Peter’s Tips on Cochlear Implants and Switch On.

Where to start really about the Cochlear Implant is the tough one.

I suppose the best place to start is explaining how the technology works, as this really gives a sound understanding to the benefits of the device.

This is what I was told about it from the experts I met with when I was being assessed for a CI. How the implant works is quite ingenious really. The implant itself is minute and is inserted gently into your cochlea during surgery. You then wear an external processor which attaches to your scalp, and this captures sounds and converts them into digital signals.

It is these signals that are sent to the internal implant via the small coil. The implant then converts these signals into electrical impulses, sending them along an electrode in the cochlea. All of this ends up stimulating the cochlea’s hearing nerve, which in turn sends impulses to the brain where they are interpreted as sound.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I went for my switch on, and what I would hear initially as everyone’s experiences are quite different. Other people I had spoken to who had an implant, said the sound changes over time, and this was so true.

Initially, the sounds were a bit crackily...even tinny in sound and a bit hard to make out. But as time went on, and my brain began to get used to the device and interpreting the signals it was getting from the processor, the sound simply got better and better.

I had to practice daily with exercises that the lovely team at the clinic gave me, and I had to be patient. The most memorable experience for me post switch on was the day I heard myself buttering toast. In the kitchen that morning, I was getting so confused about what this scratching noise was...I thought there was a mouse in the house! Then I looked down and realised the scratching sound occurred every time I put the knife over my toast!

Never in a million years would I ever have thought I would be so excited about hearing toast being buttered. Now, a year later, I am just so revelling in all the sounds I can now hear and understand. I am living again and I love it.

I speak publicly about my experiences; my relationship with my partner is back to where it was before I lost my hearing. I have my independence, freedom and a world of opportunity has opened up to me again.