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Behind-the-ear Hearing Aids
Here at UCLH we mainly provide digital behind-the-ear hearing aids. Behind-the-ear hearing aids have a section that sits on top of your ear which is connected by a tube or wire to an earpiece that sits inside the ear canal. The size of the hearing aid and type of earpiece you are given will depend on the level and nature of your hearing loss, as well as general health factors such as the amount of earwax you produce, any issues you may have with dexterity, or a range of other factors. During your hearing aid assessment appointment, the Audiologist will discuss these factors with you and provide you with the most suitable hearing aid options for your circumstances. You will likely be offered a behind-the-ear hearing aid with a mould, with a tube and dome, with a wire and dome or a CROS/BiCROS device. Devices which are not medically suitable will not be presented as options.
The most common type of hearing aid issued by our department is a behind-the-ear hearing aid connected to tubing and an earmould. This is the most versatile combination for amplification and can be fitted in very mild cases of hearing loss up to profound hearing loss. The hearing aids for this style come in different ranges of power with the more powerful devices requiring larger batteries and larger components, making the overall size of the hearing aid increase as the power increases. The earmould portion of these devices vary significantly depending on the amplification needed, skin sensitivities, dexterity issues, and personal preference. The earmould is custom made to the size and shape of your ear canal based on an impression of your ear taken with putty.
An example of this style of hearing aid is shown below:
This style of hearing aid has a portion that sits on top of the ear which is connected to a thin plastic tube or wire that sits inside the ear canal with the help of a soft dome. These hearing aids can be fitted in very mild cases of hearing loss up to moderate-severe levels of hearing loss, although they are more suited to milder ranges. The number of hearing aid model options for this style are fewer than for the previous tube and mould style, as they are generally restricted to lower power ranges.
An example of this style of hearing aid is shown below:
CROS or BiCROS Hearing Aids
CROS and BiCROS hearing aids are for people who have hearing thresholds in one ear which are suitable for hearing aid amplification, and hearing thresholds in the other ear which are unaidable. This may be because the hearing thresholds on the poorer ear are too severe for conventional hearing aids, or the sound being received on that side cannot be processed correctly by the brain.
A CROS or BiCROS setup comprises of a conventional hearing aid that sits in the better hearing ear, and a microphone that looks like a hearing aid, that sits in the ear with poorer hearing.
CROS (Contralateral Routing Of Signal) hearing aids pick up sound from the side with poorer hearing and feed it into the better hearing ear. No amplification is added to the sound coming into the better ear. This type of hearing aid is for people who have no hearing loss in their better hearing ear.
BiCROS (Bilateral Contralateral Routing Of Signal) aids amplify sound from both sides and feed it into the ear with better hearing. This hearing aid is for people who have hearing loss in both their better and poorer ears.
These hearing aids are mainly beneficial for situations where a conversation is taking place on your poorer hearing side. With a CROS or BiCROS hearing aid, the sound on your poorer side is transferred to your better side and so may be better heard. When using this type of hearing aid, you may have a better awareness of sounds in your environment but you will not be able to identify where that sound is coming from, as every sound is transferred to your better hearing side.
An example of this style of hearing aid is shown below:
In-the-ear styles of hearing aids are those with a section that sits inside the ear canal only. There is no section of the hearing aid that sits on top of the ear. This style of hearing aid is not issued by UCLH except in very rare cases, usually where physical deformity of the ear has rendered a behind-the-ear style of hearing aid unusable. If you feel you may be eligible for an in-the-ear style of hearing aid, please discuss this with one of our Audiologists.
Requests for an in-the-ear style of hearing aid for below reasons will not be considered:
- Glasses are interfering with the hearing aid
- The hearing aid keeps falling off the ear
- Aesthetic reasons
- Pain or irritation behind the ear caused by the hearing aid
- Pain or irritation in the ear caused by the earpiece or mould
- Preference for the sound quality of an in-the-ear style of hearing aid over a behind-the-ear style of hearing aid
If you have been issued a hearing aid by us and are affected by any of these statements, please make an appointment with one of our Audiologists and we will investigate any possible improvements to your current hearing aid to alleviate these issues.