Hearing Loss Education Center

Connecting people to a world of sound
 
Hearing Loss Education Center
Hearing & Hearing Loss Screening & Testing Treatment with Hearing Aids Advanced Treatments for Hearing Loss What is a Cochlear Implant? How Do Cochlear Implants Work? Candidates for Cochlear Implants The Process of Acquiring a Cochlear Implant Insurance & Reimbursement Daily Life with a Cochlear Implant What is Baha? Communication & Language Choosing the Right Treatment Resources
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Candidates for Cochlear Implants

Cochlear implants are a proven medical option for children as young as 12 months old who meet the hearing loss criteria and who obtain little or no benefit from hearing aids.  There is no upper age limit for cochlear implantation.

They are electronic devices, which bypass damaged hair cells in the inner ear, or cochlea, and stimulate the hearing nerve directly.  Cochlear implants are designed to restore hearing, giving users the best possible hearing experience. They can help people of different ages and with conditions such as Meniere's Disease, sudden hearing loss, head injuries, diabetes, high blood pressure, tinnitus, developmental delays, and learning disabilities.

If you or a loved one meet the hearing loss criteria shown below, and if your answers to the following questions are “yes,” then a next step would be to request information and make an appointment with a hearing professional near you. If you are interested in learning more about who can benefit from cochlear implants request a copy of the Cochlear Implant Education Guide.

Candidacy Criteria*

For young children: 12 months to 2 years
Does the child:

  • Have profound sensorineural hearing loss (nerve deafness)?
  • Receive limited benefit from hearing aids?

Children: 2 to 17 years
Does the child:

  • Have severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss (nerve deafness)?
  • Receive limited benefit from hearing aids?

Adults: 18 year and over
Does the person:

  • Have moderate-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss (nerve deafness)?
  • Receive limited benefit from hearing aids?
  • Score 50 percent or less on sentence recognition tests in the ear to be implanted and 60 percent or less in the non-implanted ear when using hearing aids?

 

* Criteria shown are for Cochlear™ Nucleus® brand.  Other models may have different candidacy guidelines.



 
   

Hearing Loss

For hearing loss, refers to less than average ability to hear and understand sounds due to one or more parts of the hearing system not working properly.

Hearing Loss

For hearing loss, refers to problems hearing in both ears, not just one.

Hearing Loss

For hearing loss, refers to problems hearing in one, but not both ears

Mild Hearing Loss

People with mild hearing loss have some difficulty following speech, mainly in noisy situations; quietest sounds they can hear in their better ear average between 25 and 39 decibels (a standard measure of sound)

Moderate Hearing Loss

People with moderate hearing loss have difficulty following speech without a hearing aid; quietest sounds they can hear in their better ear average between 40 and 69 decibels (a standard measure of sound).

Severe Hearing Loss

People with severe hearing loss get help from powerful hearing aids, but often rely on lip-reading even when using an aid; quietest sounds they can hear in their better ear average between 70 and 89 decibels (a standard measure of sound).

Profound Hearing Loss

People with profound hearing loss mostly rely on lip-reading and/or sign language; the quietest sounds heard in their better ear average from 90 decibels or louder (a standard measure of sound).

Otosclerosis

A disease in which bone grows abnormally in the middle ear preventing structures within the ear from working properly and causing hearing loss.

Cochlea

Part of the ear that contains both the organ of hearing (the cochlea) and the organ of balance (the labyrinth).

Feedback

A high-pitched, sometime painful, whistling sound that occurs when a microphone picks up sound from a nearby speaker and replays it again and again (commonly occurs when a poorly fitting hearing aid earmold allows sound to “leak” from the speaker back into the microphone).

Assisstive Listening Devices

Electronic devices or accessories for hearing aids that provide extra help in specific listening situations (telephone, noisy backgrounds, small or large group settings, etc.).

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Hearing loss due to failure of the auditory nerve, also called nerve deafness.

Mastoid Bone

A portion of the lower skull bone that contains the inner ear.

Rehabilitation

For individuals who previously experienced hearing and get a cochlear implant, the comprehensive training program that “re-teaches” them how to hear and interpret sounds, to recover any lost speech skills, and to properly use the cochlear implant speech processor and controls.

Habilitation

For individuals who had not previously experience hearing and get a cochlear implant, the comprehensive training program that teaches them to hear and interpret sounds, to develop or improve speech skills, and to properly use the cochlear implant speech processor and controls.

Coverage

For health insurance, coverage involves making sure a health plan or policy pays for the cochlear implant device and related professional services (for example, physician and audiology services). Usually, you go through a preauthorization process. This means getting a guarantee from the health insurance plan that they will pay for the implant and services before getting treatment.

Billing

For health insurance, billing involves the process by which health care providers charge, code, and submit their bills (in the form of a claim) to the health insurance company or plan.

Payment

For health insurance, payment involves getting the full amount allowed for services given a health plan’s limitations, allowables, deductibles, and co-payments.

Menieres

A disorder of the fluid volume of the inner ear that can cause hearing loss, dizziness/vertigo, tinnitus (ringing in the ear), and/or pressure or pain in ear.

Meningitis

a viral or bacterial infection that causes inflammation and swelling of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord; among possible serious complications are hearing loss or deafness.

Mumps

a viral infection that causes swelling of the salivary glands; sometimes spreads to central nervous system which can result in hearing loss.

Measles

a viral infection that causes rash, fever, and cold-like symptoms; sometimes causes complications like ear or brain infections which can result in hearing loss.

Unilateral

on one side, but not the other; used to describe a type of hearing loss in which there is normal or somewhat impaired hearing in one ear and little or no hearing in the other ear.

Unilateral Hearing Loss

condition in which one ear has little or no hearing ability and the other ear has normal or close to normal hearing. Also referred to as Single Sided Deafness (SSD).

Osseointegration

the natural process of bone growing into the titanium fixtures creating a direct connection between an artificial implant and living bone.