You can’t play active sports if you have cochlear implants?
It’s perfectly safe to play active sports with cochlear implants, though it’s important to wear suitable headgear in order to protect the audio processors (you don’t have to remove them).
There’s a big risk of facial paralysis with cochlear implants?
The risk of temporary facial paralysis is now tiny – only 0.2%, according to a large UK audit on implantation in children, published in 2013. It used to be higher in the past as the surgery involves passing the electrode close to a main facial nerve. However, surgical techniques nowadays use a monitoring device, which is why the risk is now so low. In the same audit, there was no permanent facial paralysis. In fact, even the risk of major complications was found to be low, at 1.6%.[4] Your surgeon can explain the risks in more detail.
You can’t have an MRI scan with a hearing implant?
If your cochlear implant is MRI compatible, you can have an MRI scan. Some are compatible up to 1.5 teslas and others up to 3.0 teslas, the latest technology that allows for really detailed images. If an MRI scan is necessary and your device isn’t sufficiently compatible, you would need to have the magnet in your implant surgically removed before the scan. The same magnet would then be placed inside the implant again.
Cochlear implants have wires coming out of the skin?
No, the electrical signals are transmitted through intact skin from the audio processor to the internal implant.