Frequently Asked Questions about CIs for adults   

Hearing aids basically make sounds louder, but for people with more hearing loss, this may not be enough to make sounds clearer or easier to understand. Cochlear implants send sound directly to the hearing nerve, where it’s sent on to the brain. 

If you feel that hearing aids are not helping you enough, cochlear implants might work better for you. Take the candidacy quiz and talk to your hearing healthcare professional to decide if cochlear implants may be the right choice to treat your hearing loss. 

The cost of a cochlear implant is different for different parts of the world. In New Zealand, there are different cochlear implant funding options available. Contact your hearing care professional or AB to learn more.

We hear best with two ears. Hearing with both ears helps us know where sounds are coming from, and understand speech better in noisy places.

Depending on their hearing care professional’s advice and healthcare coverage, people with hearing loss sometimes get both ears implanted at the same time. Others decide to get one implant first before getting another one later.

Yes! In fact, hearing with a hearing aid in one ear and a matching cochlear implant in the other ear may help you hear better in noisy places¹ and help you know where sounds are coming from. AB offers a variety of solutions that, like your natural ears, work together to maximize your hearing. Talk to your hearing health professional about using matching hearing devices to help you hear your best.

Note: Advanced Bionics cochlear implants are indicated with severe to profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss (≥ 70 dB HL) and for pediatrics with profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss (≥ 90 dB HL).

Your hearing care professionals are best able to tell you if cochlear implants will help. It’s important to understand that better hearing through a cochlear implant is a process, not a quick fix. But how fast you hear better depends on three things: (1) the technology used, (2) your hearing structures, and (3) hearing training. We encourage you to speak with people who hear with cochlear implants to learn about their experiences.

When you choose a cochlear implant system from AB, you will be able to upgrade to better external parts, like sound processors, in the future without more surgeries. So when technology gets better, you will still be able to take advantage of it.

Compared to many other surgeries, cochlear implant surgery is simple and minimally invasive. The surgery itself typically takes two to four hours. Because it’s done with general anesthesia, you will also spend additional time in the preparation and recovery areas.

Depending on your situation and your doctor, you may go home the same day or spend the night in the hospital. Adults often return to work or typical daily activities within a few days after CI surgery. Your new CI will be activated, or “turned on,” two to four weeks after the implantation surgery, depending on how well you heal. Then, once it’s activated, you will start to hear through your new cochlear implant.

First, find out if a cochlear implant might help you by taking our candidacy quiz and speaking to a hearing health professional. From there, AB will have specialists who will answer all your questions, support you throughout implantation surgery, recovery, and activation. AB will also connect you with a mentor—someone who already hears with a cochlear implant so you can get their first-hand experience. Even after your CI is activated, our AB specialist will stay with you to make sure you get the most out of your CI with hearing training tools and resources. Further down the line, they’ll also make sure you won’t miss out on any upgrade opportunities to improve your hearing even further.

Yes, air travel is safe for people with cochlear implants. Metal detectors and security scanners should not damage the implant or sound processor. But, when you go through security metal detectors, your cochlear implant may activate the alarm.  That's why it’s helpful for you to carry your “Patient Emergency Identification Card” with you at all times. 

Yes! AB’s HiRes Ultra 3D Cochlear Implant is safe for up to 3.0 Tesla MRI scans without any preparation, surgery, or head bandaging. Simply take off your headpiece and sound processor before the MRI, and put them back on afterwards.