Hearing Aids 101

Hearing aids are the kind of technology that can benefit anyone. It does not matter if the patient is an infant or is in the latter part of life; the fact remains that the spoken word is one of the most treasured methods of interacting and relating to others, and for some the threatened loss of this ability to relate leads to a search for the right hearing aid. While for adults a comprehensive Hearing Aids 101 brochure is probably available from a myriad of sources, the same cannot be said for the pediatric patient; yet there is perhaps no more urgent need a growing child has than to hear its mother’s voice and to become attuned to the warning sounds of a society that relies on car hones, smoke detectors, and other gadgets to provide warnings.

As a parent visits a store specializing in auditory equipment, hearing aid batteries may be found alongside the Siemens hearing aids and those of other manufacturers. Cheap hearing aids promise to be as good as digital hearing aids, but when asking for information about pediatric solutions for hearing loss, a Hearing Aids 101 information sheet is usually not available. To make up for this lack of an appropriate Hearing Aids 101 reference guide and to help the parent on a first time quest into the world of hearing aids, here is a quick Hearing Aids 101 guide:

• Infants can receive a hearing aid. While most adult Hearing Aids 101 pamphlets state that body worn aids are no longer useful, for an infant they are they best route to take.


• For a toddler, however, a BTE is recommended. BTE is short for “behind the ears” and involves an ear mold that needs to be custom made for your child.


• Avoid ITE, CIC, and ITC aids. In other words, stay away from “in the ear” devices, “completely in canal” aids, and also “in the canal” hearing aids. Granted, they are small, they do not have the customary tubing, and they can be completely hidden away. The problem is the fact that the child’s ears and ear canals are still growing, so any of these little hidden gadgets would have to be replaced every few months or so, which is extremely expensive.


• The best devices on the market are digital hearing aids, even though they have their limitations. For example, in cases of extreme hearing loss they will not work for your child.