Guest guest Posted December 30, 2001 Report Share Posted December 30, 2001 Hello, Tomohisa! Welcome to the Atresia/microtia list! That is surprising that they don't have the BAHA in Japan... it originated in Sweden and is used in Europe and the Baltic countries, as well as in Canada and the US. Sooner or later they're bound to get to Japan and China! Have you looked at the website of the manufacturer? Go to http://www.entific.com and you will find a lot about the BAHA. There is also a website at http://www.patients-baha.com, which was developed by a man in the UK who wears the BAHA. It has a lot of good information, especially from patients' viewpoint. There is also a Yahoo mailing list called BAHA_PPL, but it isn't always that active. If you write to the address listed on the Entific website they should be able to send you more information about the BAHA, but if it is not yet available in Japan, probably you would need to travel to another country in order to actually have the surgery and be fitted with the BAHA. It's worth it, believe me! I have two BAHA Compacts, one on each side, and they are really wonderful. SO much better than using the old bone-conduction hearing aid on the headband. Do you now wear a hearing aid? Bone conduction or air conduction? What is the extent of your microtia and atresia? Would you be a possible candidate for canalplasty, where the surgeon can go in and build you an ear canal? Have you consulted with doctors to find out what your options might be? Welcome to the list! --Connie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 31, 2001 Report Share Posted December 31, 2001 Hello, Clix Pix! I appreciate your reply! >Sooner or later they're bound to get to Japan and China! To be sure, that will be right. Recently, Japan is also going to introduce BAHA. It seems that a concrete schedule is not yet exact. >Have you looked at the website of the manufacturer? Go to http://www.entific.com. and you will find a lot about the BAHA. There is also a website at http://www.patients-baha.com, which was developed by a man in the UK who wears the BAHA. Instantly, I read the homepage. English of this page was translated into Japanese, and it transmitted to Japanese ML. http://www6.ocn.ne.jp/~horicin/yakubun.htmlTo be sure, the homepage of entific has much information. >Do you now wear a hearing aid? Bone conduction or air conduction? Yes. I wear a hearing aid. It is bone conduction hearing aid, Glasses system. http://www6.ocn.ne.jp/~horicin/megane.html >What is the extent of your microtia and atresia? Would you be a possible candidate for canalplasty, where the surgeon can go in and build you an ear canal? Have you consulted with doctors to find out what your options might be? I have undergone the operation which builds an ear canal. However, hearing ability was not improved. Among those, an ear canal has been closed. I was 7 years old then. I also experienced the operation which builds the form of an ear. From 10 years old to 14 years old, I experienced this operation repeatedly. Japan's operation is as follows. http://www6.ocn.ne.jp/~horicin/gaijikeiseienglish.htmlIn Japan, I think that 90 percent or more of the child has experienced this operation. BAHA looks very attractive for me. It is because BAHA is very natural. I wish that BAHA is promptly introduced also into Japan. By the way, do you have what to ask to the Japanese member(Microtia and Atresia member)? Instead of you, I need to hear it! Now, the Japanese clock shows PM 23:00. I am very sleepy. ZZZzz - - - - -..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 31, 2001 Report Share Posted December 31, 2001 Hi, Tomohisa! (I hope I'm doing this right -- that is your first name, right, rather than your last name?) That is good to know that the BAHA will be introduced in Japan soon -- I am sure that there will be many people who will benefit from this excellent technology! So you wear the hearing aids in the glasses frames... I have met one person here in my local area, also a man, who wears them as well. He has had his for many, many years and they are at the point now where they need to be replaced and there isn't anyone in this country who makes them any more. So he is looking into the BAHA and has had a preliminary consultation at s Hopkins. Thank you for including the links to the photos -- very interesting! It would seem that the techniques used in Japan for ear reconstruction are quite similar to those used here in the US and in other countries. As you will have seen by reading other posts on this list, there is a Dr Brent who is quite famous in the US (California) for ear reconstruction, and also a Dr Romo (in NY). Dr Romo uses the technique of inserting a polyethylene implant rather than using rib grafts. Yes, sometimes canalplasties don't achieve the desired result so that a patient still needs to wear one or two hearing aids... In situations where a child is a potentially good candidate for canalplasty (not everyone is), the preferred course of action is to do a canalplasty first, and if for whatever reason that fails, the patient is then fitted with one or two BAHAs. Actually, in the US it has only been fairly recently that the BAHA has been in use by both adults and children; in Sweden and in the European countries they have been way ahead of us, using it for quite some time. Now there is more and more documentation in the clinical literature about the benefits of bilateral BAHAs and so the fitting of two rather than just one BAHA is being recommended by more practitioners. I have had my two BAHA Compacts since July. They are very comfortable to wear and the hearing quality is outstanding. I now hear at normal levels in all tonal ranges, which I never did before with my old bone conduction hearing aid. I also enjoy the convenience of being able to quickly snap them on and off, and they are unobtrusive under my hair. Since you have black hair, one or two black BAHAs would be just the thing for you, and no one would ever notice them! I hope for your sake that the BAHA is quickly introduced in Japan so that you will be able to get it soon. >By the way, do you have what to ask to the Japanese member(Microtia and Atresia >member)? Instead of you, I need to hear it! Your English is quite good, but I have to say that I don't quite understand what you are asking here... ?? Could you please re-phrase it? Are you asking for comments from other members of the Atresia/Microtia list who also have had experience with the BAHA? (Since there aren't too many yet on this list, that is one reason I referred you to the BAHA_PPL list and the two BAHA-related websites.) Thanks again for sharing the photos with us... --Connie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 2, 2002 Report Share Posted January 2, 2002 Hi ,Connie! >Dr Romo uses the technique of inserting a polyethylene implant rather than using rib grafts. Polyethylene? Is it truly safe? Doesn't it do harm to a human body? Surely, when a dead person is burned, poisonous gas is generated and it has a bad influence on the earth. A problem is not so. Doesn't it affect a human body? >Yes, sometimes canalplasties don't achieve the desired result so that a patient still needs to wear one or two hearing aids... In situations where a child is a potentially good candidate for canalplasty (not everyone is), the preferred course of action is to do a canalplasty first, and if for whatever reason that fails, the patient is then fitted with one or two BAHAs. I do not regard canalpasties as good. Because, sometimes canalplasties don't achieve the desired result. I think that I am meaningless even if it undergoes this operation. I think that it is quick to challenge BAHA without experiencing this operation, in order to heighten hearing ability. Has it made a mistake in this view? >I now hear at normal levels in all tonal ranges, which I never did before with my old bone conduction hearing aid. It is very wonderful! Although I am using bone conduction hearing aid now, it is imperfect too. This fact is attractive. By the way, even when you are in a noisy place, can you hear it well? Or is it only a quiet place? >Could you please re-phrase it? In Japan, about 200 persons including parents, a child, and a doctor have participated in one mailing list. Therefore, if you are interested in a situation of Japan, I can reply to it immediately. Therefore, please ask me anything of Japan. Thank you for useful information! - - -tomohisa(Tomohisa is my first name. Therefore, you are not wrong!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 2, 2002 Report Share Posted January 2, 2002 Hi again, Tomohisa! Now that I'm back at work and in my normal routine after the holidays, I don't have as much online time, hence the delay in responding... >Polyethylene? Is it truly safe? Doesn't it do harm to a human body? Many foreign elements do affect the human body and tissues, yes. A lot of times the body will reject foreign substances. The particular material used by Dr Romo is called Medpor, and it is indeed safe for use with human tissues. It is designed in such a way that the human tissues can grow within it and around it, so that an implant really " takes hold " and functions much as bone or cartilage grafts would. There are people on this list whose children have had or they themselves have had the polyethylene implants -- I'm sure they could answer questions about it in more detail that I can. >I do not regard canalpasties as good. Because, sometimes canalplasties >don't achieve the desired result. I think that I am meaningless even if it >undergoes this operation. I think that it is quick to challenge BAHA without >experiencing this operation, in order to heighten hearing ability. Has it >made a mistake in this view? Much depends upon the individual's situation. Some people such as myself cannot benefit from canalplasty and so the BAHA is the first and only option (other than standard bone conduction hearing aids)... In other situations, a person might be able to do quite well with canaplasty and so this is done with the knowledge that if it works out well, great, but if it doesn't, then there is still the option of BAHA. Much testing and examination of the person's inner and middle ears goes into the decision, of course, and parents usually talk with several doctors before making a decision. If a child has a fairly mild degree of microtia, this often suggests that there will be success in doing canalplasty. However, this is a delicate and precise surgery and sometimes indeed it does fail if not done by a very, very experienced and talented surgeon. There are various risks, too, to take into consideration, as there are with most surgical procedures. This list seems to be made up mostly of parents of children with microtia and atresia, and I think that there are only a few of us adults participating here who actually have one or both situations... In many instances the atresia and microtia are not related to any specific syndrome (in my case it was, Treacher Syndrome). The list is valuable for parents to share information about procedures, options, doctors, etc. Many seem to be interested in canalplasty as a first option if it is at all feasible for their child, and there has been much discussion of canalplasty and middle ear procedures here on the list. So I think that while in some instances parents or patients might choose to just go right to the BAHA, in many other cases they choose to do the canalplasty first. There's really no " right " or " wrong " here; it's an individual choice based upon many factors unique to the patient and his/her family's situation. >By the way, even when you are >in a noisy place, can you hear it well? Or is it only a quiet place? That was one of the things which most pleased me about the bilateral BAHAs -- yes, I can hear MUCH better when in a noisy place, can hear the person to whom I'm speaking and the other noise around me doesn't bother me as much as it used to do. It is amazing! I also discovered the other day that I can hear much better in the cinema, too -- can really appreciate the stereo sound and can understand the actors' dialogue so much better! >In Japan, about 200 persons including parents, a child, and a doctor have >participated in one mailing list. Therefore, if you are interested in a >situation of Japan, I can reply to it immediately. Therefore, please ask me >anything of Japan. Oh, OK, got it now! Thanks! Yes, there might be someone on the list here who has questions about a particular situation in Japan, techniques, etc... That's neat to know that you've got a Japanese mailing list for atresia and microtia, too! You're welcome and any other questions you have about the BAHA, just ask away! --Connie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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