What is it that makes a hearing aid a good fit? Find out how to categorize a “good hearing aid” and know which hearing aid is best for you in this week’s latest Audicus blog!
Hearing aids come in a variety of shapes, sizes and configurations corresponding to how they are worn. However, there are a number of qualities a hearing aid can possess that can increase its efficiency while lowering its risk of getting damaged.
Hearing Aid Benefits
Waterproof hearing aids and hearing aid batteries are great products to have in the case of exposure to rain, snow or flooding. Hearing aids that rely on batteries size 312 can last 200 hours, compared to 72 hours for size 10 batteries.
Bluetooth hearing aids, a recently developed technological innovation, are normally equipped with a controller that can send and receive signals from other devices that are also enabled with Bluetooth.
In this process, the sound is sent through a wireless spectrum instead of through the air. The ability to link your Bluetooth hearing aid with multiple devices allows for sound quality that outcompetes many other types of hearing aids.
Implantable hearing aids are also effective devices. A middle ear implant, or MEI, is a device that can be attached to a part of the middle ear. This direct contact with the actual bones responsible for hearing allows the MEI to cause direct stimulation and reception of sound. This implant is particularly effective for individuals with sensorineural hearing loss.
Bone-anchored hearing aids, or BAHAs, can be attached to the bone behind the ear, and unlike the MEI they transmit sound to the inner ear rather than the middle ear. BAHAs are best suited for individuals with damage in the middle ear area.
Hearing Aid Configurations
RIC, or receiver-in-canal hearing aids, are for individuals experiencing severe hearing loss. Most of the circuitry for this device is located outside of the ear canal. The hearing aid speaker goes inside of the ear canal.
CIC, or completely-in-canal hearing aids, are to be used by individuals with moderate hearing loss. These devices provide a certain level of discreteness which other hearing aids often times fail to meet.
BTE, or behind-the-ear hearing aids, are for people that have hearing loss in the range of moderate to severe. These devices are the most popular type of hearing aid in comparison with the RIC and CIC hearing aids.
Ultimately, what makes a hearing aid good is how well it caters to your specific wants and needs. You may prefer one hearing aid over another based on discreteness, waterproof properties, battery life, Bluetooth qualities, and so on.
One unanimous requirement for hearing aids is comfort. Having your hearing aid fitted by an audiologist is one of the best ways to ensure a comfortable and well-functioning device.
In some instances there may be no single best hearing aid for one person, meaning that wearing different hearing aids for different times or occasions could be the best option.
Sources: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders