Treatment with Hearing Aids
Hearing Aids
What are they?
Hearing aids are small electronic devices that help people with many types of hearing loss. They amplify and alter sounds to make up for damaged or non-working parts of the ear.
All hearing aids work by making sounds louder. Many types also change sounds, like background noise, so that other sounds, like speech, are easier to understand.
Hearing aids work best for people with mild to severe hearing loss where speech understanding is still good. Hearing aids may not work well for people with severe to profound loss. When hearing aids no longer provide adequate benefit a cochlear implant should be considered. When a patient has conductive or mixed hearing loss, or single-sided deafness a Baha® system should be considered. If you are interested in learning more about hearing aids, contact a hearing aid provider near you.
There are many types and styles of hearing aids, but all have similar basic parts:
1. A microphone that picks up acoustic sound and changes it into an electrical signal.
2. An amplifier that makes the signal louder.
3. A speaker that sends the amplified sound into the ear.
4. A miniature battery that powers all parts of the hearing aid.
There are many kinds of hearing aids with different styles of outward appearance and different types of inner workings. The basic outward styles are compared below.
Completely-in-the-Canal (CIC)
Where worn: Fits in ear canal (custom made, mostly concealed).
Who for: Mild to moderate hearing loss. Not usually for children (case must be replaced as ear grows).
Advantage: Smallest size (least visible).
Disadvantage: Small size can be difficult to handle; Small batteries are changed more often; Can be damaged by earwax and ear drainage.
In-the-Canal (ITC)
Where worn: Fits in ear canal (custom made).
Who for: Mild to moderate hearing loss.
Advantage: Smaller size (barely visible), custom made.
Disadvantage: Small size can be difficult to handle; Cannot be used with some accessories; Can be damaged by earwax and ear drainage.
In-the-Ear (ITE)
Where worn: Fits completely in the outer ear (custom made).
Who for: Mild to severe hearing loss, not usually for children (case must be replaced as ear grows).
Advantage: Small size, can be used with add-on accessories, custom fit.
Disadvantage: Small size can be difficult to handle, may be damaged by earwax and ear drainage.
Behind-the-Ear (BTE)
Where worn: Case behind the ear with a tube to a custom earmold placed into the outer ear.
Who for: Mild to profound hearing loss; Can be used by all ages including infants/children.
Advantage:Durable; Larger size easier to handle and maintain; Separate earmold can be easily replaced; Easy to use with assistive listening devices.
Disadvantage:Larger size (highly visible); high gain may cause feedback.
CROS (or BICROS)
Where worn: Can be worn in the ear or behind the ear.
Who: People with no useable hearing in one ear and normal or near normal hearing in the other ear (or hearing loss for BICROS)
Advantage: Transfers sound received on the deaf ear side to the other hearing ear.
Disadvantage: Requires two units, transmitter and receiver. In some cases requires custom earmold in the better ear resulting in plugged feeling/occlusion. Some people report poor sound quality if hearing in better ear is normal.
