Staying active is an important part of a healthy lifestyle, and cochlear implants can help bring your workout to the next level.
Meet Carly S., a Cochlear™ Nucleus® 6 and Cochlear™ Kanso® recipient whose life changed when she received a Cochlear™ Implant.
Carly maintains an active lifestyle—she loves to run, weight lift, bike ride, snowboard, and swim. She played lacrosse competitively in college and she now referees lacrosse games.
Benefits of wireless streaming
She said the coolest part about exercising with a Cochlear Implant is the ability to stream audio wirelessly from her phone to her processor.
“I feel like it changes the way I work out,” she said. “I’m completely plugged into music whenever I work out.”
Carly also enjoys being able to download apps with training programs, such as yoga classes, and listen to them directly whenever she chooses.
“I can listen to the instructor teach a yoga class, without having to go to yoga. I love that,” she said.
Finding the perfect fit
Carly recalls that when she was playing lacrosse competitively—before she received her Cochlear Implant—hearing was a constant struggle.
“When they would blow the whistle, I would always go three extra steps,” she said. “I would stop when I saw everyone else stop, not because I heard the whistle.”
Now, as a lacrosse referee, she said she is able to hear many of the sounds she missed before.
“The whistle is nice and crisp now,” she said.
Depending on what she is doing, Carly said she often switches between the Nucleus 6 and the Kanso Sound Processors.
When she goes running or weight lifting, she wears her Kanso processor and uses her hair or a headband to help secure it in place. If she wants extra retention, she temporarily switches to a higher magnet strength.
Carly said she prefers to wear the Nucleus 6 Sound Processor when she is snowboarding or biking, because she can comfortably wear it underneath her helmets.
“I think biking is so much more enjoyable now,” she said. “I listen to really relaxing music, (whereas) when I wore hearing aids I would just hear the wind.”
Her advice to others is to make sure to bring spare batteries to a sporting or athletic event, especially if hearing is vital to the activity.
She also recommends using accessories to make the most of your workout.
“My advice is to take advantage of the fact that you can stream music underwater, or while running, or stream workouts,” she said. “There are a lot of advantages to being able to work out with a Cochlear Implant, specifically because of the accessories.”
Don’t forget to accessorize
The Aqua+1-5 is a waterproof accessory which allows you to swim underwater, in salt water, and completely submerged. You can swim and bathe without the need for any cumbersome cables, cases or a special sound processor specifically for water activities.
The Mini Mic 2+6 is perfect to hear your jogging partner or gym buddy while on the go. Simply clip it to their shirt collar or place it near them and it will stream the sound of their voice directly to your processor.
The Phone Clip allows you to stream audio between your processor and a Bluetooth® enabled phone—so you can take calls or stream music while working out.
For more information on playing sports with a Cochlear Implant, check out the lifestyle guide or these related posts:
Touchdown! 5 tips for parents to help young athletes succeed on and off the field
How to talk to coaches and teammates about your hearing loss
Keeping your processor secure: what you need to know about Cochlear retention accessories
Here comes the sun: 10 tips for an active summer with a Cochlear implant or Baha device
Fun in the Sun: 6 Tips for Wearing Your Processor Outdoors
[1] The Nucleus 6 Sound Processor is water resistant to level IP58 of the International Standard IEC60529. This water protection rating means that the sound processor is not only splash resistant, but it can be submerged into three feet of still water for up to 30 minutes. This water protection only applies when you use rechargeable batteries. Not intended for swimming. The Nucleus 6 Sound Processor with the Aqua+ is water resistant to level IP68 of the International Standard IEC60529. This water protection only applies when you use the Aqua+ and rechargeable batteries. Not compatible with the acoustic component.
[2] The Kanso Sound Processor is water resistant to level IP54 of the International Standard IEC60529 with ZA batteries.
[3] The Kanso Sound Processor with the Aqua+ is water resistant to level IP68 of the International Standard when used with LR44 alkaline or nickel metal hydride disposable batteries.
[4] The Nucleus 7 Sound Processor is water- resistant without the Nucleus Aqua+ accessory to level of IP57 of the International Standard IEC60529 when used with rechargeable batteries.
[5] Nucleus 7 with Aqua+ is water resistant to level IP68 of the International Standard IEC60529. This water protection rating means that the sound processor with the Aqua+ can be continuously submerged under water to a depth of 3 meters (9 feet and 9 inches) for up to 2 hours. This water protection only applies when you use the Aqua+ and rechargeable batteries.
[6] The Cochlear Wireless Mini Microphone 2+ is compatible with the Nucleus 6, Nucleus 7, Kanso, Baha 4, Baha 5, Baha 5 Power, and the Baha 5 SuperPower Sound Processors.
The Bluetooth® word mark and logos are registered trademarks owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by Cochlear is under license.
The Nucleus 6 Sound Processor is available for all implant models.
The Kanso Sound Processor is compatible with the Nucleus® 24 System (N24), Nucleus® Freedom System (CI24RE) and Nucleus® 5 System (CI422 and CI500 Series) Implants. The Kanso Sound Processor will not be compatible with the Nucleus® 22 (N22) Implant due to the Kanso Sound Processor’s size and coil type.
The Cochlear Nucleus Hybrid acoustic component is not compatible with the Kanso Sound Processor. The Kanso Sound Processor is not intended to be used by Hybrid L24 Cochlear Implant recipients who receive benefit from the acoustic component.
