The most common treatments for high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss are hearing aids—which provide amplification mainly in the frequency region where the user has a hearing loss—and cochlear implants. In 2018, the VA issued 786,741 hearing aids to veterans, but it is the cochlear implant that helped Douglas the most. “Cochlear implant devices have two primary parts: the internal implant and the external sound processor,” said Nancy Cambron, chair of the Veterans Health Administration’s Cochlear Implant Advisory Board. “The implant is placed in the ear by a surgeon who specializes in ear surgery. Surgery is typically an outpatient procedure done under general anesthesia and lasts two to three hours. Patients are given two to four weeks to heal, during which time they will not hear anything from the implant. After the site has healed, they return to an audiologist who programs the external sound processor.” Most sound processors look like a behind-the-ear hearing aid with a cable attached to a coil and magnet. Sound enters the microphones where it is processed and converted to electrical pulses, which are then transmitted to the internal implant via the coil that attaches to the head by a magnet. The electrical pulses stimulate the hearing nerve, the signal travels to the At age 90, Dr. Bruce Douglas believed it was too late for cochlear implants. The surgery changed his life. “I returned to the real world of hearing.” DAV | @DAVHQ | DAVHQ | brain, and the patient can hear. “Cochlear implants can greatly improve hearing for people who have hearing losses ranging from moderate to profound, poor ability to understand speech, and who obtain limited benefit from hearing aids,” said Cambron. “It may take three to 12 months for a new implant user to obtain maximum benefit from a cochlear implant. It is critical that implant recipients use the sound processor consistently to allow their brains to become accustomed to the new sounds.” Douglas, who got his first set of hearing aids in 1980, thought he may have missed his opportunity to try cochlear implants. “I found my way to a VA hospital’s audiology department, where I started to get appropriate care,” said Douglas. “At the time, I thought my hearing aids were working relatively well. I knew about cochlear implants but was convinced that, at age 90, it was too late for me. I cannot even begin to express my appreciation to the two audiologists at the VA hospital for their support in encouraging me to have cochlear implant surgery on my almost-deaf right ear.” Douglas said that the VA remained by his side while his brain worked overtime to teach his right and left ears to “talk” to each other, enabling him to remain active in his academic and professional life. “I returned to the real world of hearing,” said Douglas. “My hearing aid and cochlear implant are working amazingly well together, but it was the implant that introduced me to a world of sound that I could not have known existed if I had not had the implant surgery done. I strongly encourage any and all veterans who are suffering from hearing loss to take it seriously and seek an appointment with their local VA audiologists.” With his hearing improving, Douglas has been able to stay active and continue his career as a professor of health and aging at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health. “Assuming that the future will bring more miracles, I am hoping that most of them happen before the year 2025, when I reach my 100th birthday,” Douglas said with a laugh. The VA offers comprehensive care services to veterans with hearing loss, tinnitus or both. Veterans experiencing hearing loss or tinnitus should contact their local VA audiology department for assistance in obtaining a comprehensive audiology evaluation. ■ DAVETERANS | DISABLEDVETERANS 15 COMPANY/DAVHQ |