Oh those magnets!

I already had to call on some more experienced parents for help with Audrena's CI. That didn't take long! We suspected that Audrena's headpiece magnet was too strong. It was creating a pink circle on her skin, and we were afraid of skin breakdown, which can be very bad. We were not sure if it was just her super-sensitive fair skin, or if it really was a magnet issue. I received some good suggestions, so we are giving one a try, and I think it is helping.

Inside of the Neptune headpiece, there is a magnet (or two in the water mic) and a foam spacer. There is a magnet in the internal implant component. The headpiece magnet attaches itself to the magnet inside of Audrena's head, so there is not actually anything showing through her skin. If she was not wearing the external components, there would be no indication that she has a cochlear implant. I'm including a picture below to show what I'm talking about. The magnet typically goes into the hole in the grey piece first (so it's closest to the skin), then the spacer, and the white cap fits over top.

Grey water mic, two magnets with foam spacer sitting between, and white cap.

The suggestion we are trying is to put the spacer in first, then the magnet. It is a little weak that way, but it will get us through the weekend. Monday we will contact our Audiologist for a weaker strength magnet, or see if she has any other tricks for us to try.

Another suggestion we received would be to loosen the screw a bit. The Neptune does not have a screw. However, I think the Cochlear brand implants do.

Some of my blogs may be pretty mundane or technical details that most people would not be interested in reading, but I hope they will help a new CI parent (such as myself) someday.