What Do You Need to Know About Hearing Aids?

When you experience hearing loss, the most common solution that will be offered to you is to have a hearing aid fitted. Hearing aids have long been a fantastic way to help with hearing loss, and the technology has only been getting better and better in recent years. But before you go to your audiologist to see about having a hearing aid fitted, it’s good to know as much as possible beforehand to help improve your understanding. Here are some of the major things you might want to know about hearing aids before you go and get yours fitted.

The Different Styles

Something that you might not realize right away is that there are actually a few different major styles of hearing aid to choose from. Your audiologist will be able to help you choose the right one, but it can help to have a basic understanding of them yourself firstly too. Here are the main different styles of hearing aid that you might come across.

BTE

With behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids, what you are getting is that traditional hearing aid style. These sit behind the ear and are comfortable and easy to use, as well as being easy to clean and maintain. A BTE hearing aid is not generally used in the most extreme cases, but for many kinds of hearing loss it is very useful indeed.

ITE

ITE means in-the-ear, and this is when the bowl of the ear is filled with the main part of the hearing aid. Although it might not be as easy to hide it as a BTE hearing aid, you will usually get it to match to your flesh tone, so it’s actually going to be fairly discrete. Plus, you get a good balance between powerful hearing help and relatively small size.

ITC

In-the-canal (ITC) hearing aids sit mostly in the canal of the ear, offering a significantly more discreet option while also being good for more advanced hearing loss, owing to the fact that they sit near the eardrum itself.

The Many Features

Modern hearing aids have a lot of different features that you might want to be aware of, and these are all going to be the kind of thing that you want to consider. For instance, there is usually noise cancellation and directional microphone tech, to ensure background noise is reduced. You can usually find hearing aids with Bluetooth and wireless connectivity too, which can be helpful.

Cleaning and Maintaining

Once you have a hearing aid, you’ll want to know what you are meant to do to keep it well-maintained and clean. Normally, this is as simple as removing the device at night and wiping it down, but sometimes you might need to take it back to your audiologist to change a setting or for a tune-up in general. Take care of it well, and it should last you for many years without any problems. To find out more or see what kind of hearing aid you might need, consult your local audiologist.