Types Of Hearing Aids
What are the different types of hearing aids? Hearing aids are those small and tiny devices that are used by people who have difficulty hearing in order to help them be able to hear. The sounds are amplified by these hearing aids by the use of a tiny microphone embedded in them. There are four main types of hearing aids. They mainly differ in design, features, and technology. These types of hearing aids are BTE or behind the ear, Mini BTE or on the ear, ITE or in the ear, and the ITC or in the canal or CIC or completely in the canal hearing aids.
The BTE hearing aids, or the behind the ear hearing aids, are types of hearing aids that are worn behind the ear. These are the ones that can be mistaken as Bluetooth headsets as they can look like them. The BTE hearing aids have a case that allows them to be worn as such. These are the types of hearing aids that are worn by children as they are not ear size specific. You see, the ear of children will still change shape and grow and this could mean that they would need to change their hearing aids if they are in the ear types. With the BTE, it doesn’t matter what the size of the ears are.
The mini-BTEs are hearing aids that, well, are small BTE hearing aids. These are the new types of hearing aids as they are also worn behind the ear but they are relatively smaller. This being said, they are known to be more comfortable and more discreet because of their size. Like the BTE hearing aids, these types of hearing aids are also comfortable as you don’t have to insert them in your ear canal.
The third of the four types of hearing aids are the in the ear aids or the ITE. As the name “in the ear” implies, these are hearing aids that are worn inside the ear. All the parts of the ITE are contained in the ear, therefore they are very discreet. They are almost unnoticeable, unlike those that are worn outside the ear such as the BTE and the mini BTE.
Lastly, we have the ITC (in the canal) and CIC (completely in the canal) hearing aids. These are the hearing aids that are, well, worn in the ear canals directly. These are the types of hearing aids that are much like the ITE. However, they are a lot smaller and in fact are the smallest of all types. The only hiccups about this type of hearing aids are also its strength – its size. You see, being small will allow them to be completely hidden from other people. But being small also makes them quite hard to handle and adjust. There are controls in these hearing aids, as you may know. With the small size of the ITC and the CIC, some people say that they are having a hard time in controlling and adjusting them when they need to.
