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Types Of Hearing Aids
Hearing aid technology has advanced rapidly in the last several years.
Dr. Shepard only partners with the leading brand in the hearing aid industry, Oticon, to ensure that you have access to devices that are high-quality, perform in background noise, offer brain hearing features, and comfortable.
Hearing Aid Styles
The hearing aid industry offers more options than ever before, yet all devices find themselves in one of two categories: Behind-the-ear (BTE) and In-the-ear (ITE).
Behind-the-ear (BTE) Hearing Aids
Sitting behind or on top of the outer ear, a BTE design utilizes a tube that connects to an ear mold or tip inside of your ear canal. With the widest selection of colors, sizes, features, degrees of power, and battery types, BTE’s are so small that they are often unnoticeable to others. Some of the various BTE styles include:
Receiver-in-the-ear (RITE):
A speaker built into the ear tip instead of the body of the device is what makes RITE hearing aids different. Their size is like that of a Mini BTE and they are nearly invisible to others. This is also known as a RIC or receiver in canal.
BTE with Earmold:
Patients can enjoy more features and a longer battery life with a BTE with Earmold. It uses a custom-shaped earmold at the tip of its tubing, directing sound straight to the ear canal. These devices are slightly larger and use a shape that follows the contour of your ear.
Mini BTE:
The smallest BTE option on the market, a Mini BTE creates a natural hearing experience through a soft tip at the end of its tubing. This encourages airflow and sound to enter the ear along with amplified sounds.
Receiver-in-the-ear (RITE):
A speaker built into the ear tip instead of the body of the device is what makes RITE hearing aids different. Their size is like that of a Mini BTE and they are nearly invisible to others. Mini RITE’s are also an option.
BTE with Earmold:
Patients can enjoy more features and a longer battery life with a BTE with Earmold. It uses a custom-shaped earmold at the tip of its tubing, directing sound straight to the ear canal. These devices are slightly larger and use a shape that follows the contour of your ear.
In-the-ear (ITE) Hearing Aids
Instead of resting behind the ear, ITE hearing aids sit inside of the ear using an impression for a custom fit. We offer many types of ITE styles including:
Invisible in-the-canal (IIC):
Sitting deep within the ear canal, IIC devices are the smallest hearing aids on the market and are nearly invisible to the naked eye.
Completely in-the-canal (CIC):
These devices are slightly larger than the IIC, yet are still quite discreet. CIC hearing aids fit inside of your ear canal in a more shallow fashion than other styles.
In-the-canal (ITC) or Half Shell:
Patients looking for features like a larger battery will benefit from an ITC device. These typically sit in the lower portion of the outer ear bowl and are slightly larger than a CIC.
In-the-ear (ITE) or Full Shell:
Best for individuals with more severe hearing loss, an ITE device fills the entire outer bowl of the ear. Patients can enjoy advanced features like volume controls and longer battery life due to their larger size.
Dr. Shepard offer patient-centered wellness solutions so you can make the best decision for yourself because she strongly believes that the more knowledge you have, the better decisions that you can make. By the time you leave your appointment, you will understand your specific hearing loss, the effects of auditory deprivation for you, and the available technology that would work best for you.
Types of Hearing Loss
Conductive Hearing Loss
Conductive hearing loss occurs when there is a problem transferring sound waves anywhere along the pathway through the outer ear, tympanic membrane (eardrum), or middle ear (ossicles). Generally, this type of loss is not permanent and can be fixed with intervention: cleaning cerumen (wax) out of ears, medicine, or surgery. When people demonstrate a conductive hearing loss, they understand well if the sound is loud enough. They often feel like everything is muffled or like they are hearing underwater.
Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Sensorineural hearing loss happens when there is damage to the inner ear or to the nerve pathways from your inner ear to your brain. This loss is often permanent but can oftentimes be helped with amplification if it has not been ignored for too long. Causes are often being around loud noise for extended periods of time (lawn mowers, machinery, and heavy equipment), loud, quick, sharp sounds (gunshots or fireworks), and presbycusis (aging, years of wear and tear). Sensorineural hearing loss is the most common loss. This loss causes soft sounds to be hard to hear and louder sounds may be unclear, distorted, muffled, or lack clarity. Often people will say, “I hear, but I don’t understand. I know people are talking to me, I just don’t hear their voice clearly.”
Mixed Hearing Loss
Mixed hearing loss is a combination of conductive hearing loss and sensorineural hearing loss. Sometimes both hearing loss occurs at the same time, meaning there is damage in the outer or middle ear and the cochlea or nerve pathway directly to the brain. This diagnosis causes sounds can be both softer in volume and more difficult to understand or a person who already has a sensorineural loss gets a middle ear infection, and the two types of loss collide to create greater hearing damage. This loss will generally need medical intervention and then amplification to solve for both types of loss.
Explore your hearing aid options with the team at Cody Audiology Clinic
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