Trying out the accessories!

I use a Cochlear Kanso - which is the Cochlear ' off-the-ear' device. It's the same technology as the Cochlear N6 but just packaged up a little differently. There are lots of different implants available on the market. Some implant centres give you the choice and others are a little more limited. It's definitely worth doing your research on what you want to get out of your implant first. There are three main manufacturers - Advanced Bionic, Cochlear and Medel. Most people agree that they all work well in terms of their sound quality but each have different added accessories!

I opted for Cochlear as my current hearing aid is compatible with the Cochlear accessories so I was already using the 'mini-mic' which allows me to give the microphone to someone to help me to hear in noisy situations. It also lets me stream music to my hearing aid wirelessly without the need for headphones.

I was excited to try out the mini-mic and newly gained 'phone clip' to see how it worked with my implant. I had tried it out right at the very start when I was 'switched-on' and to be honest I couldn't even tell if it was switched on or not! But now the implant has settled down a bit it was time to try it out again. It's pretty clever technology and the quality is amazing. The only downside is that no-one can tell that you're using it so you end up ignoring people if you're listening to something through it!

I can't wait to try out the 'aqua-kit' too. I've never been able to wear anything when swimming so being able to hear when I go swimming or on holiday is very exciting! Unfortunately my eardrum is still causing problems so I'm not supposed to go swimming right now but I'll update when I do!