What is a Hearing Aid and How to Choose One

Introduction

Hearing aids are a solution to hearing difficulties. It helps a hearing-impaired person to catch sound easily. Overall, a hearing aid improves the communication ability of a person and makes him understand speech effectively. Due to various reasons, a person can face difficulty in properly understanding sound and speech. But as modern science evolves, so does technology. And one of the wonders of such technology is hearing aid that can greatly help you overcome your shortcoming and make you more confident in your day to day life. In the following article, we are going to briefly describe how hearing ear pieces work, types of hearing earpieces available, and how to choose your hearing aid.

How Hearing Aid Works

Although every person with hearing difficulty needs hearing aid for different outcomes, all of them work in the same way. Here are the steps:

Firstly, a miniature microphone captures the sound and converts into an electric signal.
Secondly, the signal is processed, boosted and converted inside the device according to the user's condition.
Finally, the processed sound is broadcasted by a small loudspeaker according to the earfitting of the user.

Specialists recommend the type of earpiece according to the condition of hearing loss and your lifestyle needs. According to WHO, most people with hearing difficulties think that they are losing hearing in both of their ears. In that case, they need to use a hearing earpiece in both of their ears. Only one hearing aid is never adequate for them.

Types of Hearing Aids

According to the severity of the hearing problem and other personal preferences, various types of listening devices are available. Let’s take a glance at them.

Behind the ear aid (BTE)
Receiver in the canal aid (RIC)
In the ear/canal aid (ITE/ITC)
Completely in the canal/Invisible in the canal aid (CIC/IIC)

Every one of them has its pros and cons. But the choice mainly depends on the taste and requirements of the user. Some people may feel comfortable to let other people know about their hearing discomfort, while others may like to keep it private. And it’s also not rare to see that some people transform their earpiece as a fashion statement. But, when choosing a listening device, make functionality your first priority.

Controlling, Choosing and Adjusting Hearing Aids

As your environment changes, the setting of your listening device may need to be adjusted. Some listening devices provide hand-held controls or smartphone app controlling options. There's also a type that can adapt according to the environment.

You can have a variety of options to choose your listening device. But one should always consult their audiologist first about choosing their preferred listening device. If you consult NHS stuff, they may lend you a device which is almost always behind the ear listening device. But a private audiologist can recommend a larger choice of hearing aid.

It may take up to three months to get used to a hearing aid. But it can vary according to the severity of hearing loss, lifestyle and the frequency of needing to use a hearing aid. A new user can get overwhelmed by new noises. But the sooner the brain gets used to it, sooner the discomfort disappears. In severe cases, one can always consult their audiologists and fine-tune it.

Hearing aids can cost $1000 - $6000, varying on the quality of it, To get a great user experience, one should consider investing in high quality, good brand’s hearing aid.

You also need to know about probable side effects of listening devices. You must not use any listening device that is made of materials you are allergic to. Secondly, the shape and the size of your listening device must be suitable for your ears. If you wear a listening device that does not fit properly in your ears, you may risk damaging your ears. For example, wearing oversized listening devices can cause a lot of strain in your ears, even injuries. If you don’t feel comfortable wearing a particular hearing aid, you should consider going for an alternative option.

Make sure that you keep your hearing aid clean. Your ears are sensitive, and should keep dust or any other substances away from your ears. If your hearing aid is dirty, your ears will suffer inevitably.

Conclusion

Ability to clearly hear and process words is a very precious gift. Your self-esteem and confidence can get a significant boost when you can overcome the difficulties. One should take the necessary steps as early as possible when a hearing problem occurs. A hearing aid can make your life much easier. So, rather than waiting for the inevitable hearing loss, take action in due time. Live your best life with all the beauty of the melodious tune.