implants

tony melia

i have just read that a cochelar implant service is to open in beaumont hospital .Can anyone tell is this service open to older people i.e. over 70
i have a brother who has lost most of his hearing over the last 3 years 'he has hearing aids but they are no good 'he paid almost €3000 for this rubbish 'he is a medical card holder would he be entitled to cocheler implants or is this service for children only


Tony

zbluebirdz

tony melia wrote: »

i have just read that a cochelar implant service is to open in beaumont hospital .Can anyone tell is this service open to older people i.e. over 70
i have a brother who has lost most of his hearing over the last 3 years 'he has hearing aids but they are no good 'he paid almost €3000 for this rubbish 'he is a medical card holder would he be entitled to cocheler implants or is this service for children only

Tony

Is this the article you're referring to?
http://www.irishhealth.com/article.html?id=21851

Basically, they're saying they now moving from doing one implant per person to two implants per person.

They have being doing implantation since 1996 - so they being providing a cochlear implant service for many years. Just that they want to move onto dual implantation as they see better results from two implants versus one.
They provide implant service for all ages - not just children.

However, dual implantation is not for everybody.
e.g. for me, one ear is not bad enough to have an implant, whereas the other ear is ...

As for the age - that would be taken in consideration amongst many other factors on whether a person gets an implant or not.

Best to have a chat with the Beaumont cochlear implant team about getting an implant.

As for the hearing aid, did your brother get them from the hospital?
- If not, try contacting the nearest hospital that has an audiology department.

the_syco

tony melia wrote: »

Can anyone tell is this service open to older people i.e. over 70

Not sure how long three years is? Seems with elderly people, it's "good if only deaf for a short time", but it isn't clear how short short is.

tony melia

he has been getting his hearing aids now from hse in nth great georges st but they are of no use 'his hearing is getting worse 'i suffer with arthritis but i would not swap it for his complaint for any money 'loss of hearing is a lonely life

the_syco

tony melia wrote: »

he has been getting his hearing aids now from hse in nth great georges st but they are of no use 'his hearing is getting worse 'i suffer with arthritis but i would not swap it for his complaint for any money 'loss of hearing is a lonely life

Realize that if he can't take the hearing aid off and put it back on, he may not be able to use the cochlear implant.

/edit
From my understanding, there's a device that is placed on the ear that communicates with the implant inside the persons head?

tony melia

the_syco wrote: »

Realize that if he can't take the hearing aid off and put it back on, he may not be able to use the cochlear implant.

/edit
From my understanding, there's a device that is placed on the ear that communicates with the implant inside the persons head?

He has a removable hearing aid 'this is my first experience of this problem and i am beginning to realise like all complaints there are people/companys who are making money falsely from this complaint.
Just an example he answered an ad for a hearing aid with a prominent company who were out to his home like a bullet and fitted him with a hearing that was a load crap and the poor man gave them €3000

the_syco

tony melia wrote: »

He has a removable hearing aid 'this is my first experience of this problem and i am beginning to realise like all complaints there are people/companys who are making money falsely from this complaint.
Just an example he answered an ad for a hearing aid with a prominent company who were out to his home like a bullet and fitted him with a hearing that was a load crap and the poor man gave them €3000

Yeah, some of the ads are dubious at best. Mind saying where about in the country he is at?

/edit
If in Dublin, get an appointment in either deafhear.ie or bonovox.ie and have them assess him. I use bonovox myself, but lots of others here recommend deafhear. Bonovox are open Saturdays, and if booked, the audiologist can be there Saturday mornings (handy if you don't want to/can't take a day off work). Not sure if deafhear are open Saturdays or not.

tony melia

the_syco wrote: »

Yeah, some of the ads are dubious at best. Mind saying where about in the country he is at?

/edit
If in Dublin, get an appointment in either deafhear.ie or bonovox.ie and have them assess him. I use bonovox myself, but lots of others here recommend deafhear. Bonovox are open Saturdays, and if booked, the audiologist can be there Saturday mornings (handy if you don't want to/can't take a day off work). Not sure if deafhear are open Saturdays or not.

finglas

zbluebirdz

the_syco wrote: »

Realize that if he can't take the hearing aid off and put it back on, he may not be able to use the cochlear implant.

/edit
From my understanding, there's a device that is placed on the ear that communicates with the implant inside the persons head?

The implant has an external component, somewhat similar to a hearing aid, but without the mould. It simply hooks over the ear and is connected to a magnetic coil that sits on the side of the skull. There's a small piece of magnetic-metal buried into the skull - this is what the magnetic coil is attracted to ..

zbluebirdz

Another place to try is the Beaumont hospital - audiology department is next to the cochlear implant department ...

starlit

Its for adults too and applies to anyone that is a suitable candiate. There is a long process. Usually do a trial before they allow you go ahead with the implant. Sometimes the implant might not be suited to the person and they wear the baha with a headband. The cost of the Baha would be roughly €3,000 if it got damaged or lost while you are under HSE/Medical Card.

These ops use to be in the UK but doing them in Ireland for a few years. They do them in Cork as well. As far as I know they do it in the Mater as well in Dublin.

ManAboutCouch

Just a little more info on this, I'm getting a Cochlear Implant next week in Beaumont, so have a little experience with the procedure.

The implants are available to adults and children, however they only provide single implants to adults, while children can get two if required. The procedure is covered by the HSE, so there is no cost except for the usual fees for hospital stays. Depending on the type of implant you may need to purchase supplies (typically batteries) yourself.

As I understand it there are no age limits, but there is a fairly intensive process consisting of audiograms, interviews, MRI scans and others to determine if someone is suitable for an implant.

The Cochlear Implant programme at Beaumont has been running for nearly 20 years, so they have a lot of experience. I understand they're moving to a purpose built facility on the campus next year some time. More information is available on their website

ManAboutCouch

Following up on this, I've had my implant for about 6 months now, and it's going very well. My speech perception is much better than it was before the operation and I'm noticing gradual improvements every day.

There was a documentary team following me and a few others who received implants in the last 6 months. The programme will be screened on RTE1 on Sunday evening, 19th July 2015 (subject to last minute change, of course).

If anyone has questions about the implant, the operation, or any other aspects of CI I'd be happy to answer from my own perspective on here.

the_syco

Spotted a dude at the Taste of Dublin who had one. He had a magnetic plate inside the skin, and a gizmo (inch squared cube) that was on the outside. Was wondering was this the norm, or was it just a version of it? Asking here, as I didn't want to be too intrusive to the dude at the ToD.

joanmul

If anyone has questions about the implant, the operation, or any other aspects of CI I'd be happy to answer from my own perspective on here.

What type of hearing loss did you have i.e. age related or what? When you say the procedure is covered by the HSE do you mean for medical card holders only? I put the date of your documentary on my calendar - I'm sure it'll be very interesting.

zbluebirdz

the_syco wrote: »

Spotted a dude at the Taste of Dublin who had one. He had a magnetic plate inside the skin, and a gizmo (inch squared cube) that was on the outside. Was wondering was this the norm, or was it just a version of it? Asking here, as I didn't want to be too intrusive to the dude at the ToD.

That's the basic setup.

A magnetic plate buried into the skull underneath the skin. Attached to the plate is the receiver with some wires - one goes into the cochlear, others go elsewhere.

On the outside is the circular transmitter (power & signals) which is in turn connected to a BTE aid.
(BTE = Behind The Ear)

There's a few of variations to the BTE aid:
1) Complete unit - i.e. has microphones, processor, batteries.
2) Same as complete unit - except batteries - batteries supplied in a separate wearable box.
3) Just microphones and is then connected to another wearable box that has the processor and batteries.

ManAboutCouch

joanmul wrote: »

What type of hearing loss did you have i.e. age related or what? When you say the procedure is covered by the HSE do you mean for medical card holders only? I put the date of your documentary on my calendar - I'm sure it'll be very interesting.

I had 'hearing loss in the upper registers' from birth, meaning that I couldn't hear high pitched sounds. As I got older this loss increased and I began to lose perception of lower and lower pitched sounds. In the last few years this spread into the speech frequencies, meaning I found it harder and harder to make out what people were saying. This type of hearing loss can't really be treated with hearing aids, so I never wore one of those.

By covered by the HSE I mean there is no cost to anyone who gets an implant, medical card holder or not. You may have to pay for a few nights in hospital if you don't have a medical card or health insurance though.

As for the doumentary, the date has changed after all. It will now be shown on Tuesday 14th July on RTE1 at 21:35 and it's called 'Breaking the sound barrier'

ManAboutCouch

Not all implants have a BTE element. I have a bodyworn device, so I have a small microphone/transmitter on my head that has a single wire which connects it to my processor, which I wear inside a collar. The processor is about the size of a box of matches, and the whole setup is pretty unobtrusive. If I had more hair you might not notice I was wearing one. Alas, my days of long flowing locks are behind me.

ManAboutCouch

The documentary on Cochlear Implants which I appeared in was shown on Tuesday, it's on RTE Player now, here: http://www.rte.ie/player/ie/show/10443139/