Hearing Aids, Equipment & Services

A hearing aid is a small device that can be worn behind or in the ear. It has many electronic components which amplify sounds, so that they can be heard more easily by a person with a hearing loss.

A hearing aid works by enhancing your existing hearing to make sounds louder and clearer (although it rarely restores hearing to normal). As long as you have some level of hearing, you should hear better with a hearing aid. Hearing aids are all battery operated and the main types are ‘in the ear’ (they actually go in the outer ear), ‘behind the ear’, and in the ear canal. Some hearing aids are digital and some are analogue. Some analogue hearing aids can be digitally programmed.

The style of hearing aid that you select is often based on how the hearing aid looks. Often though, the smaller more discreet hearing aids also are more expensive, sometimes are not as technologically advanced and may be more difficult to manipulate. Your hearing professional at your audiology centre will be able to demonstrate the different styles to you after diagnosing your hearing problem, which could be a degenerative disorder, caused by your work environment or a result of a medical condition.

Don’t be concerned that hearing aids are a sign that there is something ‘wrong’ with you. If a hearing aid enhances the quality of your life, you should go for it and make an appointment with your local hearing aid specialist or at your audiology centre.