Singer K.Flay says her cochlear implant 'feels like someone drilled a hole in my head' amid sudden sensorineural hearing loss: 'Bionic Flay is here'
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K.Flay is getting candid about her experience undergoing surgery to get a cochlear implant. The 39-year-old singer recently took to social media to share she had the procedure last week, detailing how she felt "pretty sick" post-surgery but is now recovering well.
The Illinois-born artist, who has collaborated with artists like Canadian band Arkells and electronic duo Louis The Child, explained she had vertigo and was throwing up after the surgery. She also felt loud tinnitus — a ringing or similar noise in the ear — oddly similar to what she first experienced after losing hearing in her right ear in 2022.
"I'm healing up nicely and doing better today. Still feels like someone drilled a hole in my head and installed something in my skull," she shared in an Instagram post alongside a photo of herself lying in bed with gauze wrapped around her head as she held two peace signs up with her hands. She added the cochlear implant will be activated in a few weeks and that she'll share another update then.
"I haven't cried yet but I might cry then. Just wanna say a huge thank you to everyone for their support and encouragement as I've navigated losing my hearing and taking this big step," the "High Enough" artist added. "Every single show on tour, the gifts and cards, all your messages, they have truly given me so much hope and strength. ... Bionic flay is here."
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The singer, whose real name is Kristine Meredith Flaherty, first opened up about losing her hearing in October 2022. She shared in a video back then she had woken up "completely deaf in my right ear" and experienced symptoms like vertigo, adding it felt scary and left her worried. After seeing specialists and getting various types of treatment, she said it looked like she wasn't going to regain hearing and that she had "single-sided deafness" in that ear.
Since then, she's been sharing her journey with the sudden deafness and how she's been coping with the changes to her health. Last August, she shared she has constant tinnitus, explaining it's a "relentless noise, like the rush of raging water mixed with a static interference" that gets worse in loud spaces. "I feel very lonely in those moments, like I'm trapped in a room I know I can't leave. I often want to cry," she wrote in a post that month.
She previously noted on "The Allison Hagendorf Show" she saw numerous specialists in California and was diagnosed with sudden sensorineural hearing loss. "It felt insane. The experience of losing my hearing has been the strangest and arguably most interesting experience of my life — it has been totally bizarre."
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A cochlear implant is an electronic device that helps people with severe hearing loss who can't benefit from regular hearing aids. It has two parts: An implant placed in the inner ear during surgery and a sound processor worn behind the ear to pick up and filter sounds to turn into digital information. While traditional hearing aids make sounds louder like turning up the volume on a TV, a cochlear implant sends electronic signals to the hearing nerve.
While hearing aids can help people with various types and levels of hearing loss, a cochlear implant can benefit people with severe conditions. Last year, The Bachelor contestant Daisy Kent opened up about having a cochlear implant to help with her Ménière's disease.
Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is an unexplained and rapid loss of hearing that typically only affects one ear and develops within a few days. According to research published in a January 2025 edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), it's defined "as hearing loss of 30 or more decibels across 3 contiguous audiometric frequencies within 72 hours."
Hearing loss typically has a specific trauma and occurs over time in most cases. But if there's no object causing blockage leading to hearing loss, this is known as SSNHL, according to HearCANADA.
On top of suddenly not being able to hear (typically in one ear), other SSNHL symptoms may include tinnitus, dizziness, a feeling of fullness in the affected ear and a sudden popping sound before your hearing decreases. It's also common for SSNHL to impact a person's mental health and overall quality of life.
With SSNHL, the cause is unexplained. In some cases, it may be as simple as a build-up of earwax, which can be treated by a medical professional. In other cases, sudden hearing loss may be attributed to:
Inner ear disorders, like Ménière's disease
Ototoxic drug usage
Autoimmune diseases
Head trauma
Vascular disorders
Tumour on the auditory nerve
According to the CMAJ, smoking, alcohol consumption, diabetes and hypertension are some of the risk factors for SSNHL. Ninety per cent of cases have an unknown cause.
There are around 30 cases of SSNHL per 100,000 people, according to the CMAJ. It mostly affects people within the 40- to 60-year age range. Research published in a March 2017 issue of the CMAJ indicated SSNHL impacts men and women equally.
If you experience symptoms of SSNHL, it's important to visit a health-care professional as soon as possible to increase the chances of recovering your hearing. According to ENT Health, around half of patients with SSNHL will recover at least some hearing without treatment,
However, people who have mild to moderate to severe hearing loss are considered in the "steroid-effective zone," ENT Health noted. That means they have a 75 to 80 per cent chance of recovery with steroid therapy. On the other hand, people with profound hearing loss — which is a complete loss of hearing accompanied with vertigo — and people over age 65 typically have a much lower chance of recovering their hearing.
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