Cochlear implant: Lend an ear

Doctors in Chennai say that despite technological advances there is lack of awareness among the people especially on treatments like cochlear implantation. The sooner these issues are addressed the better it would be for the society.

“Deafness in TN is nearly three times more than the deaf population in India. There are so many advances in technology yet people continue to remain unaware about it. There are many factors, which are at play behind this lack of awareness,” said Dr R. Ranjith, audiologist, Madras ENT Research Foundation.

Pointing out to the importance of identifying causes behind deafness he said, “In MERF we screened over 1,000 patients and found out that at least 45 per cent of the children in this state are born to parents who are married within the family. So, out of 100 deaf children nearly 45 of them had a family history of consanguineous marriage. This reason behind deafness needs attention, as only after identifying the cause can we address the problem.”

Another problem identified was that state-run hospitals do not have compulsory neonatal screening facilities, like administering compulsory polio drops. Neonatal screening can help to identify babies with a hearing problem at a very early age and can be treated thereafter itself.

Dr Ravi Ramalingam, senior consultant, KKR ENT Hospital and Research Institute, said that there has been progress towards cochlear implant surgery. “But this isn’t enough as awareness among people is still low,” he said adding that doctors also need to accept that cochlear implantation is a viable mode of treatment.

“Right now it is not so as some of them haven’t seen the results themselves and are not, therefore, convinced. Most people get hearsay information that simply isn’t enough and leaves patients to live their life by using a hearing aid,” he said.

He pointed out that hearing is the only sense that can be restored even if it is completely lost and cochlear implants can offer favorable results.

For the poor there are government schemes that provide them treatment free of cost. But people need to know about this and this where doctors and pediatricians play an important role, doctors said.

Sensitizing teachers in deaf schools is imperative so that they can inform parents of those children with hearing problem. Dr Ranjith also emphasised on the importance of awareness camps. “Sometimes even this is insufficient as this aspect is only incidental awareness. Maybe a GO on compulsory hearing screening can help. Sometimes it can be by choice or sometimes it can be done by force,” he said.

She got to know of it by chance. Her friend’s husband is an audiologist who convinced her to go for a cochlear implant for her daughter. Reena’s husband also had a chance encounter with a US citizen, who had undergone a cochlear implant surgery and was faring pretty well. “This convinced us to go for it. From the age of one and a half years Sharon was using a hearing aid but she could only do lip reading. Making her understand words was becoming really difficult and finally I consulted my husband and we went for it,” she said.

They opted for the latest model and spent nearly Rs 12 lakh on it. Money was an issue but they decided to go for it. “After the implant she had to undergo a habilitation program. Initially she did face problems but gradually started picking up things. Now she is becoming extremely comfortable with spoken language as she can hear much better now and we are extremely happy,” said Reena. At present, Sharon is a student at Kendriya Vidyalaya Anna Nagar.

Reena suspected her daughter had a hearing problem when she was 10 months old. According to Reena, common people need to be made aware of changing medical technologies. “The issue of awareness needs to be taken up seriously as people can lead a better life, like my daughter does now,” she said.