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Choosing The Right Hearing Aid Style
Hearing Aids Are Available In 4 Major Styles |
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Behind-the-ear aids (BTE):
- For mild to profound or high pitch hearing loss
- Sound conducted to earmold through plastic tube
- Size allows more features and power than smaller aids
- Good option for patients who have persistent or significant wax accumulation
- Generally best reliability of all models, more durable due to less wax exposure
- Not as pleasant in wind as CIC models
- Minimal acoustic feedback relative to in the ear models
- May be easier to operate for those with poor dexterity
- Much longer battery life (due to larger battery size) than in the ear models
In-the-ear aids (ITE):
- For mild to severe hearing loss
- Shell fits snug in the bowl of the outer ear
- Larger size allows for more features such as volume control, multi-memory, noise reduction button, telecoil, directional mics, etc.
- Easier to change batteries than ITC or CIC models
- Batteries are changed less often than ITC or CIC models
- Better reliability than CIC
In-the-canal (ITC)
· For mild to moderately severe hearing loss
· Fits partly into the ear canal
· Can sometimes accomadate features such as directional microphones
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Completely-in-the-canal aids (CIC):
- For mild to moderately severe hearing loss
- Small size requires good dexterity for proper operation including battery insertion and removal
- Size and shape of ear canal can preclude deep fitting CIC instruments
- Provides reduced wind noise
- Provides greater ease of telephone use
- Cosmetically appealing because less visible in the ear
- Directional microphones, telecoils, or multimemory functions typically unavailable due to size
- Higher incident of repairs related to moisture and debris in the ear canal
- Smaller aids use smaller batteries which do not last nearly as long as a larger battery in a larger aid.
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