI’s may allow for improved speech understanding in both quiet and noisy environments.

So, what does this mean for you or your loved ones? Do you/they struggle to hear in one-on-one situations or in noisy environments even with the use of a hearing aid?

In this article, we will discuss the process of testing individuals to determine candidacy for a cochlear implant. Because a cochlear implant is a surgical procedure, there are guidelines put into place by the FDA and insurance companies to make sure those getting a cochlear implant have the greatest chance for improvement with speech understanding.

As audiologists, our goal is to identify hearing loss, make the best recommendation for hearing technology and to identify when it’s time to upgrade technology. Sometimes hearing aids or upgrading technology may not be the best recommendation for patients. This is when a cochlear implant may be recommended.

Occasionally we see a patient that may not be performing well with hearing aids and we recommend completing a Cochlear Implant Evaluation to do further testing with hearing aids.

Per FDA and insurance guidelines, a patient must perform below a certain percentage in best aided conditions, in order to be considered a candidate for a Cochlear Implant. At the end of the evaluation, we go over the results with the patient and discuss their performance with the best fit hearing aids on them.

If a patient is a candidate for a Cochlear Implant, we then refer them to a Cochlear Implant surgeon to do a medical evaluation for the procedure. When considering a Cochlear Implant, we want to make sure the patient is in general good health, has no concerns for cognitive decline, has a good support system, and is motivated to use a Cochlear Implant. The surgeon also will want to get some radiology images of the ears to make sure the anatomy of the ear is intact correctly.

Being an audiologist with hearing loss has given me a perspective most don't have.

I was initially diagnosed at two years old with a mild to moderate hearing loss and my hearing loss progressed to a severe to profound hearing loss by the time I was in 6th grade. Most of my childhood was based around my ears - doctor appointments, IEP (individualized education plan) meetings, sign language classes, speech therapy sessions, ear mold impressions, and multiple hearing aids fittings.

As I got older, my classmates started picking on me because I was “different” than the others. Kids would say, “What? Are you deaf?” or make fun of my hearing aids. I was bullied because of my hearing loss.

It wasn’t until my middle school years that I really understood what hearing loss truly meant. One time in 6th grade, we were playing a trivia game during class. It was two teams in a single file line and the first to answer correctly got the point. The teacher read the question and I misheard the question and responded with a completely different and wrong answer. I was laughed at and made fun of by my classmates. I broke down into tears not understanding what happened. That’s when I realized I couldn’t “hear” like my classmates.

All my life I was mishearing things or not hearing something at all, but my family, friends and teachers had adapted to help me and subconsciously they knew how to get my attention or communicate in certain situations. I hadn’t realized it at the time, but I depended on everyone to get through everyday activities.

During my junior year of high school, my support team and I started talking about colleges and what the future would look like for me. I would be entering a whole new educational system with new classmates and teachers, and less support overall. I began to realize that it was time I became more independent if I wanted to succeed throughout college and life. We started the conversation of getting yet another hearing aid to help me hear better, but there wasn't any better technology that could help my significant hearing loss. My audiologist said I needed something else.

At 18 years old, I had my first surgery for a cochlear implant. Receiving a cochlear implant changed my life and made me who I am today. I decided to pursue a career in audiology and help patients who have hearing loss like myself and share my story. I actually received my second cochlear implant while in graduate school learning to become an audiologist!

While learning about audiology and the statistics of hearing loss I realized my story is just like that of every patient. On average, it takes about seven years from the time one is diagnosed with hearing loss to doing something about it. In those seven years, auditory deprivation is changing the way the brain functions.

With my specific hearing loss, my right ear had little to no auditory stimulation most of my childhood which was leading to sound deprivation of the auditory pathways on the right side. I had begun to rely on lip reading, visual cues, closed captioning and avoided extremely noisy environments. I was more exhausted than any of my friends from auditory fatigue - it took so much effort to just hear! By the time I got my first cochlear implant I had to retrain my brain to get used to the new stimulus, which took a lot of time and patience.

My story makes me who I am and I hope it can help my patients relate to what they are going through. My goal as an audiologist is to help those who have hearing loss by treating their hearing loss and helping them enjoy a better quality of life sooner rather than later.

Dr. Angelina Kinn has recently joined Hearing HealthCare Centers as the new
Doctor of Audiology in Colorado Springs!

She graduated with her doctorate from Nova Southeastern University and has been an audiologist in the state of Colorado for over 10 years.

Dr. Kinn's passion is to help people stay connected with their family and friends. She loves to engage with her patients and build relationships. Dr. Kinn moved to Co. Springs 2 1/2 years ago from the Denver area with her husband Nathan, daughter Emory and her two frenchies, River and Roxy.

In her free time she enjoys road trips to the mountains and attending concerts in her neighborhood! She is looking forward to serving the Co. Springs community through Hearing HealthCare Centers.