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My Sentio Story | Lee Rothman

Lee Rothman used to wear a regular hearing aid. However, after he lost most of his hearing in one ear due to Covid-19, it no longer did the job. After looking into alternatives, Lee discovered the new Sentio™ System and learned how this bone conduction treatment could improve his hearing. The following is his story and we thank him for allowing us to share it!

My hearing loss began with an episode that was diagnosed as Meniere’s Disease back in 2013. It caused a loss of the frequencies above 2000hz. Over a period of several years, I had an intermittent loss of my hearing in my right ear that would typically return to some degree (minus the higher frequencies) after less than a week. I lived with that loss until I retired and moved to Idaho.

I had a hearing exam there where they informed me a quality hearing aid could restore that loss of the higher frequencies I was missing. I was an audiophile for nearly 50 years and a musician since the age of 10 with perfect pitch. So, I was fitted with a hearing aid. I was astounded by the higher frequencies I was then able to hear again that I’d missed for so long.

In October of 2023 I had another episode of hearing loss, which was accompanied by severe vertigo that landed me in the hospital. I’d used some antibiotic ear drops that apparently triggered the vertigo. It passed quickly and two days later my hearing returned—of course minus the higher frequencies.

Fast-forward to April of 2024. I had Covid for the fourth time in four years and it was asymptomatic. But once again in June of 2024, I got it again, which was noted by two days of headaches. I then experienced nearly complete hearing loss.

I went to a specialist nearby and he put me on the usual steroid dosage recommended for such events. It did nothing and my hearing loss continued. It was terrible, as I couldn’t hear the TV or my wife well with just the one ear. Having just one operative ear, it became obvious the handicaps it brings. My guitar sounded weak. I could no longer listen to music in my recording studio with headphones or speakers and hear the right channel. I was devastated.

I was referred to Dr. Wilkinson, a specialist in this area of hearing loss. He began with some steroid injections. After the second dose, we felt it wasn’t going to work. He gave me some brochures he’d just received from Oticon Medical regarding a new, FDA-approved type of bone conduction implant that was the next-generation of Ponto™ technologies. I examined it and did a lot of online research into it.

My regular doctor, who I discussed this with as well, happened to own a recently purchased pair of bone conduction stereo headphones. He let me try them and I was shocked that I could hear music in my right ear again. So, my next appointment with Dr. Wilkinson, I said I’d like to move forward with the Sentio offering. He got me on a waiting list, as the nearby hospital was awaiting their approval for the procedure to be done there.

I previously used a traditional hearing aid, mostly to add the lost higher frequencies back into my right ear. The sensorineural hearing loss I had after a Covid attack took a lot more than just the higher frequencies from my hearing. It not only took down the level of what I could hear, but virtually everything above 800hz was gone altogether.

I had no real concerns about the surgery. I’d watched a sample surgery done on YouTube and it looked very simple and straightforward. It went as expected. Quick and painless. Recovery went exactly as stated—three weeks until the application of the external processer and adjustments were made.

I immediately noticed I could hear higher frequencies, far beyond even my good ear. Literally air movement of a heating fan. The audiologist moved away from me speaking all the way to the other end of the room and I heard every word he spoke easily, even with my good ear plugged.

I don’t notice vast differences between the various modes really. I had the audiologist make an adjustment to the Music setting, so when I played my guitar, I didn’t get an annoying warble kind of character when a string was plucked. I was told it was from a noise reduction algorithm that needed to be turned off in the software he set up.

I tested out the Sentio on a high-end music system and noted that I now do hear the full right channel music information that was not there before. At times, I suppose my brain can fool me into thinking it’s hearing a distinct right channel and not just the information being sent to my good left ear alone. I suspect, in time, my brain may get used to it and I won’t feel like my right-side information isn’t actually there on my right side.

Bluetooth® streaming was too low, so the audiologist turned it up with the ConnectClip and then it was very good indeed. I can now hold my cellphone to my right ear area and have a perfect conversation without issues. The clarity is all there. I no longer struggle to hear the TV, as it now picks up the right speaker info, so I can still hear it from a distance. Conversations are a piece of cake.

You may find it funny but when I use the ConnectClip and place it on a table in front of the stereo TV’s external speaker system, I can blend a little bit of the speaker system output with streaming and get flawless clarity mixed with the nice, rich sound of the speakers. I even noted a bit of a 3-D effect, hearing things in a phantom center channel. Pretty interesting and very enjoyable.

The size is simply superb and you can’t ask for more. I don’t even notice it. So far nobody else has either. It weighs virtually nothing and I don’t even know that it’s physically there. I pay no attention to the fact that the Sentio is on me and so far nobody even notices it. When I point it out to folks, they think it is so cool—had no idea it existed.

When I’m in my office at work or having a meeting online, it works flawlessly. I have shaken my head repeatedly and it doesn’t move at all. While I visit a local restaurant, I hear the TV, conversation, and more. It’s great. It is as close to normal hearing as one can imagine. Unlike a typical hearing aid, you literally forget it’s there and it becomes a part of you and how you function. When you remove the Sentio processor, it becomes so much more obvious how vast a change it makes in your hearing quality.

Wondering whether a bone anchored hearing system in general or the Sentio System specifically might be the right choice to treat your hearing loss? Use these helpful resources, provided courtesy of Oticon Medical: