Question for BAHA people

[leapyrtwins]

I figured out a few days ago, that the top of my BAHA fixture isn't flush with my head like I thought it would be.  It actually sticks out about 1/8 " or maybe a little less.  For some reason I thought it would be flat against my skull.  Not sure where I got that impression 

Anyway, while Joef has assured me that this is perfectly normal, it made me wonder if this will cause any problems going forward.  Obviously if the processor is attached to the fixture, it's not an issue, but if I don't wear the processor, will my fixture get stuck on clothing that I pull over my head    Will I need to be careful if I wear a knit hat 

Maybe I'm just being paranoid, since I accidentally ripped of the bandage over my BAHA site while pulling a shirt over my head, but I don't want to even think about accidentally removing my fixture.  Can something like this happen?

Jan

[1wareagle]

Jan,

I think it is common for the screw to stick out a little. If it were flush with the scalp the processor would not have room to snap on. As far a wearing a knit cap, I would think that a lady would have less problems than a man. Your hair is longer than a mans and will cover up the screw more causing less chance of snags. What I am having problems with the most is flare up around the screw from time to time. The doctor assures me this is common but I would think after a year that it would completly heal???

Ellis

[Cheryl R]

For all of you lucky BAHA users, I have never seen anyone mention this.   When people are curious about your appendage,has anyone tried to tell the curious that it is the latest in cell phone technology?    The expensive version.       You could really get some to believe you I bet.    One could come up with all kinds of stories about how well it works right into the skull.   
I may have a weird sense of humor but would like to see someones face when you tried to tell them this.
                                         Cheryl R

[1wareagle]

Cheryl R

Believe it or not but I had someone ask me if that was some kind of new cell phone on the back of my head. I should have went along with it for fun but I told them it was a hearing aid. Wrong thing to say, now they wanted to know how it worked when it's not in my ear?

Ellis

[lori67]

Jan, the abuttment should be away from the skin a tiny bit - it won't get snagged on your clothes though.  The processor doesn't actually touch your skin - if it did, it would absorb the vibration of the sound waves and wouldn't work as well.  There is a tiny piece in the middle of the processor attachment that will vibrate and send those vibrations right into the abuttment.

I don't think a knit hat would be a problem - but if it is - there's always berets and cowboy hats!  Or just move somewhere warm where you don't need a hat.

And Ellis, the first time I got my hair cut after my BAHA surgery, the hairdresser asked if it was some sort of "diode".  I told him it was the solar panel that powered my brain since the surgery.  He didn't laugh or question it at all - just nodded his head and said "oh, okay".   

Lori

[leapyrtwins]

Lori -

you are a stitch!  A solar panel that powers your brain LOL  I've been wondering about getting a hair cut since mine currently looks like hell.  Between the doc's nice trim and the color growing out, it's pretty bad.  Every time I look into the mirror to check on my BAHA site, I cringe - not from the fixture, from my hair 

Thanks to you and Ellis for reassuring me.  As Ellis noted, I typically don't wear a knit hat, but I do wear one when I shovel snow - which depending on the year can be quite a lot.

Cheryl, someone else with a BAHA has said before that people think it's a blue tooth - I think it might have been Joef.  I haven't decided what to tell people yet.  At this point, my hair pretty much covers the fixture, but I did notice yesterday that when the wind was blowing a lot, it blew my hair away from the fixture.  I'm getting into the habit of having one of my children walk behind me and tell me if my "screw" is covered.  Right now they are amused by this job, but by the end of the month, they probably will be asking for money for this service LOL

Jan 

[leapyrtwins]

Oops!

Ellis -

forgot to ask, what do you do about flare up?  Just put more neosporin or bacitracin around the screw until it "heals" again?

Lori -

forgot to mention that your explanation of why the processor shouldn't touch the skin is nothing short of amazing to me.  How do you know this stuff 

Jan

[lori67]

Jan, my head is filled with bizarre knowledge.  I can't remember what day it is, where I put my car keys or add more than 2 plus 2, but I'm a pro at Trivial Pursuit!

For the flare ups, I just kept putting the bacitracin on it.  If it keeps flaring, I'd mention it to the doctor because he might want to start you on some antibiotics.  Now that I'm all healed, I have a steroid cream - clobetasol - that I have to put on for about another 2 weeks.  The scar tissue around one border was starting to kinda get thick - this is supposed to keep it from getting that way and also helps to keep the skin from trying to heal over the abuttment.

A blue tooth?  That's a good one.  I'll have to try that one...  I think I mentioned on one of these posts that my nephew gave me an antenna for Christmas - he wanted me to be able to get good radio reception.  I'll have to find a way to attach it so I can wear it sticking up out of my hair next time I see him.

Lori

[leapyrtwins]

Lori -

it's nice to have others like you ahead of me on the BAHA path - or I'd be bugging my doc with interesting questions all day 

So, you have flare ups too?  I'm still at the neosporin stage for another 9 days or so and haven't thought much past that point other than to anxiously anticipate the day I can attach my processor.

Hadn't heard about possible scar tissue issues until now, but my doc did mention when he took my bandage off that he might have to remove a screw from my head during a future visit.  He said that when he thinned my skin during the BAHA procedure that it's pretty tight against the head of one of the screws from my AN surgery.  There is a possibility that it may poke all the way through the skin and if it does, he'll have to use a screwdriver to remove it.  Sounds kind of eerie to me; but he says the hole the screw leaves would just close up.  Thank God - I currently have enough holes in my head LOL

Your nephew sounds like he would fit in very well with my family; my younger brother keeps telling me that I'm bionic now    Relatives, got to love 'em.

Jan

[Sam Rush]

I had flare ups of skin irritation for 1 1/2 yrs w/ occ. bleeding at nite. Finally stopped the neosporin and used some antibiotic powder that a local dermatologist had formulated.  Now I just use peroxide twice a week.

Once, when wearing the BAHA, a Dr. in the Dr's lounge asked me what it was. With a straight face I told him it was a hard drive for internal medicine that went directly to my brain. Knowing I am an internist, he believed me, and started asking a lot of questions about how it worked. To avoid laughing, I left suddenly.

A good trick to play on barbers(hair dressers) is to pretend you don't know anything's there.  What do you mean, ther's a screw in my head???

[leapyrtwins]

Sam -

I love doctors with a sense of humor - the serious ones tend to really scare me - thanks for sharing your amusing stories.

Doesn't peroxide dry out your skin?  I'm currently having an issue with the skin around my fixture and behind my ear itching.  I don't know if it's due to being dry or if it's because my hair is starting to grow in (at least around the fixture, not behind my ear), but it's driving me crazy!  Okay - crazier than I usually am 

Is it common to have flareups or bleeding for such a long time period (12 to 18 months)?  My doc never mentioned that; but then again, he can't think of everything and I never thought to ask.

Jan

[1wareagle]

Jan,

Sorry it took so long to respond to your question. Yes I still have flare up a year and 2 months now. I use Bacitracin Zinc Ointment when it starts acting up. The doctor told me it was ok and to continue to us peroxide and ointment. Last week it did it again after I had worked in my yard all day in the heat. I haven't pin pointed what actually triggers these flare ups yet but I'm guessing the heat.

I remember the iching around the baha site too. I would want to scratch it so bad! But it finally stopped after a few months. The one thing I don't understand is how skin can grow over the screw? I have read another post where their screw grew over. It would take a lots of skin to ever cover mine up.

Sam Rush,

The funnies thing to happen to me since I got my BAHA was while we were on vacation last year. We went on a cruise to Mexico. We got off the ship and went to a very small beach to relax the day. There was a lady there giving massages for $20.00 for 30 minuites. She got started rubbing on my back and worked her way to my head. I didn't have my processor on and never dreamed she would rub my head. By this time I am almost out. I feel her fingers hit my screw. She stopped and parted my hair. I guess it freaked her out because she shook me and said "FINISHED $20.00".

Ellis

[leapyrtwins]

Ellis -

thanks for the input.  Don't worry about your delayed response - just because I'm currently a "forum junkie" doesn't mean I expect everyone else to be    And truth be told, you didn't take all that long to respond.

I think, like you say, that heat may have something to do with flare ups, but I guess time will tell.  I'll have to keep some bacitracin zinc on hand.

Glad you can relate to the itching - makes me not feel so strange - I even cut my fingernails off a few days ago because I was afraid I'd scratch too hard and damage something. 

As far as the skin growing over the screw, maybe I didn't explain it well enough.  I was talking about one of the screws that the docs put in my head to put my bone back together during my retrosigmoid surgery - not my BAHA fixture that I sometimes refer to as a "screw".  After removing the AN the docs put a titanium plate and several screws in my skull and then covered everything back up with my skin.  Because this same skin was thinned out by the doc during the BAHA surgery, it is stretching pretty tight over one of the screws.  This creates the possibility that said screw may "pop" through the skin, in which case the doc will unscrew and remove it.  I didn't get this at first myself - I looked at the doc like he had 3 heads LOL

Jan

[danijake]

This is funny...My sisters told me they were gonna snap things to my head while I was asleep. What is that all about!!! Well, it was funny when they were saying it. I guess you had to be there!!!!