Hearing Aid - Types of Auditory Devices For Hearing Loss and the Pros and Cons

A hearing aid is a hearing device that you can use to help amplify sounds. If you have hearing loss you can use a hearing aid so that sounds in your environment would be amplified, enabling you to hear them at an audible level. It can be useful in both noisy and quiet situations.

There are several styles of hearing aids that you can choose from. Each style has its own pros and cons. It would highly depend on your preference on which style you would want to use.

1) Behind-The-Ear (BTE) Hearing Aids

This style of hearing aid is the largest, yet it is also the most powerful. It comes with a hard plastic case that is worn behind your ear, which is attached to a plastic earmold that is placed inside your outer ear. All the electronic components are placed in the plastic case behind your ear.

Behind-the-ear hearing aids are suitable to be used for all degrees of hearing loss. Another good point is that it can be inconspicuous, since it doesn\'t give that "plugged-up" feeling in your ears.

However if you are wearing glasses, this type can be difficult for you, since the device can interfere with the arms of your glasses. You can also have difficulty in using the telephone due to the placement of the microphone, which is behind your ears.

2) In-The-Ear (ITE) Hearing Aids

This type is the largest of the custom made styles, and is only used for mild to moderate hearing loss. The device is completely fit inside your outer ear; that\'s why it can give you more occlusion effect than Behind-The-Ear type of hearing aid.

Some In-The-Ear hearing aids may come with extra features installed; like a telecoil, which is a magnetic coil that can make it easier for you to converse over the telephone. This type of hearing device is usually not used by young children, because as children grow, the ear moulds have to be replaced often.

3) In-The-Canal (ITC) Hearing Aids

The In-The-Canal (ITC) type of hearing aid is customized to fit the shape and size of your ear canal. It is generally used for mild to moderate hearing losses. Using the telephone would not be a problem with this type. But you can get the occlusion effect or that \'plugged-up\' feeling that can be very uncomfortable. You would also need more dexterity to control the knobs of the device.

4) Completely In The Canal (CIC) Hearing Aids

This is the tiniest hearing aide made that is nearly hidden in your ear canal. The CIC hearing aids do not have manual controls, and are used for mild to moderate hearing losses. These are very expensive, and are vulnerable to moisture and wax. The good thing is, they have less occlusion effect than the other types and the use of the telephone is very easy. Since they are small, CIC hearing aids have less room for batteries, making their battery life shorter than the other types.