Will An Open Fit Hearing Aid Give Me perfect Hearing

Hearing Aids have been used by sufferers of hearing loss for a great many years. There are basically two types called Analogue and Digital. The difference between them is the way they amplify the sound being received before transmitting it to the eardrum within the ear.

Digital Hearing Aids. have been a great improvement over Analogue because it is possible to programme them to meet the specific requirements of the sufferer. This is especially important for sufferers with hearing loss at the lower frequencies, such as voices. As it can be difficult to understand voices within a crowded environment because of the background noise, Digital Hearing Aids are able to reduce this by configuring the Aid to eliminate this noise and hence allowing you to hear the person you are talking to without interference.

Although Digital Hearing Aids have been a major leap forward in improving a sufferers hearing response there has always been one problem that causes annoyance. The modern Hearing Aid is designed to have an ear mould within the ear channel. This has the advantage of transferring the amplified sound from the Hearing Aid directly into the ear channel allowing the Hearing Aids to be made much smaller as there is very little loss of sound between the Aid and the eardrum within the ear.

Although this has been a major improvement in helping sufferers with hearing loss it has created its own problem. Because the ear channel is completely blocked by the ear mould it gives a sensation of the ear being plugged up. This can create hollow sounds especially when eating or when the hearing loss sufferer has a cold.

This problem could not be overcome before because of feedback. This is when the resulting sounds that have been amplified can be picked up by the microphone in the Hearing Aid creating a very high pitched whistle. By completely blocking the ear channel, with the ear mould, stopped this feedback from happening. However, because of the latest developments Hearing Aids now have built in circuits to eliminate this feedback, thus allowing the ear mould to be open fit. This is simply where the ear mould has small apertures in it allowing the passage of air through it. This has therefore, overcome the problem of the ear feeling blocked up and the hollow sounds associated with eating etc.

Other major advantages of Open Fit Hearing Aids are that they do not have to have an individual ear mould made and therefore can be fitted almost immediately saving both time and money.

Although Open Fit Hearing Aids can give greatly improved hearing, no Hearing Aid can ever restore hearing to its original level – but it is getting close.