Cochlear Implants

While most people with hearing loss are quite successful with hearing aids, there are some individuals with severe to profound hearing loss for whom hearing aids do not provide enough benefit. For these people with severe damage to the sensory cells in the inner ear,a cochlear implant is often the best option for better hearing.These tiny, complex medical devices work differently than hearing aids. Rather than amplifying sound, which helps an individual with residual hearing ability, a cochlear implant provides the sense of sound by stimulating the auditory nerve directly. Cochlear implants do not cure hearing loss or restore hearing, but they do provide an opportunity for the severely hard of hearing or deaf to perceive the sensation of sound by bypassing the damaged inner ear.