Hearing Aid: Get the in-depth knowledge

Over the past few years, hearing aid technology has seen many changes and developments. Earlier, hearing aids were used to be known as big chunky things that would properly fit behind the ear of the individual. But with the advent in technology, now you can simply get a hearing aid that can easily sit deep in your ear.

Basically, said to be an electroacoustic device, a hearing device is designed in a way so that it can adjust and amplify the sound for the wearer’s ears. Also known as an ear horn, this hearing device is like an amplification cone that gathers the appropriate sound waves and directly channelizes it into the wearer’s ear canal.

HEARING AID - TYPES

Although different types of hearing instruments and models are available, but each of them vary in power, size, and circuitry. Some of them are described below:

1. Body Worn Aids

Body worn aids are the hearing instruments invented by Harvey Fletcher. These aids were the first type of hearing devices and consist of a cord, a case and an earmold along with some amplifier components. Beacuse of its small size it can easily be carried in the pocket.

2. Behind the ear aids or BTH

Behind-The-Ear hearing aid is small in size and consists of a tube, an earmold and a case made of plastic. BTE is the largest hearing aid that sits behind the ear. Also, this aid consists of the amplification system and is used for mild to deep hearing loss. This case collects the incoming sound from the hearing aid which passes through a plastic tube connected to the ear.

3. In-The-Ear aids (ITE)

These hearing aids fit just inside the outer ear bowl, called the concha. Although, these hearing aids are not as big as the BTH aids, but are very much comfortable to wear. These hearing aids can be used for mild to strong hearing losses.

4. ITC/ITE or In-The-Canal/Ear hearing aids

These hearing aids are slightly smaller than the In the ear (ITE) hearing aids and sit inside the ear canal of the wearer. As they are smaller in size so they are not easily noticeable but a lot of effort is required in their maintenance. However they are small but the sound through these type of hearing device is smoother than the Behind the ear (BTE) hearing aid.

In nutshell, hearing aids completely work on the amplification of sound energy that reaches the human ear. This device is best for all those who suffer from mild to moderate hearing loss. The ability of hearing is quite different for each and every individual and thus the overall attributes of different types of hearing aids.

For more information regarding Hearing Aids, please visit http://www.digitalhearingcare.org.uk