The biggest complaint from the hearing impaired is that the normal Hearing Aid gives a sensation of the ear being plugged up – occlusions.
What happens is that because the whole ear channel is closed the lower frequency sounds do not escape from the ear. Sounds like chewing your food can be amplified causing problems for users with good low frequency response.
Open Fit Hearing Aids have been around for some considerable time. The older types are `Behind the Ear` with a reasonably thick tube transferring the sound to the outer ear but not directly into the ear channel. Therefore there is some loss of sound reaching the eardrum.
The modern Open Fit Hearing Aid solves this problem by allowing the tube carrying the sound to be placed in the ear channel without completely blocking it. They are able to do this by not having an ear mould that completely fills the ear channel but having holes cut into it allowing the free passage of air. This overcomes the plugged up effect of other Hearing Aids.
Response to high frequencies is much improved therefore allowing speech recognition to be greater. Cosmetically they are much better as they are smaller and the connecting transparent tube is almost invisible.
The cost of fitting is reduced as individual ear moulds do not have to be made and fitted. The Open Fit Hearing Aid is usually more expensive but if they can be afforded it is well worth the expense as they can give greatly improved hearing.
Another benefit of the Hearing Open Fit Hearing Aids is that they can be fitted almost immediately. They do not require the time consuming process of making custom ear moulds. There are no impressions to be made, thereby cutting downs the waiting time before you receive your Aids. Open Fit Hearing Aids have also been made possible by overcoming the problem of feedback. Feedback is produced when sounds within the ear are fed back to the microphone in the Hearing Aid causing a very loud whistle. By building in circuits which cancel feedback allows the Hearing Aid mould to be designed as open fit
The main beneficiaries of Open Fit Hearing Aids are those people who have good hearing in the low frequency tones and poor hearing in higher frequencies tones, which is the most common hearing loss.
The latest Open Fit Behind the Ear Hearing Aids are very much smaller and fit very neatly behind the ear with a very thin transparent tube connecting it to an Open Fit ear mould within the ear channel. This makes the wearing of a Hearing Aid much more acceptable as it is hardly visible.
To find out more about open fit hearing aids click Open Fit Hearing Aids
Monday 30 November 2009
Digital Hearing Aids - Will they give you back your hearing?
All Hearing Aids are designed to help the person with some hearing loss to have greatly improved hearing. There are two types of Hearing Aids, Analogue or Digital, depending on how the sound is amplified. Digital Hearing Aids are similar to Analogue in that they both have a microphone which collects the sound waves in the air and coverts them into electrical energy. This electrical energy is amplified and fed into a small speaker which converts the amplified electrical energy back into sound waves to feed into the ear channel to energise the ear drum.
Digital Aids differ from Analogue in that the amplifying part of the process is carried out digitally, which converts it into `bits` of data by a tiny computer type chip in the Hearing Aid. These `bits` which represent the sound are then analysed and manipulated by a process called Digital signal processing. Software is then used to carry out precise changes to the `bits` of information such as reducing the amplification of background noise. These electrical `bits` of information are then fed to a minute microphone and converted back into sound, which is fed into the ear channel to act on the eardrum.
As hearing loss can be very different in sufferers, it is most important that the Digital Hearing Aid is configured to exactly compensate for the individuals needs. The first step in providing the correct Aid is to find out what particular hearing loss the sufferer has. A hearing test should be carried out by an audiologist who will determine the level of hearing over a wide range of frequencies producing an audiogram – a chart of your hearing responses. With these results the Digital Hearing Aid can be set up to compensate for the loss of hearing in particular areas. It is also possible the Hearing Aid may be set up to just allow the sufferer to hear voices and restrict any other sounds etc.
Some Digital Aids have also a built in circuit that will protect the ear from very loud sounds which could cause damage. Others also have facilities for suppressing Tinnitus in the ear. It can be seen that a Digital Hearing Aid will help with hearing loss giving greater control of what can be heard and what is not wanted. However, it is most important to understand that no Hearing Aids will give you back normal hearing and also it will also take a little while get used to the new sounds reaching the ear.
To learn more about Digital hearing aids Visit Digital Hearing Aids
Digital Aids differ from Analogue in that the amplifying part of the process is carried out digitally, which converts it into `bits` of data by a tiny computer type chip in the Hearing Aid. These `bits` which represent the sound are then analysed and manipulated by a process called Digital signal processing. Software is then used to carry out precise changes to the `bits` of information such as reducing the amplification of background noise. These electrical `bits` of information are then fed to a minute microphone and converted back into sound, which is fed into the ear channel to act on the eardrum.
As hearing loss can be very different in sufferers, it is most important that the Digital Hearing Aid is configured to exactly compensate for the individuals needs. The first step in providing the correct Aid is to find out what particular hearing loss the sufferer has. A hearing test should be carried out by an audiologist who will determine the level of hearing over a wide range of frequencies producing an audiogram – a chart of your hearing responses. With these results the Digital Hearing Aid can be set up to compensate for the loss of hearing in particular areas. It is also possible the Hearing Aid may be set up to just allow the sufferer to hear voices and restrict any other sounds etc.
Some Digital Aids have also a built in circuit that will protect the ear from very loud sounds which could cause damage. Others also have facilities for suppressing Tinnitus in the ear. It can be seen that a Digital Hearing Aid will help with hearing loss giving greater control of what can be heard and what is not wanted. However, it is most important to understand that no Hearing Aids will give you back normal hearing and also it will also take a little while get used to the new sounds reaching the ear.
To learn more about Digital hearing aids Visit Digital Hearing Aids
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