Hearing, hearing aids and amplification devices

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For a small number of people hearing difficulties are something that are encountered from birth. A further section of the population suffer hearing problems that result from an accident or excessively noisy working conditions. However, for most people age will ultimately become a factor that will result in a diminishing ability to hear clearly. This means that a high proportion of the people will require and benefit from some kind of hearing aid at some point during their life.

To find out more about the various hearing aid options that are available use the menu below (or to the left). Alternatively, read on for some more general information about hearing and hearing aids.

1. Hearing and hearing aids main page
2. Types of hearing aid
3. BTE (Behind The Ear) hearing aid
4. ITE (In The Ear) hearing aid
5. ITC (In The Canal) hearing aid
6. CIC (Completely In the Canal) hearing aid
7. Hearing exercise – hearing re-training
8. Hearing amplifiers (e.g. T-setting, phone etc) and other types of hearing aid

What are the options for improving my hearing

With the exception of a few special cases, surgical procedures and medical treatments cannot be used to correct, restore or boost hearing. The hearing equivalent of corrective optical surgery does not yet exist. This means that the solutions rest with hearing aids and other amplification devices. Which option, or combination of options, you choose should be determined by a consultation with a doctor or audiologist. These options should then be placed in the context of your lifestyle and living requirements following which informed choices can be made.

In the case of hearing loss due to age it should be remembered that this is often a degenerative problem and that it will progressively deteriorate over time. The speed at which this happens varies significantly from one person to another.

It is also important to be aware that the way in which you look after and protect your ears in younger life will have a direct impact on how good (or otherwise) your hearing is in later life. Listening to excessively loud music, or failing to wear ear protectors in a job where high levels of noise are present will have a negative long term impact on hearing.

For those whose hearing is already at the point where technological assistance is required there are a number of highly effective options available. In countries such as the UK some of these options will be available through the National Health Service, however many of the more advanced and smaller aids may not fall under this scheme.

Hearing aids

The most common way of correcting or countering poor hearing is with a hearing aid. Hearing aids come in many shapes and sizes and most are adjustable to allow a degree of personalisation and "ear tuning".

Some hearing aids will fit within the ear whilst others wrap around the outside of the ear. Hearing aids can be used in one or both ears as required.

The hearing aid is not however the only option for those who have noticed a mild deterioration in there hearing acuity. Some people can easily hear and understand normal speech, but have more trouble using a phone or listening to a TV or radio. When this is the case phone amplifiers or special phones, with higher than normal speaker settings, can be a solution.

Finally, there are some hearing exercises that are claimed to make the brain focus more effectively on hearing and listening. These alternative approaches are aimed at re-educating the brain to focus on hearing at a stage in life where the ears do not work as well as they did when the hearing-to-brain connection was first made. The idea behind this approach is to get the brain to make a new more sensitive connection with the ears, almost like retuning a radio station after a frequency change.