The Best Hearing Aid Devices

With so many impressive devices now available to help hearing impaired individuals, making a final decision can be a little overwhelming. There are several things to consider when choosing the best device for yourself. Out-of-pocket cost on hearing aid devices can range from $200 for simple personnel amplifiers up to $30,000 for surgical implants. Pros vs. cons, risk vs. gain and of course cost vs. benefit: There’s a lot to think about before choosing a device to correct your hearing loss.

Mild Hearing Loss

• Mild hearing loss impairs your hearing the most when you’re in noisy social situations. If you’ve been diagnosed with mild or beginning hearing loss, you’re definitely not a candidate for surgery and maybe not even for hearing aids. Open fit hearing aid technology can work well for mild hearing loss. A tiny hearing aid--worn behind your ear--uses a tiny silicone ear bud--worn inside your ear canal--to amplify sounds you’re missing. The open fit style allows you to use your own hearing abilities in combination with mild amplification. Personal amplifiers--disguised to look like Bluetooth cell phone ear pieces--provide amplification in one ear to help you hear better in social situations. These devices are great for people with mild hearing loss who aren’t ready for hearing aids.

Moderate Hearing Loss

• Hearing aids work best for moderate hearing loss. Hearing aids provide specific amplification for your hearing loss, come in discreet styles and have technological advancements such as wireless communication and Bluetooth compatibility. A local hearing aid clinic can show you what various hearing aid manufacturers have to offer.

  If you’re not fond of the idea of having to put on a hearing aid everyday, implantable hearing devices are also an option. Extended wear hearing aids are inserted deep into your ear canal, sitting within millimeters of your eardrum. Extended wear hearing aids can be worn for 120 days before you return to your hearing health care provider to have the battery changed, the device checked and re-inserted. A magnetic remote control is used to turn the device on and off or up and down while it’s in your ear canal.

  Middle ear implants create a magnetic field inside your ear. The magnetic field causes the bones behind your eardrum to produce stronger impulses that stimulate damaged inner ear nerves. Middle ear implants can be fully or partially implanted. With a partial implant, part of the device is implanted and the other part is worn in or behind your outer ear.

Severe Hearing Loss

• Hearing aids alone don’t work as well for severe hearing loss. Hearing aids get distorted when the volume is increased enough for a person with a severe hearing loss to be able to understand speech. A combination of hearing aids and an assistive listening device (ALD) provides the most benefit. Behind-the-ear hearing aids come equipped to work with assistive listening devices using an induction loop (T-coil) system. A portable microphone picks up conversation and routes the signal to your hearing aids without any background noise interference. For example, the microphone can be set on a desk in a classroom, on the table in a restaurant, on the table in a board room or attached to the person you want to hear.

  Middle ear implants are also an option for individuals suffering with severe hearing loss.

Profound Hearing Loss

• Hearing aids do little for profound hearing losses and deafness. Some people with profound hearing loss wear a hearing aid because it gives them some awareness of surrounding sounds.

  Cochlear implants are the best hearing aid device for profound hearing loss. Cochlear implants use a thin electrical impulse wire to replace the nerves inside the cochlea. The wire connects to a magnet placed under your skin. A behind-the-ear hearing aid with a magnet attachment is worn. The outer magnet attaches to the magnet under your skin, just above your ear. Sound enters through the hearing aid and is transferred through the magnets into the implant.