HEARING AIDS

Completely In Canal (CIC)

CIC devices are also custom molded and fit fully inside your ear canal. Unlike the IIC style, CIC types include a tiny handle that sticks out of the ear canal for quick and easy insertion and removal.                               

Invisible In Canal
(IIC)

are custom molded to fit fully and comfortably inside your ear canal. With the IIC style, it is often completely invisible to other people. These are the smallest type of hearing aid on the market.                                  

In-The-Ear (ITE)

ITE hearing instruments are made using custom molds of your ear like IIC and CIC types. But what makes ITE devices different is that the majority of the device is worn on the outer ear, while only a small portion sits within the ear canal.

In-The-Canal (ITC)

In-The-Canal hearing aids differ from IIC and CIC devices as a portion of the hearing aid sits in the outer ear while the other part is worn in the ear canal. ITC units are visible, yet discreet.                                          

Receiver-In-Canal (RIC)

Receiver-In-Canal hearing aids differ from other styles as the microphone, which pickles up sound from the environment, sits behind the outer ear. A thin metal wire connects this portion of the hearing aid to an earbud or receiver that sits in the ear canal

Behind-The-Ear (BTE)

BTE hearing aids are quite similar to RIC devices. The major difference between them is that BTE devices use plastic tubing instead of metal to connect the microphone to the receiver which is worn in the ear canal.                                                   

  1. A hearing aid is an electronic device that can receive and amplify incoming sounds for people with hearing impairment to aim for better sound understanding through proper amplification.

    Here’s how they work:

    1. A microphone picks up sound around you.
    2. An amplifier makes the sound louder.
    3. A receiver sends these amplified sounds into your ear.

    Not everyone with hearing loss can benefit from hearing aids. But only 1 in 5 people who could have improvement to wear them. Most of the time, they’re for people who have damage to their inner ear or the nerve that links the ear with the brain. The damage can come from:

    1. Disease
    2. Aging
    3. Loud noises
    4. Medications

    What can I expect from my hearing aids?

    Unlike eyeglasses, hearing aids do not correct your hearing back to normal. Instead, hearing aids function to amplify sounds in a particular range of pitches – the range where the hearing loss exists. Included in those sounds can be speech or environment sounds such as bells ringing, birds singing, conversations from nearby tables at a restaurant or busy traffic noise.

    While the hearing aid technology today is excellent, the devices are still an “aid” and cannot separate the desired speech signal from the background noise as well as our brain and two normal functioning ears can. Therefore, it is important to employ communication strategies when using hearing aids in difficult listening environments.

    Do I need one or two hearing aids?

    If hearing loss exists in both ears, there is greater benefit in using a device in each ear – similar to wearing eyeglasses with two lenses. There are always exceptions to the general rule and that will be discussed with your audiologist. Benefits from hearing aids in each ear include:

    1. Improved ability to understand speech in background noise
    2. Less amplification in each hearing aid reducing the possibility of feedback (hearing aid whistling)
    3. Less auditory effort so you are less fatigued at the end of the day
    4. Improved ability to locate the source of sound
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