I recently went through my own BAHA journey. Unfortunately, the healing process didn't go as I hoped and my online search wasn’t helpful, which is why I decided to write this. I had a rollercoaster of infections, I had had a lot of discharge and redness that created pressure on my head. I don’t want this to discourage anyone, so I also want to provide a quick medical history. Growing up I had a lot of reconstructive surgeries on my left ear and my healing had been smooth until implants were introduced. I've started to think that that may be why I had complications with the BAHA implant but I really didn't get a conclusive answer from my surgeon.
So this is my story:
First week post-surgery, I ended up in urgent care because the skin around the abutment was trying to grow over (I’ve attached a few pictures, hopefully you can see them [Pic 1]). The doctor in urgent care was wonderful; I was scared of putting the cap back on and she put it back on for me. She suggested I wear it until I was able to see my surgeon and prescribed me oral antibiotics. The following week I met with the surgeon and he suggested I wear the cap after cleaning the abutment. He also told me to continue the oral antibiotics until I finished them and prescribed an ointment for me to put around the abutment. My appointment for the processor fitting, which was scheduled for a week after my surgery, was cancelled.
The following week I was hopeful, I went a whole week with the post feeling like a part of me, but then things went sour again. The week after, around Wednesday, I had A LOT of UNBEARABLE itching, discharge, and scheduled another appointment with my surgeon. At this point I was done with my oral medication and was instructed to put the cap on and off while continuing the ointment. I was to do this for a whole month. This also meant that my fitting appointment was further delayed.
The week after, I started seeing yellow discharge [Pic(s) 2] and that's when I started feeling concern. I also felt a lot of pressure with the cap on, which led to headaches. Also, when I would remove the cap, my skin around the abutment was RED, and felt irritated. I tried to persist until my following appointment but as the days went by there was no progress. After an additional 3 weeks I decided I couldn’t persist. I decided to make an appointment. The day came and I was going with the state of mind to have it removed, and my surgeon convinced me to keep it on.
I should add that throughout this time I felt a lot of fatigue, I wasn't able to go to the gym, and had a lot of headaches (I even experienced tinnitus). The itching persisted, I started losing sleep, and the pain felt as if I had just come out of surgery, which affected my lifestyle (at this point I still haven’t gone back to the gym).
I finally decided that I would have it removed (you can see that the implant had become exposed in Pic 3). I feel great!
Before having it removed my surgeon spoke to me about the process and informed that it could be done then and there, in the office. If at any point, the pain during removal was unbearable I would have to be admitted for an implant removal at the outpatient center. I decided to proceed in his office and though it was a bit painful, I didn't need any anesthesia or medication for it to be removed. The post and implant both came out and there was some bleeding.
Anyway, for anyone that's thinking about giving it a shot I hope nothing but the best to you! God bless you and your process!
I apologize for the low quality pictures!
Pic 1:
Pic(s) 2:
Pic 3:
