Can my life be changed? (Being deaf)

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Well someone had to poke fun :p
 
Duff-Man said:
Not to be a negative Nancy or anything but... Surely this is the sort of question that you should be asking your doctor, rather than a forum of computer hardware enthusiasts?
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Get over yourself, he is merely asking a question and certainly knows where is main call will be.
We may be computer geeks but we are also real people where some of us will have had similar operations or know somebody who has.
It always makes me sad that some forum members can't accept that this forum has experts in virtually every field and it wouldn't surprise me if we actually had an ENT clinician on here.

Oh and OP,
I'm totally deaf in my right ear but have been told an operation on the 3 little bones would fix it.
 
As mentioned.. yes.. you can get implants. Not sure on the requirements though, and I imagine it's pretty invasive.

BTW... that is an amazing video of that baby :-) Heart warming :-)
 
It'll depend on why you're deaf. I'm 90% deaf in one ear and deaf to high frequencies in both and my consultant told me that nothing can be done at the minute because of the nature of it - I think it's an inner ear problem, as opposed to middle/outer.
 
Dimple said:
Get over yourself, he is merely asking a question and certainly knows where is main call will be.
We may be computer geeks but we are also real people where some of us will have had similar operations or know somebody who has.
It always makes me sad that some forum members can't accept that this forum has experts in virtually every field and it wouldn't surprise me if we actually had an ENT clinician on here.
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Did you even read the rest of the post? The available options are dependent on the specific condition in the ear. Even an ENT specialist would be unable to help without knowing the specifics of this particular case. Of course we have a wide range of expertise on this forum (I myself have a PhD so could, by some measure, be considered a specialist in my field). That doesn't mean this is the place to obtain medical information.

Any more childish insults you want to throw around? 5UB is a Don, so if I overstepped a line he will ban me. It's not for you to dismiss sensible advice, such as seeking a professional opinion.
 
Surprised that there's a few deaf people on here. My situation is the exact same as yours 5UB, deaf from birth in both ears, and have worn two hearing aids since 1 1/2 - 2 years old ( I think). I can hear fine in most situations, apart from noisy pubs, clubs and gigs where I am absolutely uselss. I've forced mates to type out what they're saying on phones before now :D

Never really thought about seeing if there's a way to restore my hearing loss to be honest, I'm that used to having hearing aids that I don't consider it a hindrance. Sometimes I do wonder if I'm hearing things the same as others (bass at gigs etc), but I never really let it bother me. I don't know the exact nature of my hearing loss, only that it needed over the ear aids rather than a full blown cochlear implant.

That said, I am on a pair of digital Phonaks (Aero 311AZ Forte) that must be about 8 years old now. Just recently got a set of digital Siemens from the NHS but they're awful, with 'active noise-cancellation' that only kicks in about 2 seconds after the actual noise, annoying when its not a constant loud noise, and really rubbish sound balance and levels. In that respect, I do worry about what happens when (not if) these Phonaks finally let go, but the NHS never asked me for the Siemens back so I have those in a drawer as a backup ;)

One thing that does annoy me about hearing aids is trying to find a set of headphones for gaming etc that would sit comfortably over both the ear and the aid. Not had success yet.

if there was a way to restore hearing, I don't think i'd go for it immediately as I'm reasonably fine with having aids for the time being. Laser eye surgery woulld take precedence however, sick of the sight of my glasses :D
 
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careful with CI, they are not 100% success rate.

a deaf girl i know very well, she had CI's on both ears. both failed. now she's 100% deaf. shame

i'm profoundly deaf and use sign language all the time as my main language. i dont speak very well but people who know me they understand me very well without any hand geatures etc.

have you tried the new digital hearing aids? i think they are more suit to your need.

edit: to answer your question.

i born deaf, i grew up deaf, went to deaf school, all of my friends are deaf. my long term girlfriend is deaf. i got use to it. the only time i'm in a place where nobody are deaf is at work. i adapted in the hearing environment very well. i'm very happy.

important question, are you happy?
 
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For the ones on here who use sign language, is BSL actually much use or does it vary massively depending on region? There are BSL classes here but since I'm based in NI I believe it might be a bit redundant because I don't know how much transfers across. Probably best to check out the deaf resources locally but thought someone might have insight
 
Cochlear implants consist of an external part and an internal part. The external part has a microphone, battery, magnet, transmitting radio-frequency antenna and a micro-computer called a sound processor. The processor translates the surrounding sounds into signals that can be sent to the internal part of the device. The internal part is called a receiver/stimulator and includes a micro-computer, radio antenna, magnet and electrode array. The magnets are of opposite polarity and hold the external device over the internal device. The radio-frequency antennas allow digital communication between the internal and external parts.

Sounds like it basically short circuits the duff part of your ear, allowing the external microphone feed to be received internally and "heard".
 
Dimple said:
Of course I did, he is merely asking a question and not asking for a diagnosis or seeing if some member can do the operation for him.
He already knows where needs to go.
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Well thank you once again for the scalding Dr Dimple.

If pointing out that only a qualified professional with access to his medical records can answer his question is grounds for insult and derision, then we are in a strange place indeed. I note that you have not added anything constructive to the thread either.
 
Duff-Man said:
Well thank you once again for the scalding Dr Dimple.

If pointing out that only a qualified professional with access to his medical records can answer his question is grounds for insult and derision, then we are in a strange place indeed. I note that you have not added anything constructive to the thread either.
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Please keep the thread on topic. - The reason I have started this thread is not for advice or medical advice. Just purely if anyone has tried it, or know of any treatment. And if it had any positive/negative effects. I would rather not waste the doctors time as it is not urgent (and my doctor is not deaf, or had the treatment so couldn't really give a personal perspective), and I am not bothered about myself being deaf, more of an enquiry really.

Thank you for your feedback though.
 
fluffmct said:
For the ones on here who use sign language, is BSL actually much use or does it vary massively depending on region? There are BSL classes here but since I'm based in NI I believe it might be a bit redundant because I don't know how much transfers across. Probably best to check out the deaf resources locally but thought someone might have insight
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thats ISL, irish sign language. very different from BSL. i have met irish deaf people in the past. i dont understand them :p
 
fluffmct said:
For the ones on here who use sign language, is BSL actually much use or does it vary massively depending on region? There are BSL classes here but since I'm based in NI I believe it might be a bit redundant because I don't know how much transfers across. Probably best to check out the deaf resources locally but thought someone might have insight
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BSL is the most common, virtually everyone I've met uses BSL. (For anyone who's wondering what it is, it's British Sign Language.)
 
Duff-Man said:
If pointing out that only a qualified professional with access to his medical records can answer his question is grounds for insult and derision, then we are in a strange place indeed.
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HE ALREADY KNOWS THIS AND DOESN'T NEED YOU TO POINT IT OUT.
Oh and what insults?
Please link.

Duff-Man said:
I note that you have not added anything constructive to the thread either.
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Post 23
 
5UB said:
Please keep the thread on topic. - The reason I have started this thread is not for advice or medical advice. Just purely if anyone has tried it, or know of any treatment. And if it had any positive/negative effects. I would rather not waste the doctors time as it is not urgent (and my doctor is not deaf, or had the treatment so couldn't really give a personal perspective), and I am not bothered about myself being deaf, more of an enquiry really.

Thank you for your feedback though.
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I knew a few people in this field of research. The University of Southampton has a research centre on this and are doing some really good work, they also specialise in cochlear implant research. They also assist with private sector referrals, so if you have private cover they may be able to give medical advice on what your options are.

http://www.southampton.ac.uk/engineering/research/centres/hearing_centre/audiology_clinic.page
 
5UB said:
To be honest, I have not really heard much about it. - Is it something planted in the head, and is it electronic, can it be turned off/on like a hearing aid, or is it not electronic at all and just picks up vibrations?
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Even if your hearing is impaired, but you are able to hear with hearing aids, this is better than what you'd achieve using cochlea implants. A cochlea implant restores a sensation of hearing, what you hear is not the actual sound, the pitch, intensity etc are all different, and to a developed brain it'll just sound as noise. I guess they work much better in the young where you become accustomed to their output, you may even be able to understand speech using one if accompanied by lip reading.

About the best currently are digital hearing aids. These include DSP to enhance to sound, speech will be easier to understand, background noise is filtered. Perhaps you are even able to get one customised to your hearing deficiencies? Such a device may not be available on the NHS however.

I hope you are able to find something effective, I know how important my hearing is to me and how awful it must be if it were impaired.
 
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