Implant procedure proves life-changing for Hemel Hempstead nurse living with partial deafness
A 26-year-old nurse from Hemel Hempstead can hear properly for the first time in her life after undergoing a life-changing procedure.
Danuta Bukanska was born with an underdeveloped right ear resulting in partial deafness and, as well as being unable to use a hearing aid, the risk of a skin infection made her unsuitable for a metal implant.
As a result, she has received the first bone bridge implant to be carried out in North-West London.
The device is able to bypass damaged parts of the ear and send sounds directly to the inner ear through the bones of the skull.
Danuta said: “I wasn’t properly diagnosed growing up in Poland but knew something wasn’t right and family and friends often tapped me on the right shoulder to get my attention.
“I just learned to get by and most people wouldn’t even realise that my
hearing in that ear is pretty much non-existent.”
People with hearing loss are up to five times as likely to be affected by
dementia in later years because of the increased likelihood of depression and
social isolation.
And surgeon Bhav Patel is pushing for more to be done to help people who can’t wear traditional hearing aids.
He said: “The procedure was completed within an hour and the patient allowed home the same day. We’d estimate around 30 patients having this life changing procedure every year.”
The London Northwest University Healthcare Trust aims to fund future bone bridge implants with four further patients identified as suitable for the procedure.