Basic Information About Hearing Aids

When your hearing is not as good as it used to be, you will need to be tested by an Audiologist or Hearing Aid Practitioner. Once the testing has revealed that you have hearing loss, you might be recommended for hearing aids. They are an amplification system that includes a battery that powers them, a microphone, an amplifier and a speaker or receiver to broadcast the sound where you can hear it.


The way hearing aids work is that sounds are picked up by the microphone, sent to the amplifier and then sent to the receiver or speaker and you hear the sound. There may need to be adjustments made to get the results that are most desirable.

In most of the modern hearing aids, they have a digital processor contained in the amplifier, making them like little computers that are more complex than in years past and giving you better results. They can make adjustments to the sounds to fit the pre-set parameters which can greatly enhance your hearing. These are known as digital hearing aids.


There are several styles or types of hearing aids: behind the ear or BTE, in the ear or ITE, in the canal or ITC and completely in the canal or CIC. You will often hear or read about them listed by the abbreviations for the type of fitting they are. This determines whether they are actually in the canal to the inner ear, resting in the cup of the ear or behind the ear, which also determines their visibility to the outer world. Many people are sensitive about a hearing aid being visible and they seem to carry more of a stigma for most people than wearing glasses to correct vision, for example.


There are pros and cons to each model, even though some are less visible than others. For example, those that are completely in the canal are hardly visible on the exterior, but some people don't like them because of the way it sounds like their ears are stuffed up and it also amplifies their own voice. If you have ever put your hands over your ears and talked, then you can see what the effect is that you have to get used to over a period of time.


Some of the behind the ear models have become quite fashionable and almost look like a Bluetooth device. They are available in fashionable neon colors, and wild patterns like zebra prints, so it can take the stigma off of hearing aids. In fact, some of them have got quite modern with different skins you can change to match your wardrobe, much like the different skins you can get for your cell phone. Some people will compromise on the behind the ear and in the canal and opt for the middle of the road in the canal models that rest in the cup of your ear.


Hearing aids can be as cheap as $1000 per ear, but you should figure as much as $2000 per ear, depending on the type of correction you need. Many hearing aid practitioners have financing plans available to make it more affordable to fit your budget.