MISCONCEPTION: Cochlear implant surgery is brain surgery and the surgical incision leaves a large visible scar. REALITY: Cochlear implant surgery is typically conducted as outpatient surgery lasting 1-3 hours and is routine, low-risk surgery.  The incision and implanted device are not near the brain. The surgical scar is small and is typically not visible as it is hidden by the recipient’s hair. Read more here on surgery process.

MISCONCEPTION: Cochlear implants don’t restore hearing or work for everyone.

REALITY: A cochlear implant does not restore “normal” hearing, but does dramatically improve the ability of most CI recipients to access speech, environmental sounds, and music. Children and some adults receive auditory therapy to improve listening outcomes. It takes time for recipients to learn to hear with a CI as the brain learns to interpret the new sound. Read more on cochlear implants and how they work.

MISCONCEPTION: Cochlear implants are expensive and are not covered by health insurance.

REALITY: Cochlear implantation is covered by the majority of private health insurance plans for appropriate adults and children. Medicare, Medicaid and the VA cover the entire CI intervention—evaluation, surgery, device, audiology, and aftercare. There may be co-pays, just as there are with most insurance plans. Read more on insurance coverage.

MISCONCEPTION: It’s difficult and expensive to determine if someone is a CI candidate.

REALITY: Hearing healthcare professionals should refer a patient who may meet the candidacy criteria to a cochlear implant center for an evaluation to determine if that patient is a good candidate in terms of their hearing loss profile, overall health, lifestyle, expectations, and other criteria. Read more here on candidacy. A cochlear implant evaluation is typically covered by health insurance. Read more on insurance criteria.

MISCONCEPTION: CI recipients need extensive rehabilitation to be successful in developing listening outcomes.

REALITY: Depending upon their hearing history, adults may benefit from individual rehabilitation with an auditory therapist. Many adults learn to use the new sound by practicing with apps, audiobooks, and specialized computer-based tools.

For children, auditory therapy is a required part of the CI intervention though with today’s early identification and intervention for children in the first months of life, the process is now family-centered allowing parents to serve as the child’s first teacher. Therapy has moved away from a therapist working alone with the child to a process of mentoring the family to use the language of the home and strategies that incorporate language learning into the natural fabric of the family. 

Read more on Adult Rehab Read more on Children's Rehab

MISCONCEPTION: I’ll lose remaining residual hearing, so I should wait on getting a CI until I have little or no remaining hearing.

REALITY: With advances in cochlear implant surgical techniques and changes in the internal devices, recipients do not necessarily lose residual hearing after surgery, and they nearly always gain much more than they lose. CI candidacy criteria have expanded to include individuals with more residual hearing because patients do better with shorter periods of deafness. Read about the steps to cochlear implant. 

MISCONCEPTION: Having a cochlear implant means an individual can’t have an MRI, x-rays, or other diagnostic treatments.

REALITY:  Although early cochlear implants were not MRI compatible, current devices allow most levels of MRI as well as x-rays, sonagrams, and other medical diagnostic tools.

MISCONCEPTION: Cochlear implants limit one’s participation in sports and swimming.

REALITY: Children and adults participate in the full range of sports—even contact sports like football—utilizing protective padding in helmets.  Waterproofing solutions protect the sound processor and allow recipients to hear while in the water.  Some people prefer to remove their external device while swimming.

MISCONCEPTION: If my child has a cochlear implant, they will need to attend a special school with other deaf children.

REALITY: Children with hearing loss—including those with cochlear implants—attend a range of school types based upon their specific needs and their parents’ preferences.  The majority of children who are deaf or hard of hearing attend mainstream schools with their siblings and neighborhood children.  Federal laws provide for the provision of services and accommodations to meet their unique needs. Read more here on IEPs and laws for children.

MISCONCEPTION: A child who is deaf or hard of hearing must use sign language to develop language, reading and writing skills and avoid being language deprived.

REALITY:  Most children are born to families that have typical hearing and don’t know sign language.  It takes at least two years to become fluent in a new language if the person is learning it while raising children, attending to a household, and working.  Most families of children with hearing loss never become fluent in ASL. Research has shown that families are most successful building language and literacy for their child with hearing loss when they are using the language of the home.