Cochlear Implant Swimming

[biyts]

Someone referred us to this video. Can't wait to try this in the summer. Our daughter loves to swim and will appreciate being able to hear in the water.

[Lyn8675309]

AWESOME!

[smaques]

That's a great idea, the vid is excellent, thanks for sharing(0:

I tried putting my processor in a sergeons glove and tying a knot in it! lol

It's deffinately waterproof, but I might get a few strange looks at the pool.

I was thinking about trying Konfidence Aquaband, insteat of a swim cap, this might be easier to wear, plus more protection from water in the ears

[austderstine1]

i've always wanted to know what it sounds like when your in the water... haha thanks i should try it.. hope it works for me

[harvestmoonfan1991]

wow it didnt shock u like the warning saids??? ( doc told me this )

[squashballs1961]

Wearing a CI doesn't mean the lad wears a mold in his ear thus that's why it works.

I personally have used a small plastic bag that covers the aid, and then taped it around the tube. Not perfect but works and NO I wouldn't wear it swimming though! Ideal for some sports, and cycling, I do it but I listen to music on a mobile via a loop, as it's better than listening to wind noise howling down my aid!

[mattnbecky07]

Thanks for this. Since I watched this video, I have taken my daughter swimming alot more and she ejoys it way more than before. Before we would spend about 5-10 minutes in the pool, now she wants to spend all day.

Thanks

Matt

[alexswims]

@mattnbecky07 Glad to hear that! (pun intended)

[Thunderdan1995]

Thanks

[Kalital]

Curious. Why not use the vacuum setting? Does it damage the implant?

[alexswims]

@Kalital yes, it definitely will damage the processor. You can use the Aloksak instead. It's only about $2.50 and is heavy duty and resealable.

[RachelDav19]

Thanks for the tip

[alexswims]

@RachelDav19 Happy Swimming!

[TheShelleybug]

thank you!!!!! My 8 yr old daughter would love to hear in the pool!

[devilpup25]

As a scuba diver, I'm curious to learn how deep your son can dive in the pool? Is he able to clear his ears to relieve pressure the deeper he goes? I am ignorant of the cochlear implant concept and I'm eager to learn more about it. I'm also estatic that your son is able to hear in and outside of the water!

[alexswims]

@devilpup25 He can dive to the bottom of a 10 foot pool without problems.

[sommermichel1]

I am german college graduate, and I need that for my two freedoms in summer holidays! I am very thankful for your great idea!

Since my birth I am absolutelly deaf, and till now I don't use my CI by swimming.

[alexswims]

@sommermichel1 It's great! Our son definitely enjoys the pool more with the hearing capability. The sounds quality isn't the best, but enough to interact with everyone.

[ALHEJAZI]

very great way. I am very happy becuase my 4 years son can use his implant when he swimm now and he can answer for us.

thank you very much

[sogivin]

Also - our audiologist thinks this is a great idea, and she totally approves her clients doing this. They have been doing it now for about two years with as much success as we had.

[sogivin]

We watched this video and were inspired to try it with my daughter's AB Harmony. We used the alocksak with a swim cap, and only put in one of the processors (just in case) so she heard with the ear she chose. She had a GREAT time, and it worked perfectly - no leak. We used this at a waterslide park and she could interact with the lifeguards and other children and her siblings and her enjoyment improved 100%. We will use this method from now on.

[lexie8907]

i have ci, love the idea. but have you ever thought about this when you gave your children ci, to teach them sign language, me and my deaf friends use sign language under water while our hearing friends can't understand us! :) i strongly encourage you to teach your children sign language, let them know who they are inside, and let them know that being deaf isn't a bad thing, they can communicate underwater:)

[angierat]

Hey brilliant. Just been on a fun day for Deaf and VI Kids in the county. Had a few implantees in the water at one point and I was amazed at how happy they all seemed. Be nice thought for them to be able to have some hearing in the water. Thansk for the info.

[dzndef]

Wouldn't a ziploc freezer baggie do the same thing?

[alexswims]

Since our son dives to the bottom of the pool, the ziplock is not leakproof. Instead, of the food saver, we use an Aloksak, a heavy duty double zippered bag. It's resealable and no worries about leaking. The cost is about $2.50. Aloksak is inexpensive, reuseable and very druable and also portable. We don't trust the ziplock with our expensive processor. Hope this helps.

[Baltimore21224]

This was a big worry of mine, it's bad enough my world goes silent when I take my hearing aides out to swim. My CI operation is tomorrow. I will have the Harmoney Implant. I'd love to interact in the pool too. Thank's for posting this video.

[bwrightericson]

I can't wait to try this! My daughter Eden is 4 1/2 with a unilateral implant (still thinking about going bilateral), and it is so frustrating to not be able to talk to her when we go swimming. This will be such an exciting opportunity for her! Thanks for sharing.

[mommytosjoX2]

Thank you so much for thinking outside the box!!!! My son who is 3 yrs old has bilateral CI's and he loves the pool and the beach, for the past two summers he has done it solo. And has kept me busy and nervous at the pool! Now he can enjoy the pleasure of sound while swimming and I can be a little more relaxed!

[jlneabernard]

OH YEAH!! This has me very excited for my 8 year old son who also has a Freedom BTE!! I have been struggling teaching him how to swim because it is so hard to communicate in the water. I am definitely getting a food saver and trying this at least to teach him to be a strong swimmer! Thank you so so much!

[Jaeger65SS]

i m 17 and i do hav the freedom and i heard that they are working on the water proof implant

[dominicerrigo]

This is awesome and Dominic is gonna try that!

[6eared]

This has me VERY excited! I got my first (Med-El) CI nine years ago and my second one a few months ago and I've barely been swimming since I lost my hearing when I was 13 (16 years ago!). This ROCKS MY WORLD! Thank you for sharing!

[Leester145]

haha well since I am a CI user, i still would not risk putting my implant through the water. Its just an unnecessary risk to the equipment, the only piece that helps me hear. Still very interesting but I would not do it.

[Suzienews]

I'm 40x years old, and was a fish growing up, I loved to play in the water even though I couldnt hear anything. I have had a implant for 3 years and I love it .. what a gift it is to be able hear in the water! I am so happy to see this in my lifetime. Thank you for sharing this!

[krazykatkitty]

WOW! Thats awesome vid! I never seen like this before! Thanks for sharing... :)

[aegphotos]

This is brilliant. Will have a go after I have my C.I done this november 2008

[brittbrat223]

WOW!!! Thanks so much for sharing! My daughter not being able to hear and talk with other kids while we are swimming broke my heart and really turned me off of water based trips. I am very excited to give this a try!

[joeguy2184]

This is the coolest thing ever! We were at the audiologists office today and were talking to him about a waterproof processor. He told us about this video. I love it. We already have a food saver so I can't wait to try it. What a genius idea. So glad you shared.

[DMM0103]

My daughter is a Med-el user. Could you tell me how the configuration is different for Med-el? Thanks so much!

[NataliaAZMA42675]

i know this is a

awesome idea.and my son

well be 5 8/1/2008 and we well

take him in the water p.s thank you alot

please email me back

[LauraNthezoo]

Wow, this is great! My son is a bilateral CI wearer. I will show him this. Thanks so much!

[stough2500]

I think this is awesome. We just returned from Florida and our 4 year old son loved the pool and the beach. We hated it that we had to take off his processors every time. He has bilateral implants. Our 1 year old daughter also has bilateral implants. She did not like the water as much. You would think that Cochlear would develop something like this.

[lumfong10]

Thanks for sharing. We just tried it last week for swim lessons. 6 times now, and no problems. Awesome!!!!

[agostomortal]

Thanks for sharing this experience with us, it is really inspiring..!!!!

[mmholtzer]

Our 5 year old was able to hear in the pool for the first!The foodsaver bags are so thick and hardy we didn't worry at all about water. So instead of placing the swim cap on which he did not like,he has longer shaggy hair, we cut it and used it like a sports head band which was more comfortable,easy to put on and still kept the magnets in place!The pool is so much fun now and he can actually play with his buddies.I think we will be playing alot of marco polo this summer! Forever we Thank you!

[bingnunez]

hello, alexswims.... thanks for posting, i have a six year old daughter camille in the Philippines, i am planning to give her a CI this year, but your video is very helpful...and might help us in the future....

[pleasantlyblew]

Big thanks to you for posting this. Our son's only 18m & has had bilateral BTE's for 4 months now & absolutely loves them. We're so excited about taking him swimming with this set up. Watching this brought a tear to my eye & really inspired us. We'll be able to use this in sand pits & beach too! We've thought of fixing the sealed bag to the inside of his sunhat with velcro for this. Thanks for taking the time to make such a comprehensive video. I'm going to post a link on NDCS forum! :-)

[oakley518]

I am an audiologist and I have to say that I was so happy to see this! I have many of my kids with implants that would love to hear at the pool and this is a great idea! Also it is great to see parents who have such a great interest in their hearing impaired child and do so much to make things "normal". I wish I had more parents like you!

[kerri9494]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing this great idea. If only it were this easy with hearing aids!

[billmaghan]

Wow!

[cntrygrl70]

BRAVO! What a wonderful idea! Our son (8) has a right side Advanced Bionics model and loves to swim. We get worried that he can't hear while in the pool. This is a great ingenious thing to do and we will be giving it a try. Thanks so much for sharing!

[dougie7fresh]

so cool that he can swim and hear at the same time!

[melonylund]

Okay we tried the adult cap, just a bit big, but found that the junior size worked fine, the childrens is too small. Today was the first day Sierra 6 1/2 years old, was able to put her head in the water. I wish you could have seen how excited she was. I could not believe my eyes, she barely came up for air! It was complete magic! Thanks again!!!

[melonylund]

Thank you, thank you, thank you, I have been trying to figure this out, the adult size cap is the key, I was trying the child size, which was just not working, bravo... I can't wait for summer for my six year old daughter now, and she will be able to take swimming lessons and hear!!! She now swims with the implants put on the top of her head on a pony tail, this is soooo much better, you are brilliant!

[angelstar819]

very clever idea! hmm, wonder if it would work if you put the implant in a zip-lock bag if you don't have a sealing machine.

btw, scissors was spelled wrong towards the end. lol.

[usfarid]

WOW! NEVER SEEN BEFORE! BRAVO!!!

[jsully0304]

I can only say one thing, My hero!!!!

My daughter loves the water and I am sure she would love to hear her friends when she is swimming! Thank you for showing us how to do it and for being brave enough to try.