You finally get up the nerve to go to the hearing aid
office and get your hearing tested. They break the news
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 hearing aids. All that terminology just
goes right over your head. Don't they know your in shock!
How on earth can you make a decision when you don't even
know what they're talking about!
There are hundreds of different hearing aids. It is a
complicated world of technological terms that those that
work with hearing aids forget sound like a foreign language
to you. To make matters worse, the manufacturers like to
call things different names, so they sound like something
different. No wonder there's so much confusion!
I am going to try to unravel some of the mystery for you.
When you get down to it, there are really only a few terms
you need to understand. These are the features that really
matter and the style or model of the hearing aid.
There are seven primary styles of hearing aids: ITE, Half
Shell, ITC, Mini Canal, CIC, BTE, and Open Ear.
In the Ear (ITE) ITE hearing aids are the largest custom
style of hearing aid, filling the bowl of your ear, and can
have the most power and features available for in the ear
hearing aids.
Half Shell (HS) The Half Shell is a custom hearing aid that
only fills about half the bowl of your ear. They are able
to have a good deal of power and features, use a smaller
battery, but are more cosmetically appealing.
In the Canal (ITC) The next smallest size is the custom ITC
hearing aid. Harder to see than the larger hearing aids,
but also not able to have as much power or as many
features.
Mini Canal (MC) Smaller than the ITC hearing aid, the
custom mini canal uses a smaller battery and has even less
power available. Features are more limited as well.
Completely in the Canal (CIC) The CIC is the smallest
custom in the ear hearing aid and very popular due to its
cosmetic appeal and ease of use. There are usually no
manual controls on a CIC, telephone usage is often better
because they are less likely to whistle. Lack of power is
the main reason people cannot use this style of hearing
aid, though a small ear canal may keep you from being able
to wear one also.
Behind the Ear (BTE) A BTE hearing aid sits behind your ear
and is connected to your ear by a tube with an earmold
attached. BTE hearing aids have the most power and
features available.
Open Ear (OE) and Receiver in Canal (RIC) This hearing aid
is a fairly new style of BTE made available in recent years
and are much smaller then a traditional BTE. They are
meant primarily for high frequency hearing loss. The
hearing aid is connected to your ear by a very thin tube or
wire with a small earbud on the tip. They are called Open
Ear because they leave the ear canal less blocked than
other styles of hearing aid.
Important Features:
Directional Microphones - These are available on most
BTE, OE, ITE, Half Shell, and ITC styles of hearing aids.
They are the best feature you can have on your hearing aid
for hearing in noisy places, such as restaurants. (They
reduce sounds from behind, so that it does not interfere
with the sound in front of you) Directional microphones
can be automatic, your hearing aid turns them on when the
sound level in the room gets too loud. Some are also be
adaptive, which means they can follow moving sounds, or
reduce several different sounds at the same time.
Noise Reduction - Noise reduction doesn't really reduce
noise, it reduces amplification in the frequencies where
there is noise and no speech. If there is a fan running in
the background, the hearing aid will not amplify it as much
as it will speech. When the hearing aid finds both speech
and noise at a frequency, you still get both. More
advanced the hearing aids manage noise better by breaking
the frequencies up into smaller pieces.
Memories - There are two types of memories available on a
hearing aid, manual and automatic. Many hearing aids have
a push button that allows you to have different settings
(memories) for different situations such as quiet places,
noisy places, and music or telephone. The hearing aid
beeps when you push the button to let you know which memory
you are using. A more advanced hearing aid may have
automatic memories. Instead of pushing a button, the
hearing aid does it for you! Some hearing aids have a
combination of both.
Feedback Cancellation - Feedback, that terrible high pitch
squeal, is the number one complaint people have about their
hearing aid. Most hearing aid wearers experience feedback
when they put their hand over their ear, or use the phone.
Feedback cancellation reduces the amount of feedback you
experience.
Bands / Channels - Bands are what we use to adjust the
volume in a hearing aid. More bands means more control
when we program the hearing aid to 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 the hearing aid noise reduction system. For
noise reduction, more channels is definitely better because
the hearing aid can break the sound up into smaller pieces
and isolate noise from speech.
These are the main things you need to understand about your
hearing aid. If you really want the best hearing aid for
you I recommend you focus on telling the hearing
professional what benefits you want from your hearing aid.
Tell them what frustrates you most and give them a better
picture of how they can help you. Their goal is to help
you hear better, and when that happens, everyone wins.
----------------------------------------------------
Kelly C. Calkins is a doctor of audiology and owns her own
practice in Atlanta, GA. For more information about
hearing aids or to find a professional near you, call us
today at 877-777-1710 or visit our website at
http://www.aidright.com
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