Cochlear Implants
Follow-up and Rehabilitation
download the pdf

Cochlear implant surgery requires general anesthesia and lasts about 2 to 3 hours. Surgery is usually completed as an outpatient procedure, and may include a one-night stay in the hospital. It generally takes 3 to 5 weeks for the surgical incision to heal, but most children resume normal activities within days after the surgery.

Between 4 to 6 weeks after surgery, the child will return to the clinic to have the device activated for the first time. During the time between surgery and implant activation, the child will not be able to wear a hearing aid in the implanted ear and so will not be able to hear in that ear. If a hearing aid is worn in the non-implanted ear, the child should continue to wear this aid during the time between surgery and activation. Some children will continue to wear a hearing aid in their non-implanted after the implant is activated to improve their ability to determine from what direction a sound is coming (localization) and to improve listening in noise.

Device activation may be either a one or two-day process. Up to 20 return visits may be needed within the first year for both fine-tuning of the speech processor and auditory training or aural rehabilitation.