The sounds of rustling papers on a desk, the turn signal in a car, or birds at the backyard feeder were unfamiliar to medical receptionist Kathryn Nusbaum, 46.
She had dealt with hearing loss in her right ear since childhood.
Last September, Nusbaum learned she was a candidate for BAHA, a trademarked name for bone-anchored hearing aid, after she was treated for bleeding in the ear in the MedCentral /Mansfield Hospital Emergency Department.
The BAHA transmits sound by direct conduction through the bone to the inner ear. It bypasses the external auditory canal and the middle ear. A prosthesis made of titanium is surgically embedded into the skull with a small abutment exposed outside of the skin. A sound processor sits on this abutment and transmits sound vibrations to the titanium implant. The device vibrates the skull and inner ear. This stimulates the nerve fibers in the inner ear, allowing hearing.
Mykola Prykhodko, M.D., an ear, nose, and throat specialist, referred her to MedCentral doctoral audiologist Julie Bonko to determine if such an implant would help her. Dr. Myk, as he prefers to be called, has done the BAHA procedure at MedCentral /Mansfield Hospital on ten patients. He was trained in this specialty at Case Western Reserve University and is the only physician between Cleveland and Columbus doing these bone-anchored implants.
The device is implanted in her skull about two inches away from the tip of her right ear. She can easily adjust the volume, and her blonde hair covers the small box that can be matched to the color of the wearer’s hair.
Dr. Myk says a patient can get a good idea of what the device can do by using a machine simulator of the BAHA implant during the testing process.
“A regular hearing aid using the air method would not have worked for me. I needed the bone conductive method,” said Nusbaum. “I never knew anyone who had that kind, but this works for me. People tell me they notice I talk much softer now. I was loud because I didn’t hear.”
The turn signal, birds, and rustling papers? She hears them just fine now. Along with the hum of her refrigerator, chatter at a party, and other everyday sounds, the little device keeps her connected to the little things in life most people might take for granted.
