{"id":1453,"date":"2022-10-10T15:05:20","date_gmt":"2022-10-10T21:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rockymountainearcenter.fm1.dev\/?page_id=1453"},"modified":"2022-12-02T12:24:55","modified_gmt":"2022-12-02T19:24:55","slug":"cochlear-implants","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/rockymountainearcenter.com\/hearing-aids\/cochlear-implants\/","title":{"rendered":"Cochlear Implants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Our ears have three major parts \u2014 the outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear. The inner ear houses the hearing organ called the cochlea. It is a small snail-shaped structure within the inner ear. Inside the cochlea, there are over 20 thousand hair cells that communicate with the auditory nerve and send electrical signals to the brain. The brain interprets those signals and assigns meaning to them, so that we can understand what we hear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With hearing loss<\/a>, those hair cells in the cochlea are damaged and do not send strong enough signals to the brain. The first way we improve this problem is through hearing aids. Hearing aids amplify sound, so the signal is sent to the brain more effectively. This works at first\u2014 however, when the hair cells in the cochlea are significantly damaged, amplification begins to distort the sound. Like a bad radio signal, it\u2019s still not clear when you turn up the volume. When hearing aids are no longer helpful, we start thinking about a cochlear implant as an option for improved hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A cochlear implant functions differently than a hearing aid. Instead of amplifying sound, a cochlear implant bypasses the damaged hair cells in the cochlea, which is where the distortion comes from, and directly stimulates the auditory nerve, to improve the signal that is being sent to the brain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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