What is a Hearing Aid?

Traditional hearing aids are worn in an over-the-ear style, with the electronics and volume control worn behind the ear and a speaker worn in the ear to provide sound amplifications. All hearing aids operate on the same principle and serve the same purpose. They are intended to amplify sound and transmit it directly into the ear canal so the wearer can hear more efficiently. Hearing aids contain three basic parts, a microphone, an amplifier and a speaker.

The microphone portion of the hearing aid receives sound from an outside source. The sound is then amplified by the amplifier and transmitted into the inner ear through a speaker that is placed inside the ear canal. Though hearing aids have evolved over the last few hundred years, their basic function has stayed the same. Both the medieval ear trumpet and the modern digital hearing aid that fits completely inside the ear canal are intended to assist those suffering from hearing loss to live a life with better hearing.

How Can a Hearing Aid Help?

Hearing aids are typically prescribed for those patients experiencing sensorineural hearing loss. This type of hearing loss is diagnosed when there is damage to the small hair cells inside the inner ear that transform sound waves into nerve signals that are translated as sound by the brain. Even a small amount of damage to these tiny hair cells can produce symptoms of hearing loss. Hearing loss patients will generally exhibit damage in both ears, even if the damage differs in severity from one ear to the other.

Excessive noise, congenital defect, injury and even some medications can damage the hair cells in the inner ear. A hearing aid, usually prescribed for both ears, will amplify the incoming sound waves which are then captured by the undamaged hair cells in the inner ear. The more cells that are damaged, the less effective hearing aids become. This is the primary reason it is extremely important to see a hearing health care professional at the first signs of hearing loss. A hearing professional, can diagnose the extent and type of hearing loss and prescribe the most efficient hearing aid to assist the patient.

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