May 2015 marked one year since 10-year old Alex was fitted with the Baha Attract System. Since then, pretty much his whole life has changed.
In early childhood, Alex suffered from bad ear infections which were treated with antibiotics and drops. This made him a fussy baby who didn’t sleep well. At one of his visits to his pediatrician, she came across a small polyp in his right ear and referred Alex’s parents to an ENT specialist.
“The very moment the specialist looked in his ear, he knew there was a problem,” remembers mother Chrissy. “After a hearing test, we knew for sure he had hearing loss. Alex went into surgery right away and just 20 minutes after the surgeon started he stopped to come and tell us that our little guy had an extensive cholesteatoma.”
Alex had surgery, but after about three years, his parents noticed he still was not hearing as well as he should. The ENT specialist ran new tests and determined that he needed some type of hearing assistance. At first, they tried a regular hearing aid, but because of Alex’s chronic draining issue it was impossible. His audiologist recommended the Baha System.
“We found out that Cochlear had the magnetic option and felt that it would be a good thing for Alex, because of not having the extra maintenance of cleaning an abutment,” says Chrissy. “I did my research, and his audiologist and ENT surgeon set us up with a Cochlear representative who let Alex try on the Baha Softband. He totally fell in love with it and said right away that this was what he wanted. The magnet was a natural choice for us since he is super active and loves to play.”
The Baha Attract System uses the same titanium implant as other Baha Systems, but no abutment. Instead it uses a magnetic connection to attract the sound processor to the implant, sending sound to the inner ear.
“The Baha Attract System offered the opportunity for us to not have to add another daily medical task to my sons’ already busy life. There is no external abutment, so there is nothing that has to be maintained except for the sound processor itself.”
On April 24, 2014 Alex had his surgery. After four weeks of healing, he was fitted with his Baha Sound Processor. According to his mother, Alex healed quickly without any problems. He had his surgery on a Thursday and was up playing the very next day as he normally did.
The Baha Attract System is the only magnetic bone conduction hearing system with True Wireless capabilities. This means that Alex can connect his sound processor to a number of wireless accessories and an iPhone – without the hassles of wires or neck-worn dongles.
“Alex never takes his sound processor off,” says Chrissy. “He wears it when he plays and runs around. He is hearing things he never heard before. He loves this technology. He uses his Mini Microphone for everything. He plugs into his tablet or the TV or even his Xbox and uses it in school every day. He thinks that the new Baha 5 Sound Processor has ‘awesome’ control features. This has been a crazy ride for sure but it has been worth it.”
Learn more about the Baha Attract System and True Wireless.
