Which Hearing Aid is Best for You

Hi, I'm Denise Kopecki with Texan Renew Hearing Center. Today we're going to talk about which hearing aid is best for you.

We get this call quite often where someone will call in and ask, "how much are hearing aids." Right off the bat, a lot of times our office staff has a hard time giving a clear cut answer. We have to look at what are our considerations when it comes to what is the best hearing device for you. 

There are the several six manufacturers out there who you'll hear people talk about. They include Starkey, Oticon, Phonak, Widex, and Resound. Then there others that fall under those same families that still use similar technology or the same type of computer chips.

We've been asked, "which is better to have-in the ear, behind the ear, a receiver in the canal, or an IIC?" The first step in knowing this is by looking into your ears during your exam. We have to see if your ear canal impacted with wax, if you have a prolapsed ear canal, or if you have narrow ear canals. Some people have what's called a bell canal which means it looks like a straight ear canal and then it bells out closer to the ear drum. We're also looking to make sure that you don't have any physical deformities or medical conditions in your ears. There are sometimes things like when people have a stapedectomy  or cholesteatoma which would require them being referred out to another medical provider. That's the first step you have to overcome is making that hurdle before making a decision on a hearing device. 

The next step would be to have a complete hearing exam to know what type of hearing loss you actually have. There are a couple of different types of hearing loss.

One is called sensorineural which includes nerve damage in your ear. The nerves in the cochlea aren't functioning as they should. 

Another type of hearing loss is called conductive. This is when there's a malfunction behind the ear drum or the tympanic membrane and the cochlea. 

The last type is mixed which is a combination of both sensorineural nerve damage and a conductive physical component. 

Once we've reviewed what type of hearing loss you have and what type of anatomy you have with your ears, we can now determine which type of physical style is best for you. 

Next, we will look at what your lifestyle is. Someone who is more active and prone to sweat would be a candidate for one style of hearing device whereas someone who is on oxygen and wears glasses would be a candidate for a separate style.  

To wrap up of which hearing aid is best for you, the one that is best for you is actually custom fit for you by your hearing health care provider based on what is actually adequate for your ears, lifestyle, and your hearing profile. 

I'm Denise Kopecki with Texan Renew Hearing Center, always here for your hearing needs.