<\/p>\n
By Paula Span, KFF Health News<\/strong><\/p>\n Kitty Grutzmacher had contended with poor hearing for a decade, but the problem had worsened over the past year. Even with her hearing aids, \u201cthere was little or no sound,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI was avoiding going out in groups. I stopped playing cards, stopped going to Bible study, even going to church.\u201d<\/p>\n Her audiologist was unable to offer Grutzmacher, a retired nurse in Elgin, Illinois, a solution. But she found her way to the cochlear implant program at Northwestern University.<\/p>\n There, Krystine Mullins, an audiologist who assesses patients\u2019 hearing and counsels them about their options, explained that surgically implanting this electronic device usually substantially improved a patient\u2019s ability to understand speech.<\/p>\n \u201cI had never even thought about it,\u201d Grutzmacher said.<\/p>\n That she was 84 was, in itself, immaterial. \u201cAs long as you\u2019re healthy enough to undergo surgery, age is not a concern,\u201d Mullins said. One recent Northwestern implant patient had been 99.<\/p>\n Some patients need to ponder this decision, given that after the operation, clearer hearing still requires months of practice and adaptation, and the degree of improvement is hard to predict. \u201cYou can\u2019t try it out in advance,\u201d Mullins said.<\/p>\n But Grutzmacher didn\u2019t hesitate. \u201cI couldn\u2019t go on the way I was,\u201d she said in a postimplant phone interview \u2014 one that involved frustrating repetition, but would have been impossible a few weeks earlier. \u201cI was completely isolated.\u201d<\/p>\n Hearing loss among older adults remains vastly undertreated. Federal epidemiologists have estimated that it affects about 1 in 5 people ages 65 to 74 and more than half of those over 75.<\/p>\n \u201cThe inner ear mechanisms weren\u2019t built for longevity,\u201d said Cameron Wick, an ear, nose, and throat specialist at University Hospitals in Cleveland.<\/p>\n Although hearing loss can contribute to depression, social disconnection, and cognitive decline, fewer than a third of people over 70 who could benefit from hearing aids have worn them.<\/p>\n For those who do, \u201cif your hearing aids no longer give you clarity, you should ask for a cochlear implant assessment,\u201d Wick said.<\/p>\n Twenty-five years ago, \u201cit was a novelty to implant people over 80,\u201d said Charles Della Santina, director of the Johns Hopkins Cochlear Implant Center. \u201cNow, it\u2019s pretty routine practice.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, a study published in 2023 in the journal Otology & Neurotology reported that cochlear implantation was increasing at a higher rate in patients over 80 than in any other age group.<\/p>\n Until recently, Medicare covered the procedure for only those with extremely limited hearing who could correctly repeat less than 40% of the words on a word recognition test. Without insurance \u2014 cochlear implantation can cost $100,000 or more for the device, surgery, counseling, and follow-up \u2014 many older people don\u2019t have the option.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was incredibly frustrating, because patients on Medicare were being excluded,\u201d Della Santina said. (Similarly, traditional Medicare doesn\u2019t cover hearing aids, and Medicare Advantage plans with hearing benefits still leave patients paying most of the tab.)<\/p>\n Then, in 2022, Medicare expanded cochlear implant coverage to include older adults who could identify up to 60% of words on a speech recognition test, increasing the pool of eligible patients.<\/p>\n Cochlear implantation requires commitment. After the patient receives testing and counseling, the surgery, which is an outpatient procedure, typically takes two to three hours. Many adults undergo surgery on one ear and continue using a hearing aid in the other; some later go on to get a second implant.<\/p>\n The surgeon implants an internal receiver beneath the patient\u2019s scalp and inserts electrodes, which stimulate the auditory nerve, into the inner ear; patients also wear an external processor behind the ear. (Clinical trials of an entirely internal device are underway.)<\/p>\n Two or three weeks later, after the swelling recedes and the patient\u2019s stitches have been removed, an audiologist activates the device.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we first turn it on, you won\u2019t like what you hear,\u201d Wick cautioned. Voices initially sound robotic, mechanical. It takes several weeks for the brain to adjust and for patients to reliably decipher words and sentences.<\/p>\n \u201cA cochlear implant is not something you just turn on and it works,\u201d Mullins said. \u201cIt takes time and some training to get used to the new sound quality.\u201d She assigns homework, like reading aloud for 20 minutes a day and watching television while reading the captions.<\/p>\n Within one to three months, \u201cboom, the brain starts getting it, and speech clarity takes off,\u201d Wick said. By six months, older adults will have reached most of their enhanced clarity, though some improvement continues for a year or longer.<\/p>\n How much improvement? That\u2019s measured by two hearing tests: The CNC (consonant-nucleus-consonant) test, in which patients are asked to repeat individual words, and the AzBio Sentence Test, in which the words to be repeated are part of full sentences.<\/p>\n At Northwestern, Mullins tells older prospective patients that one year after activation, a 60% to 70% AzBio score \u2014 correctly repeating 60 to 70 words out of 100 \u2014 is typical.<\/p>\n A Johns Hopkins study of about 1,100 adults, published in 2023, found that after implantation, patients 65 and older could correctly identify about 50 additional words (out of 100) on the AzBio test, an increase comparable to the younger cohort\u2019s results.<\/p>\n Participants over 80 showed roughly as much improvement as those in their late 60s and 70s.<\/p>\n For Grutzmacher, though, the choice seemed clear. Her initial testing found that even with hearing aids, she understood only 4% of words on the AzBio. Two weeks after Mullins turned on the cochlear implant, Grutzmacher could understand 46% using a hearing aid in her other ear.<\/p>\n She reported that after a few rough days, her ability to talk by phone had improved, and instead of turning the television volume up to 80, \u201cI can hear it at 20,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n So she was making plans. \u201cThis week, I\u2019m going out to lunch with a friend,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m going to play cards with a small group of women. I have a luncheon at church on Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\n A cochlear implant is a medical device that is surgically implanted to improve hearing in individuals with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss.<\/p>\n Eligibility for a cochlear implant varies, but generally includes individuals with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss who receive little to no benefit from traditional hearing aids.<\/p>\n The surgery typically takes two to three hours and is an outpatient procedure.<\/p>\n Recovery from the surgery usually takes a few weeks, after which the device is activated and the patient begins the process of adjusting to the new sound quality.<\/p>\n Cochlear implants can significantly improve speech recognition and quality of life for individuals with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss, but the degree of improvement can vary from person to person.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When a Hearing Aid Isn\u2019t Enough By Paula Span, KFF Health News Kitty Grutzmacher had contended with poor hearing for a decade, but the problem had worsened over the past year. Even with her hearing aids, \u201cthere was little or no sound,\u201d she said. \u201cI was avoiding going out in groups. I stopped playing cards, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":23800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23798","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-wellness"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.dailynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/202510280400MCT_____PHOTO____US-NEWS-HEALTH-COCHLEAR-IMPLANTS-DMT_c08ef5.jpg?w=1400px&strip=all&w=1400&resize=1400,933&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23798"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23798"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23798\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23801,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23798\/revisions\/23801"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Introduction to Cochlear Implants<\/h2>\n
The Decision-Making Process<\/h2>\n
Prevalence of Hearing Loss<\/h2>\n
Cochlear Implantation as an Option<\/h2>\n
Medicare Coverage and Accessibility<\/h2>\n
The Procedure and Recovery<\/h2>\n
Adjusting to the Implant<\/h2>\n
Expected Outcomes<\/h2>\n
Success Stories and Studies<\/h2>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n
FAQs<\/h2>\n
What is a cochlear implant?<\/h3>\n
Who is eligible for a cochlear implant?<\/h3>\n
How long does the surgery take?<\/h3>\n
How long does it take to recover from the surgery?<\/h3>\n
How effective are cochlear implants?<\/h3>\n