Sylvia’s Story: Using a Hearing Aid and a Cochlear Implant

My name is Sylvia. I’m a bimodal cochlear implant user based in Sydney, Australia. I used to have a bone conduction implant, but my hearing loss progressed, and I recently received a cochlear implant. I use a hearing aid for my other ear.

Pursuing My Love of Designing and Creating Clothing

I own my own ladieswear fashion label that specializes in sustainably produced, timeless garments for women aged over 40. I make most of the clothing with fabric that I have dyed or applied textile processes to.

I create the designs, make the patterns, and sew the garments. To learn about textiles and techniques for making clothing, I enjoy visiting other places around the world. I recently spent time in Innsbruck, Austria—where the headquarters of MED-EL are located.

My Hearing Journey

Although my hearing loss started when I was in my early 40s, I didn’t begin looking for solutions until much later. I realized I was losing my hearing when I was at the park one day with my husband and remarked that there were no birds. My husband replied that there were actually many—I just couldn’t hear them anymore.

Over time, my hearing loss progressed. But I didn’t want to get a hearing aid—those are for old people, I thought. And I wasn’t old.

But I recognized I needed to do something about my hearing loss, so I went to a specialist who diagnosed me with otosclerosis. Otosclerosis is a genetic condition that causes the three little bones in the ear to calcify and stop vibrating.

The first step along my hearing journey was a stapes prosthesis in my left ear. It improved the low sounds for me, but I lost access to high sounds. I also received a hearing aid for my right ear—but I didn’t wear it as often as I should have because of how I associated it with being something only for old people.

About ten years later, I received a BONEBRIDGE bone conduction implant on my left side. It sent the sounds coming from my left through my skull to my right ear—the ear that heard better. This supported the weakened hearing in my left ear and enabled me to hear sounds coming from all directions.

Getting a Cochlear Implant

Over time, I struggled to understand speech—even with BONEBRIDGE and my hearing aid. I always seemed to miss the words that were key to understanding the sentence or joke. Constantly having to ask people to repeat themselves became wearisome and made conversations with family and friends challenging.

I found ways to compensate for my increasing hearing loss: I made sure the person speaking was on my right or in front of me, watched their face closely to pick up on additional cues, and benefited from my husband repeating things he realized I hadn’t understood.

With these strategies, I sometimes managed to fill in the gaps correctly—but not always. As my hearing loss in my left ear progressed, my bone conduction implant was no longer enough, and my audiologist recommended a cochlear implant.

I decided to go with MED-EL since I was familiar with the company thanks to my bone conduction implant. I now have a SONNET 2 and a RONDO 3 audio processor. The hearing loss in my right ear will likely continue to progress, and I will probably eventually get a cochlear implant for my right ear as well.

Hearing Rehabilitation and Future Goals

To try and speed up the process of learning how to hear again, I wear my audio processor as much as possible. I think that the key is regular use and exposure to sound.

There are also some activities I do regularly to practice listening. I do daily activities in an app called Hearoes. And I also listen to audio books and read along with what I am hearing.

I am hopeful that my hearing abilities will continue to improve. My favorite sound that I have gotten back with my CI is the sound of my cat purring.