You finally get up the nerve to visit the hearing aid workplace and get your ears tested. They break the information that you need a hearing aid. Your mind is swimming with visions of having to wear that huge thing on your ear. How could this have happened? Why me?! And then they start telling you about each of the different kinds you may get. All that terminology goes right on your head. Don’t they understand you! How on earth can you make a choice when you don’t actually understand what they’re talking about!
There are dozens and dozens of different hearing aids. It may be a very complicated world of technological conditions. Sometimes, those of us that work with hearing aids all the time can overlook exactly how foreign they could sound to you. To make matters worse, the manufacturers like to call things different names, so that they seem like something distinct. No wonder there’s so much confusion!
I am going to try to unravel some of the puzzles for you. When you return to it, there are only a few conditions you want to comprehend.
- In the Ear (ITE) ITE’s will be the greatest custom style of hearing assistance.
- Half Shell (HS) They can have a good deal of power and features, use a bigger battery, but are more cosmetically attractive.
- In the Canal (ITC) The next smallest dimension is your habit ITC. Harder to see compared to larger hearing aids, but also not able to have as much power or as many features.
- Mini Canal (MC) Characteristics can also be more limited.
- Completely in the Canal (CIC) There are usually no manual controls on a CIC, telephone use is often better because they are not as inclined to whistle. Lack of power is the main reason people cannot use this style, though a little ear canal can save you from being able to wear one also.
- Behind the Ear (BTE) This hearing tool sits behind your ear and can be attached to your ear by way of a tube with an earmold.
- Open Ear (OE) and Receiver at Canal (RIC) This hearing aid is a rather new style of BTE made accessible in recent years and is much more compact compared to a traditional BTE. They are meant primarily for high-frequency hearing loss. It’s connected to an own ear by a very thin tubing or cable with a small earbud on the tip. They’re called Open Ear only because they depart the ear canal not as blocked as other styles of hearing aid.
Important Features:
- Directional Microphones – They are the very best feature you can have on your hearing aid for hearing in noisy areas, such as restaurants. (They reduce sounds from behind so it doesn’t interfere with the noise in front of you) Directional microphones can be automatic; they automatically turn on if the sound level in the space gets too loud. Some are also elastic, which means that they can follow sounds, or even reduce several different sounds at precisely the same time.
- Noise Reduction – Noise reduction doesn’t really reduce sound, it reduces amplification in the frequencies where there is noise and no speech. When there is a fan running in the background, the hearing aid won’t reevaluate it as much as it will speak. When the hearing aid finds both language and noise at a frequency, then you still get. More advanced hearing devices operate noise better by dividing up the frequencies into smaller bits.
- Memories – There are two forms of memories available on a hearing aid, automatic and manual. Many hearing aids have a push button that lets you get different configurations (memories) for various scenarios such as quiet places, noisy places, and music or telephone. The hearing aid beeps once you push on the button to let you know that memory you are using. Advanced hearing aids may have automatic memories. Some hearing aids can even have a combination of both.
- Feedback Cancellation – Feedback (or that annoying whistling sound) is your number one complaint people have about hearing aids. Most hearing aid wearers experience opinions when they place their hand over their ear or use the phone.
- Bands / Stations – Bands are what we use to correct the volume in a hearing aid. More bands mean more control when we plan the hearing tool for your hearing loss.
Channels are used to adjust the part of the hearing aid that keeps the sound from getting too loud. Channels can also refer to this hearing aid noise reduction system. For noise reduction, more stations are unquestionably better since the hearing aid could break up the sound into smaller pieces and isolate noise from speech.
These are the main things you need to comprehend about your hearing aid. If you really want the very best one for you, I suggest that you focus on telling your professional what benefits you need from your hearing instrument. Let them understand what motivates you to give them a much better idea of how they can assist you. They intend to help you hear better, and when that happens, everyone wins.
At SoundBenefits, our Audiologists possess hand-selected hearing aids which include all the popular features that you expect from advanced apparatus. You’ll find the same premium technology readily available in high-end clinics, without the markup. You can find them here, check them out, they offer online hearing assessments.