Over the course of many decades, there have been a variety of methods to deal with hearing loss and provide ways for people who have hearing problems to enjoy better hearing levels. Hearing aids have been one of the primary forms of assistive listening devices and they have undergone many changes and improvements thanks to high-tech advancements. One option to hearing aids for the profoundly deaf has been cochlear implant surgery, which has become more well-known and widely accepted in recent years.
While the procedure to provide a patient with cochlear implants was first introduced in the mid 1960s, the use of these implants did not really become widespread until the early 1990s. In fact, there was, and still is, some resistance to these devices from the deaf community, which actually first reacted with protests to this new approach to providing better hearing to those with profound hearing loss and deafness.
These days, most of the opposition to the idea of a cochlear implant has died down considerably and there is a fair level of acceptance for cochlear implants by the deaf community. The main reason for the resistance was a fear that the deep and unique culture of the deaf community would be destroyed if such hearing aid technology became widespread.
Now some years later, however, it seems the fear of extinguishing the strong and proud culture of the profoundly deaf was mostly unfounded. Today, cochlear implants are no longer seen as a threat to that lifestyle but instead, as an alternative for better hearing.
Cochlear implants are also often referred to as an “internal hearing aid.” But it should be made clear that cochlear implants are not the equivalent of the hearing aid products known as implantable hearing aids. The main difference is that the cochlear implants utilize electricity to directly stimulate nerves in the auditory system while the implantable hearing devices are essentially exactly the same as a standard hearing aid, simply implanted “permanently.”
Traditional hearing loss hearing aids simply amplify the sounds. Cochlear implants work differently in that they “rewire” the internal workings in such a way that it actually bypasses the hair cells that have been damaged in the ear. Because of this approach, not everyone with severe hearing loss is eligible for cochlear implants. If the patient still has a certain level of hearing, then they might be rejected for this procedure. The reason for this is that the implant will destroy any natural hearing that is still functioning in the ear that receives the implant.
One interesting note to point out is that even after someone receives an implant, they are still considered to be deaf. In fact, they have the ability to turn their cochlear implants off and when the implants are not on, they are totally deaf.
The statistics show that more adults who are deaf are now having cochlear implant surgery done to give them some measure of hearing. The trend also shows that hearing parents, as opposed to deaf parents, are more likely to make a swift decision to have a deaf child receive these implants. In all instances this is a choice that is highly personal and which should only be undertaken with proper, professional counseling.
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