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Importance of Cochlear Implant: Restoring Hearing and Speech for Children and Adults

Jan 05 , 2026 | 2 min read

Cochlear implant surgery is performed in India to treat severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss in children and adults when hearing aids fail to provide benefits. In India, for every 1000 births, 3 to 4 children are born deaf & many more become deaf in the first 2 to 4 years of their life because of childhood infections.

Nowadays, with the universal newborn hearing screening programs, hearing can be tested from day one of birth with the help of a simple screening test called OAE- OtoAcoustic Emissions. This test helps doctors know whether a child will be able to hear or not. If the test is inconclusive, a repeat test is done after an ENT consult and may also entail an advanced test called BERA (brain stem evoked response audiometry). Suppose a child is found to be suffering from severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss where hearing aids do not give any benefits. In that case, a few radiological tests like a CT scan and MRI of the ear are done to see if the cochlea (the main organ of hearing) and the auditory/cochlear nerve are present. They can then undergo a cochlear implant surgery. The earlier the age of implantation, the better the results for the child's speech and language acquisition. Starting early and ensuring proper intervention is crucial, as maximum brain development, known as brain plasticity, occurs within the first two years of a child's life. A child who undergoes an implant as early as 9 months up to 18 months can develop normal speech and language, go to a normal school & receive formal education like any other child.

Currently, in India, the average age of cochlear implants is about 4 to 5 years. Because of this delay in implantation, most children cannot attend formal school education. With the latest criteria of WHO of the rule of 1, 3 & 6 months, that is, detection at 1- month, complete diagnosis at 3 months and intervention at 6 months with hearing aid trial and therapy (and undergoing a bilateral cochlear implant surgery as early as 9 months of age) enables these children to not only get back their hearing but also have normal speech and language acquisition like any other normal child in the society.

The message is very clear: do not waste time in alternate modes of therapy if your child has been diagnosed with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss.

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