Nowadays there are a variety of different types of hearing aids of different styles and sizes to choose from. Which one you go for depends on your type of hearing loss, and your own preference. One of the primary concerns for many people when choosing their first hearing aid is how it will affect their appearance. In fact, there are 4 million people with hearing loss in the UK who could benefit from wearing hearing aids, but don’t possibly due to concerns about appearance. However, hearing aids improve your quality of life and appearance need no longer be a concern as it is now possible to get hearing aids which are completely hidden from view. Here are three reasons why an invisible-in-the-canal hearing aid (IIC) could be the right choice for you.
1) They’re invisible
IIC hearing aids are the smallest hearing aids available and they are popular because they are practically invisible to everyone around you. IICs are quite similar to Completely-in-the-Canal hearing aids (CICs) but are hidden deeper in the ear. As they sit so far down in the ear, they are well hidden and virtually impossible to see even if you look directly into the ear. Like CICs they are manufactured using an impression of the ear in order to make the IIC a perfect fit for your ear. If you are concerned with the appearance of behind-the-ear hearing aids, IICs could be a good option that can give you the benefit of hearing aids without anybody having to know that you’re wearing them.
2) They produce the best sound quality
ICs are placed much closer to the eardrum than other hearing aids. As a result, they do not require as much power or sound output in order to reach the same loudness for the listener. The low power also results in less residual sound energy in the ear, which is important because less residual sound energy in the ear reduces the likelihood of experiencing feedback, particularly while on the phone, which is an issue for many hearing aid users.
Since IICs are placed deep into the ear canal, the natural cues from the sound interacting with the shape of your ear are preserved. There are no wires or tubes to get in the way, and it doesn’t “plug up” your ear to impede sound entering your ear naturally. The placement of IICs may increase your ability to localize or determine where sounds are coming from. For many users IICs provide a more natural sound quality, which makes it easier to adjust to using hearing aids for the first time.
3) They feel more natural
IICs can also improve how you hear your own voice while wearing them. Other types of hearing aid which fill a significant portion of the ear can often cause the problem that people hear their own voice too loudly or that sounds have a hollow quality to them. This is called the occlusion effect and happens when low pitch sounds (like your voice coming from inside your head) get “trapped” in the ear canal between the eardrum and the hearing aid, which can create discomfort and distorted sounds.
IICs help to reduce the occlusion effect in two ways. First, they sit much deeper than other aids, placing less of the ear canal behind the aids, so a smaller portion of your ear is covered up by the hearing aids, creating less internal vibration and less unnatural sound distortion. Second, IICs are typically much shorter than other ITE devices, making it easier to release or vent the low pitch sound waves to the outer ear, causing less occlusion discomfort.
*This article has been contributed by Andrew Webb.
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