how is actually BAHA working?

[hruss]

hey all,

i still do not have problems with my hearing on my AN side but will in several months (I will have a retrosigmoid or translabyrinth surgery)- and the doctors explained me that in both cases i will be deaf after the surgery (hope i will sacrifice only this and not my facial nerve!).
 
They told me that during the translabyrinth approach surgery they will take out my inner ear (or something like that - not sure at all - don't understand it!) and my ear nerve!

My question is whether BAHA is suitable in such cases or only in cases when the nerve is not severed? I know that i might be asking a silly question and I apologize if I just wrote wrong things - just things are totally new for me in terms of the ear!

Can someone correct me or explain?

Thank you
Hrissy

[JulieW4]

Hrissy,

My understanding is if you end up with SSD (single sided deafness) after surgery then you will be a candidate for the BAHA.  I had SSD in my AN ear for over 13 years so the docs knew going into surgery that hearing preservation was not an issue, my facial nerve was my main concern.  So during my translab surgery my doc also completed part of the BAHA surgery by inserting the titianium rod, so I got two procedures done at once. 

Good luck with your surgery.

Julie

[leapyrtwins]

Hrissy -

not a silly question at all.  I have a BAHA - surgery in March 2008/processor in June 2008 - and I still don't understand the whole concept or why I need one except for the fact that I am SSD.

I'm an accountant - don't understand a lot of technical medical stuff - so I'm oblivious to whether my hearing nerve was cut or not.  All I know is that the BAHA works (very well, in fact) for me 

I do know that you have to be completely deaf in one ear (unilaterally deaf) in order for the BAHA implant to work.  BAHA implants also work for those who are bilaterally deaf (deaf in both ears), but then they aren't called BAHA implants, they are called Cochlear implants.

The bottomline (one of my favorite accounting terms) - if you are SSD, or will be after your surgery, you will be a BAHA candidate.

The BAHA surgery can be combined with the AN surgery - like Julie's case - or it can be done in a separate surgery - like mine.  Some docs like to combine the surgeries; some don't.  I don't really know their reasoning, but I'm guessing it's a personal choice on their part.

If you do decide on the BAHA and your doc doesn't want to combine the surgeries, don't worry.  The BAHA implant surgery is a simple surgery usually done on an outpatient basis and it's often done with just local anesthetic (they just numb your head by injecting the anesthesia).  I had local anesthesia and had no issues at all.

If you have other BAHA questions, feel free to ask or check out some of the others posts about BAHAs under this section (Hearing Issues).

Jan