For UK readers
You have been switched on at an NHS cochlear implant centre, or fitted with NHS hearing aids. Now most of your listening happens at home, between appointments. This page covers what the NHS usually does, where practice at home fits, and the UK charities and guides worth knowing. SoundSteps is our app, and it is on the list.
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Switch-on is the day your sound processor is fitted and turned on. It happens once the wound has healed. Oxford says about two weeks after surgery, and South Tees says about three.
The first sounds can be strange. South Tees warns that at first you may hear only noises, and that your brain takes a while to get used to the new sound.
Then come the follow-up visits. An audiologist tunes your settings, which you may hear called mapping, and the rehab team works on listening with you. At Oxford that means a run of appointments over the first year, weekly or fortnightly at the start. Each centre sets its own timetable.
The rehab team will give you things to work on between visits. South Tees lists listening in quiet, listening in noise, everyday sounds and, when you are ready, the phone.
Do what your centre gives you first. Then use extra practice on the days in between, and take your questions to the next appointment.
The field calls this aural rehabilitation or auditory training. Day to day, it means a few minutes of listening on purpose, with an answer to check yourself against.
NHS cochlear implant centres switch you on once the wound heals, often two or three weeks after surgery. Then they tune your settings over the first year.
Your GP can refer you to an NHS hearing service. NHS hearing aids are a free long-term loan, and batteries, repairs and follow-up appointments are free too.
After your fitting, you usually get another appointment a few weeks later to see how it is going. Getting used to hearing aids can take a few weeks or a few months. If something sounds wrong, ring your audiology department rather than waiting for that visit.
Some audiology departments also have a hearing therapist, who helps people who are finding hearing loss hard to live with. Ask whether yours does.
Start with the NHS page if you are new to all this. The centre pages show what one programme actually does, and Oxford keeps a list of practice links you can use at home.
Hearing aids and cochlear implantsNHS
What the NHS provides, how referral works, and what happens at a hearing aid fitting.
How a cochlear implant works, and how to get assessed. Your GP, audiologist or ENT specialist can refer you.
Listening resourcesOxford University Hospitals
A cochlear implant centre's own list of home practice links for teenagers and adults, with tips for phone calls.
Adult rehabilitation, switch-on and tuningSouth Tees Hospitals NHS
What the first year looks like at one NHS centre, from switch-on to tuning visits and rehab sessions.
Cochlear implant rehabilitationEmmeline Centre, Cambridge
The listening steps from noticing a sound to understanding speech, plus links to the manufacturers' home practice material.
These help with the parts of hearing loss that an appointment cannot fix: meeting people, learning to lipread, and setting up your phone.
Hearing Link ServicesHearing Dogs for Deaf People
A helpdesk, peer support sessions around the UK, and free webinars for adults with hearing loss.
Regional groupsNational Cochlear Implant Users Association
Local groups where you can meet other people who use cochlear implants.
Search for a lipreading class near you, or an online one, from the Association of Teachers of Lipreading to Adults.
Hearing loss and technology resourcesAbilityNet
Free guides to setting up phones and computers for hearing loss, and free help from tech volunteers for older and disabled people.
SoundStepsour app
Short daily listening practice with British voices, in a browser or on a phone. Free to start.
SoundSteps is ours, so read this part knowing that. It starts with pairs of words that differ by one sound, like ship and chip. Then it moves on to sentences, short stories and conversations. You can add background noise when you are ready.
People get better at the voices they practise with, so you can pick a British voice, Alice or Daniel, in Settings. There is a free version, and your first 7 days include everything, with no card needed. Use it whatever hearing device you wear, or none.
Tell your cochlear implant centre or audiologist what you are using, so it fits around their plan.
FAQ
Usually a few weeks, once the wound has healed. The Oxford programme says about two weeks after surgery, and South Tees says about three. Your cochlear implant centre will give you the date.
You go back for a run of appointments. An audiologist tunes your settings, often weekly or fortnightly at first, and a rehab team helps you practise listening. South Tees, for example, reviews people again at six months and at a year.
Yes. NHS hearing aids are a free long-term loan. Batteries, repairs and follow-up appointments are free as well. Your GP can refer you to an NHS hearing service.
Yes. NHS cochlear implant centres give you things to work on at home between visits, so do those first. For the days in between, try the practice pages Cochlear, MED-EL and Advanced Bionics publish, or SoundSteps, our app, which has British voices.
Hearing Link Services runs a helpdesk and peer support, and RNID has clear information on hearing aids and cochlear implants. The NCIUA lists regional groups for cochlear implant users. To learn to lipread, ATLA can find you a class near you or online.
Related reading
The free listening check runs in your browser, with nothing to install. Your first 7 days include everything, and you can switch to a British voice in Settings any time.
Free, no account needed.
