Hearing aids

Hearing aids

Will a hearing aid help?

Hearing instruments can provide a significant improvement for most people with a hearing loss although they cannot totally restore your hearing. The majority of hearing losses are the sensorineural type and include more than just the loss of loudness of sound. There is also a loss of clarity of sound due to the damage of the delicate sensory structures in the inner ear. People often report that they can still hear others talking but can't understand the words. Modern hearing instruments are designed to compensate for this problem by enhancing sounds in the range that's important for understanding speech.

Excellence in Hearing can evaluate your specific hearing problem and determine the appropriate individual prescription for your hearing loss.

A properly fitted hearing instrument can make communication easier and result in more social confidence. Listening to coversation can be more comfortable and require less effort resulting in less fatigue. Hearing instruments can enhance your quality of life.

How does a hearing aid work?

How a hearing aid works

What are the different types of hearing aids?

The most popular types of hearing aids can be divided into the following categories:

Completely-in-the-canal (CIC)

CIC The smallest hearing aid sits right in the ear canal making it almost invisible in the ear. These hearing aids are restricted to people with ear canals large enough to accommodate the whole hearing aid. The CIC hearing aid is best suited to mild to moderate hearing losses.


In-the-canal (ITC)

ITC The in-the-canal hearing aid sits deep in the ear opening, these instruments are also very discreet. In some models they can have various options installed like volume controls, program switches or telecoils. They can be used in cases of mild to moderate hearing loss.


In-the-Ear (ITE)

ITE The ITE hearing instrument is the largest of the three styles of hearing aids that are worn in the ear. Due to the larger size ITE may have more options fitted to them at once like volume controls, tele-coils and program switches and often have the larger 13 size battery that provides longer life. The ITE is suitable for all hearing losses up to the severe level.

Behind-the-Ear (BTE)

BTE The BTE hearing aid is worn behind the ear and has a tube that is connected to an ear-mould which is worn in the ear. Although they are not as cosmetic as the models mentioned above the BTE does have some advantages. Because BTE instruments are mass produced they tend to be more reliable than the other custom made styles, in general BTEs have longer battery life, have more features and are capable of correcting up to profound hearing losses.