Harrison550 Mamaroneck Ave, Suite 407 (4th floor)(914) 949-0034
Somers325 NY 100(914) 556-6720
Cochlear implant support
Candidacy testing before the referral, activation and mapping after the surgery.
Cochlear Implants
A cochlear implant works differently from a hearing aid. A hearing aid makes sound louder and clearer for an ear that still works. An implant bypasses the damaged inner ear and stimulates the hearing nerve directly, and it is placed surgically.
The question that brings most people to this page is simpler than the technology: my hearing aids are turned up and I still cannot understand my grandchildren. That is the point at which candidacy is worth testing.
Dr. Caitlin Dold does the cochlear implant work at this practice. Candidacy testing before, activation and programming after. The surgery itself is done by an implant surgeon at a hospital, not here.
Step 1
We check what your current hearing aids are actually delivering, with real-ear measurement. An implant conversation that starts from underfitted hearing aids starts in the wrong place.
Step 2
We test hearing and word understanding, with and without your devices. That measurement is what candidacy turns on.
Step 3
We explain where your results sit against candidacy criteria, including the possibility that you are not a candidate and better-fitted hearing aids are the answer.
Step 4
If an implant evaluation is appropriate, we refer you to an implant surgeon and send the testing with you.
Step 5
Coverage and cost are worked out between you, the implant program, and your insurer. We do not quote either on this site.
Step 6
After surgery and healing, activation happens here with Dr. Dold: the processor is programmed and switched on for the first time.
Step 7
Mapping continues over a series of follow-up visits, and the settings keep being adjusted for as long as you wear the implant.
Two expectations are worth setting early. An implant delivers a different kind of signal, and the first days rarely sound like the hearing anyone remembers, so the early weeks take practice. And the decision is a surgical one made with a surgeon. What audiology owns is the testing that gets you there and the programming you come back for.
Before you schedule
The most productive hearing-care visits start with specific examples. Bring the moments where listening breaks down, the devices or apps you already use, and the questions you want answered.
Speech is still unclear through hearing aids that have been verified in your ears. The phone has become unusable even with streaming.
We check what your current hearing aids are actually delivering, with real-ear measurement. An implant conversation that starts from underfitted hearing aids starts in the wrong place.
Two expectations are worth setting early. An implant delivers a different kind of signal, and the first days rarely sound like the hearing anyone remembers, so the early weeks take practice. And the decision is a surgical one made with a surgeon. What audiology owns is the testing that gets you there and the programming you come back for.
No. Hearing aids amplify sound into an ear that still works. A cochlear implant is placed surgically and stimulates the hearing nerve directly. Candidacy is decided by testing.
No. Surgery is done by an implant surgeon at a hospital. The testing before it and the programming after it happen at this practice with Dr. Dold.
That question is answered by the evaluation rather than by a birth year. Candidacy rests on your test results, your word understanding with well-fitted hearing aids, medical factors, and what you want to be able to do again.
Coverage is settled between you, the implant program, and your plan, and the criteria differ from plan to plan. The implant program's coordinator handles that process. We do not quote coverage or cost here.
The processor is programmed and switched on, and you hear through the implant for the first time. Follow-up mapping sessions come after it, and the settings are refined across that series.
It will not give you back the hearing you had, and it will not make a loud restaurant easy on day one. It also does not end the appointments: the mapping is adjusted for as long as you use it.
Product information is educational. For personalized hearing aid recommendations, schedule an appointment with Audiology Associates of Westchester.