Browse the corpus

Hearing aids, perhaps obviously, amplify sound so that a patient with a hearing deficit can hear better. This activity describes the indication and selection of commonly used hearing aids. It highlights the clinical significance of hearing loss and the professionals' role in ear and hearing services. Objectives: Identify the components of a conventional hearing aid. Evaluate the indications for a conventional hearing aid. Assess the common varieties of conventional hearing aids. Communicate interprofessional strategies that the healthcare team can use when assisting a patient in the hearing aid selection process. Access free multiple choice questions on this topic.

This article will discuss the indications and selection of conventional hearing aids. Conventional hearing aids are non-invasive (not requiring surgery) and are placed behind the pinna, in the canal, or are body-worn. Invasive hearing aids, including bone-anchored hearing aids and cochlear implants, are excluded from coverage in this chapter. Hearing aids, by definition, are sound-amplifying devices that increase the user's ability to detect noise.[1] The components of a non-invasive hearing aid vary widely but broadly consist of a microphone, amplifier, receiver, and battery. The microphone converts external acoustic energy into electrical energy, which is amplified by the amplifier. The receiver detects this and converts it back into acoustic energy, projecting sound into the ear canal. The amplification is driven by the battery, which can be made from zinc-air batteries, mercury, alkaline, or rechargeable batteries. A non-invasive hearing aid aims to increase the sound levels delivered to and hence detected by the hair cells in the cochlea.

A patient requiring a conventional hearing aid may encounter a range of professionals working within ear and hearing services. Medically trained audio-vestibular physicians and ear, nose, and throat surgeons will investigate the cause of hearing loss and may refer to audiology for testing and fitting. There will be regular contact with an audiologist, a clinically trained healthcare professional who diagnoses and manages adult and child hearing loss and balance and performs the audiometric tests, hearing aid fitting, and maintenance. In lower and middle-income countries, where resources can vary, ear, nose, and throat surgeons may also perform this role.[8] ENT surgeons can manage patients with conventional hearing aid complications, such as earwax impaction, external ear infection, and foreign body in the ear when a part of the hearing aid breaks off into the ear canal.