An Understanding the Cochlear and an Implants

By: Connie Churape

A lot of people that have hearing loss can get helped with cochlear implants. These tiny tools can be placed behind the ear and can help people suffering from deafness understand cued speech and other sounds. The cost of a cochlear implant varies based on the patient but it can be rather expensive. Before determining if you are even eligible to have a cochlear implant, you will need to undergo several hearing tests to be considered.

The cochlear implant has been approved by the FDA for both children and adults. The auditory nerve receives aural "messages" from a cochlear implant which are then interpreted into sound. A series of auditory evaluations will be given, which will determine whether the subject is eligible for this procedure. National Association of the Deaf regulations stipulate that in order to receive implants, a patient must have a significant hearing loss, and yet still have an auditory nerve that will allow the implants to work.

Unfortunately, if your loss of hearing is a result of a badly functioning auditory nerve, you will not be eligible to undergo a cochlear implant. In some cases, a cochlear implant will not be effective; for example, if your hearing has been impaired for a long time, your auditory nerve has probably stopped working properly and not even a cochlear implant will help. In cases like this, even the implant cant' help with recognition of cued speech and sound patterns. To minimise potential problems from a loss of hearing, call an expert today to see how you can gain the maximum benefit from a cochlear implant.

Other factors that determine eligibility are whether language skills and speech patterns developed prior to hearing loss. For patients who receive a cochlear implant after these skills developed, a higher success rate is likely to occur when undergoing post-operative speech and language rehabilitation. For adults and children who did not learn cued speech and sound patterns, the rehabilitation period could last longer and be more difficult to attain.

The Price of Cochlear Implants

If you are a good candidate for the procedure, you will also need to face the price of a cochlear implant. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association estimates that implants cost between $45 and $55 thousand. This is just the average cost of cochlear implants, which includes the pre-operative hearing tests, the surgical device, and implantation, and rehabilitation costs after the surgery. Those individuals who have difficulty with cued speech or sound patterns may require ancillary services. This could imply that implants should cost something like $ 60000 to $80000.

There are options available for patients who have Medicare coverage. As per Cochlear.For Medicare recipients over the age of 65, hearing loss in the fourth most common disability covered by Medicare. Since about 13% patients, including hearing impaired ones, do not
recover completely even after medication, they could form 23% of patients having cochlear surgeries that this insurance plan covers. Even though it's likely that Medicare will cover your cochlear implant surgery, make sure you find out exactly what is covered before proceding.

If you are considering the possibility of a cochlear implant, ask for hearing tests and consider all of the variables involved with this decision. Not only will a cochlear implant surgery be expensive, but it will also be permanent. The limitations of the implants is that they don't cure deafness in all cases. In fact, a hearing aid may be more of a help and may give better performance than an implant. Though clearly beneficial, be sure to research the cochlear implant before making a decision.

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