IV./2.: Hearing Aids
Anyone who has trouble hearing and understanding speech should be considered for amplification. Fitting a hearing aid is a complicated process involving not only the severity and type of loss, but also ear differences discrimination skills, and other psychoacoustic variables.
A hearing aid is a miniature public address system. It has a microphone, an amplifier, a loudspeaker, and a battery as power source. It is further adapted with gain control, tone control, and maximum power control.
Types of hearing aids:
-„behind the ear” (postauricular hearing aids) -„in the ear” (earmold types)
The choice between „behind the ear” and „in the ear” style of hearing aid depends upon severity of hearing loss and patient preference. With advances in hearing aid technology, „in the ear” hearing aids can be used with hearing losses of up to 70 to 80 dB hearing level. The canal style hearing aid, popular because of cosmetic appeal, provides benefit for mild-to-moderate hearing losses. Binaural hearing is strongly recommended whenever possible.
Amplification for hearing-impaired children should be recommended as early as possible. As soon as hearing measurements indicate the
presence of a hearing loss sufficient to cause a delay in the child’s speech and language development and medical evaluation indicates the loss is not reversible, hearing aid usage should be initiated.
