For behind-the-ear hearing aids

Other ways to change volume and programs

Most hearing aid models will allow you to change volume and programs using a remote control or a smartphone app. Learn more about remote control accessories Learn more about smartphone apps

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What is an earmold?

An earmold is a custom made in-the-ear device that will have a specific function, depending on what the wearer’s needs are. The most common uses are for either amplifying sound, or protecting against it. The device itself is usually inanimate; no power source or controls are installed. If one were to observe it, it would look like a small plug that fits exactly into the wearer’s ear canal.

Why do earmolds have different shapes and sizes?

The size and shape of an earmold will vary, depending on several factors: anatomy of wearer’s ear canal, what the function of the earmold will be, and how tightly the earmold will need to seal the wearer’s ear canal. Every person has a uniquely shaped ear, and thus the shape of the customized earmold will need to match that of the wearer’s ear, so it may fit into the ear canal comfortably and securely. Regarding function and size of the earmold, protective devices that reduce sound tend to be larger, and will fill most of the lower external ear, which is comprised of the anterior portion of the external auditory meatus, the entire concha region, and most of the cymba region. There usually isn’t much variation from this design because the goal of a protective earmold is to create a tight acoustic seal for the wearer, thus protecting them from damaging levels of noise.

Earmolds that are designed to channel sound from a hearing aid, however, will always have a much greater variety of sizes and form factors, because they do not always require a complete acoustic seal of the ear. These earmolds can just fill the anterior portion of the external auditory meatus, for example, thus leaving the rest of the ear open. A general rule for hearing aid earmolds follows that their size will depend on the power level of the hearing aid it is attached to. As the power levels of hearing aids increase, so too will the size of the earmolds they will use.

What is an earmold made of?

The materials used to build an earmold are confined to soft types, which are silicone and vinyl, and hard types, which are lucite and acrylic. Some earmold manufacturers have a proprietary blend of several of these materials. Softer materials materials are employed when the earmold is used to protect hearing, or when the wearer is bothered by hard materials in their ear. Harder materials are used for durability and dexterity concerns. Soft, easily damaged external ear tissue of the wearer, and allergies to silicone are other reasons soft earmolds will not be considered.

How does an earmold work?

As mentioned earlier, earmolds have various styles and purposes, depending on the user’s needs. When an earmold is intended to protect the user’s hearing, the mold will seal the ear canal and prevent harmful levels of noise from going into the ear and causing damage. Earmolds that amplify sound will seal the user’s ear canal, and channel sound from a hearing aid, or other amplified device, directly into the patient’s ear. The use of custom earmolds are indicated when a user needs to hear a signal, in their ear, without outside noise interfering. Pilots, law enforcement, musicians, broadcasters, and hearing aid wearers all use various types of these earmolds.

Infection control of earmolds

A clear danger to every person who uses an earmold is developing an infection resulting from exposure to contaminants originating from their product(s). In fact, “contact transmission remains the most common means of cross-contamination and possible disease transmission” (Kemp & Bankaitis, 2000).

Preventing disease transmission is vital to the successful use of an earmold. Preventing contaminants from proliferating on the surface of an earmold requires more than simply cleaning the surface of the device. Rather, it involves a multi-factored approach. The wearer of an earmold must not only clean their earmold, but must also disinfect their earmold daily, in order to prevent disease transmission and resulting infections “environmental infection control requires cleaning, disinfecting, and sterylization” (Clark, Kemp, & Bankaitis, 2003).

Hearing aid wearers are only concerned with cleaning and disinfecting earmolds, as sterylizing is indicated when “an object is contaminated with a potentially infectious material, such as blood, mucous, or other bodily fluids or substance” (Clark, Kemp & Bankaitis, 2003).

Cleaning an earmold

Cleaning a user’s earmold involves simply removing gross contamination from the device’s surface area. No germs are removed during the cleaning process. Common materials and tools employed to clean earmolds are dry tissues, dry paper towels, cleaning brushes, and wire loops.

Disinfecting an earmold

When an earmold is disinfected, all contamination and germs are removed from the device. The materials used to disinfect an earmold usually consist of moist non-alcohol based disinfectant surface wipes, or a spray of the same type of solution.

Sterylizing earmolds

As mentioned previously, sterylizing an earmold is only indicated when it has been exposed to contaminated bodily fluids, such as blood or mucus. The user should bring an earmold in that condition to their hearing aid specialist, who will detach the earmold from the sound device it is coupled with and will submerge it in a bath of a germicide solution for an extended period.

Storage and care of earmolds

Do Not

• Place an earmold on surfaces where bacteria and fungi proliferate, i.e. counter tops, desks, purses, pockets, etc.
• Store an earmold in a container that cannot be washed out with soap and water, such as a jewelry box, small cardboard box, or paper envelope.
• Allow people to handle an earmold if they do not understand how to disinfect it after they have touched it.

Do

• Store earmolds in washable containers (plastic). Modern earmolds typically come supplied with washable containers.
• Clean and disinfect earmolds every day, or at least when they are worn.

Learn how TruHearing can help with your hearing health.

Works Cited

1. Bankaitis, A.U. & Kemp, R.J. (2002). Hearing Aid Infection Control. In: M. Valente (Ed) Strategies for Selecting and Verifying Hearing Aid Fittings, 2nd edition (pp. 369-383). Theime Publishing Group, New York, New York.
2. Kemp, R.J. & Bankaitis, A.E. (2000). Infection Control for the Audiologist. In: H. Dunn, R. Roeser, and M. Valente (Eds). Handbook of Audiology: Practice Management (pp. 257-272). Theime Publishing, New York, New York.
3. J.G. Clark, R.J. Kemp, & A.U. Bankaitis. (2003). Infection Control in Audiological Practice. Audiology Today, v 15:5.

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A hearing aid is a device that you wear in or behind your ear to help make some sounds louder so that a person with hearing loss can listen, communicate, and participate more fully in daily activities. If you think you may have a hearing loss you can visit either an Otolaryngologist who specializes in ear nose and throat disorders or an Audiologist who identifies and measures hearing loss by performing a hearing test. The hearing aid that will work best for you depends on the kind and severity of your hearing loss. If you have a loss in both ears, two hearing aids are generally recommended because two aids provide a more natural signal to the brain. Your hearing aid professional will help you select a hearing aid that best suits your needs and lifestyle. This article also has questions to ask your Audiologist before buying a hearing aid and what the proper maintenance and care is to extend the life of your hearing aid.

Above all, when you ask “what are hearing aids”, don’t be taken in by devices that simply amplify sound (make sounds louder). These can actually make your situation worse. Hearing aids today can do much more and even protect your hearing from additional damage. Talk to your audiologist about what hearing aids can do for you.

Click to read the full article. Learn more about hearing health and how TruHearing can help.

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Today’s hearing aids process sound digitally. This allows a greater ability to manipulate how the sound is enhanced and clarified. This article discusses what noise reduction is and how you as a hearing aid consumer are affected by it. Have you ever gone to a restaurant with music playing in the background and you couldn’t hear the person you were with at the dinner table? The noise reduction software will quiet all the sound in the room and focus only on the person that is talking next to you, leaving you hearing the full conversation and enjoying your dinner. To learn more about noise reduction, please read the following article.

Click to read the full article.

Learn how TruHearing can help with your hearing health.

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Myth No. 1: Hearing aids are too expensive

Fact: The scope of your hearing loss and your individual lifestyle can both influence the price you’ll pay for hearing aids. For example, if you work in an area with constant background noise you may need advanced noise cancellation or speech enhancement features, which could make your hearing aids more expensive. On the other hand, if you just need to be able to hear the TV better and increase the sound quality when talking on the phone, you’ll need fewer features and your hearing aids may cost less.

Fortunately, here at TruHearing, we’re trying to bring the price down for all types of hearing aids. Also, many hearing health professionals offer financing on hearing aids that can make them more affordable.

There are many more affordable pricing options available today than there were 10 years ago. Shop around and you’ll see that hearing aids can be affordable no matter your budget or lifestyle.

Myth No. 2: Hearing aids are too big and too noticeable when worn

Fact: No one likes feeling old. And you may feel embarrassed to walk down the street with big, plastic hearing aids hanging behind your ear like your grandfather. In the past, hearing aids were extremely conspicuous, but modern hearing aids are smaller and less clunky. Many modern hearing aids, called “completely in the canal” hearing aids (or CICs) are even so small they’re nearly invisible when worn deep inside your ear. Check with your hearing health provider to find out if a CIC is an option for your type of hearing loss.

Myth No. 3: Hearing aids only work in quiet settings and can’t help in noisy situations with background noise

Fact: Just as the design has changed over the years, hearing aid technology is light-years away from what it was just 10 years ago. Today’s technology makes it possible for a hearing aid to isolate and enhance speech while cancelling out background noises and feedback. Modern technology makes it enjoyable for you to go out to your favorite restaurant again and have a simple conversation.

Today, hearing aids are not as scary or cumbersome as they were just a few years ago. It might take some encouragement to get you or your family member to see a hearing specialist. But the results can be truly life-changing.

Learn more about how TruHearing can help with your hearing health.

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Digital hearing aids are the industry standard. These hearing aids process sound through a microchip before it is amplified and presented into the ear canal. This microchip allows for several programs, or features, that adjust the sound signal into something easily heard by the listener.

The main purpose of a hearing aid is to increase the user’s ability to understand speech. In normal listening situations, even basic hearing aids perform very well. However, as the environment becomes more dynamic, understanding speech worsens for many individuals. Understanding speech in noisy environments is particularly problematic for both hearing aid users and hearing aid developers because so much “background noise” is the conversation of others.

In these situations—at a party, restaurant, or meeting for instance—unwanted noise has many of the same characteristics as the speech you want to hear. Thus, the hearing aid can’t always decipher which speech source to emphasize. Fortunately, the speech enhancement feature focuses on improving hearing in these complex situations.  It seems like each brand of hearing aid has a different term for speech enhancement but they work in essentially the same way.

By evaluating slight differences—such as the frequency (pitch), length (duration), or dynamics (spectral qualities) of sounds in the environment—automatic speech enhancement programs determine whether the sound is noise or speech. The program then takes the speech sounds and amplifies them more strongly than the background noise.

Many hearing aids use “noise reduction” in conjunction with speech enhancement to automatically emphasize the speech sounds over unwanted background noise.

Some of the most advanced hearing aids synchronize information from these features between two hearing aids, creating an incredibly advanced analysis of the environment and enabling the hearing aids to make more appropriate decisions about what sounds should be recognized as speech versus what should be considered noise

With these advancements in automatic speech enhancement and noise reduction, difficult listening situations become easier to manage.

When chosen and understood correctly, speech enhancement and noise reduction features make huge improvements in real-life listening situations by identifying minuscule differences in sounds and translating those into easier conversation and closer connections to loved ones.

Simple and clear interactions, isn’t that what we all want?

Learn how TruHearing can help with your hearing health.

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No one wants to lose their investment in hearing aids over a few drops of water. That’s why the hearing aid industry has worked throughout the years to continually improve the water resistance of their hearing aids. However, it’s up to you, the hearing aid user, to know the difference between the terms the industry uses. When you understand what “waterproof” and “water resistant” actually mean, you can get the hearing aids that will fit your needs and the understand the measures you can take to protect your hearing aids on your own.

The Latest Water-resistant Technology

Waterproof and water-resistant hearing aids have been around for some time, but the technology used to help protect your aids against moisture today is more effective than ever.

Hearing aid manufacturers have made many changes in the design of hearing aid casings over the last 10 years to include protective barriers between compartments that limit the amount of water—and other debris—that can get into the sensitive areas of your hearing aid. For example, many of the most important parts of your hearing aid today are treated with a special water- and oil-resistant nano-coating that protects them from moisture.

Know the Protection Rating

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide governing body that sets ratings for consumer products based on their protection against dust, water, and other intrusive elements. The rating they set is called an IP Code (or International Protection Marking). You can use the IP Code to determine how water- and dust-proof a consumer product is, including hearing aids.

The code is a little complicated (you can read more about it here), but essentially the higher the numbers in the code (0-9), the better protection the hearing aid provides against dust and moisture. For example, major hearing aid manufacturer ReSound tests all its hearing aids against an IP57 rating, where 5 indicates the dust protection and 7 indicates the water protection.

The IP57 rating means ReSound hearing aids are:

• 5: Dust protected: Dust is not entirely prevented from entering the product, but the amount of dust that can enter is so small that it should not interfere with the operation of the hearing aid electronics.
• 7: Water protected: Can be submerged in up to 1m of water for up to 30 minutes and still function normally.

Although it’s not recommended that you recreate these tests yourself, you can rest assured that an IP57 rating means, if you accidentally drop them in the sink or jump in the shower without realizing they are still on, they will probably be just fine.

Many major hearing aid manufacturers publish their hearing aid IP Codes on their website or in their product specifications. If you have questions about a specific hearing aid IP Code rating, talk to your provider. They should be able to guide you toward hearing aids that have high water and dust protection ratings.

Waterproof vs. Water Resistant: What’s the Difference?

It is important to remember that waterproof and water-resistant hearing aids are not the same thing. A waterproof hearing aid has a single-piece casing and uses specialty waterproof membranes between compartments and around sensitive components. A waterproof device is rated to withstand continuous submersion in water (like the example in the previous section).

However, many hearing aids are not waterproof, they are water-resistant (some manufacturers may also use terms like “shower resistant” or “moisture resistant). Water resistant means the hearing aids will keep out moisture—for the most part—but the aids will probably not stand up to continuous submersion in water and still function well.

Tips for Keeping Water Out of Your Hearing Aids

Whether you have water-resistant or waterproof aids, it’s always a good idea to prevent as much damage to your hearing aids as possible. Here are some tips to help you keep your hearing aids safe from dust and moisture and functioning well.

Open the battery doors when not in use

This may sound counter intuitive—won’t opening up the battery door let moisture in?—but opening the battery door when not in use allows air to flow freely through the device and dry up any moisture that may have been trapped inside the casing when you were wearing them. Opening your battery door when not in use also has the added benefit of prolonging your battery life.

Wipe down your hearing aids after use

When you take your hearing aids off at the end of the day, quickly wipe them off with a dry, dust-free cloth. Wiping down your aids can clean any excess moisture and dust off the outer casing and prevent them from entering the device.

Use a dehumidifier

Another common way of preventing moisture damage is to use a dehumidifier to store your hearing aids. There are several different types of dehumidifiers. Some are simple plastic containers that include a desiccant (or small packet of crystals) that absorbs moisture overnight. Other humidifiers include a tiny electric fan that dries the hearing aids. The type you choose will depend on your climate, personal needs, and budget.

Use sweat covers

Hearing aid sweat covers or sweatbands are like little moisture-absorbing socks for your hearing aids. They can cost as little as $20 per pair or as much as $30 per cover. A little shopping and price comparing online will give you a good idea of the range of products available and what might work best for you. You can also talk to your provider about sweat covers they might recommend.

Protect Your Aids for Best Outcomes

No matter if you live in a humid environment or in the middle of the desert, protecting your hearing aids against moisture is important to ensure they last a long time and serve you well. Today, moisture protection for hearing aids is the best it has ever been, and you can supplement any hearing aid’s basic moisture protection by following a few simple tips to ensure they last as long as possible.

Learn more about how TruHearing can help you with your hearing health.

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That’s why your hearing healthcare provider is there to give you an exam and guide you through the process to find the hearing aid that fits your unique hearing needs at the right price. In fact, just because a hearing aid is more expensive, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better for you. Conversely, buying a less expensive hearing aid available may not help if you need more advanced features to address your specific loss.

So, which one is right for you? Well, it depends. Picking the right hearing aid depends on your specific hearing loss, lifestyle, and the sounds that are most important for you to hear.

Hearing Aid Levels

First of all, it’s important to understand that, regardless of the hearing aid manufacturer, hearing aids are available at many different technology levels, but most of them fall into a basic, standard, or premium category. It is important to understand that the different levels do not represent the quality of the devices, only the number and types of features available in each model.

Typically, as hearing aids are developed, the most advanced features are introduced into premium-level devices first—and they’re the most expensive. However, as newer or more refined features are implemented, the older features trickle down to the standard- and basic-level devices.

Your Unique Hearing Loss

Everyone hears differently, so it’s important to talk to your provider about a hearing aid that will address your unique needs. Since they know your hearing strengths and weaknesses, they can guide you toward a hearing aid that is the right fit for you. For example, your unique hearing loss is important to keep in mind when looking at the number of channels available in a hearing aid.

Older hearing aids only had one channel, meaning that the entire range of hearing—from low to high frequencies—was amplified to the same degree. So when you turned up the volume, everything got louder equally.

As digital hearing aids became widely available and signal processing became more advanced, this range could be divided into smaller sections. This means that a provider could adjust the hearing aids so that low-frequency sounds got more of a “boost” than high-frequency sounds or vice versa—depending on the person’s unique hearing loss profile. This is great news for those with worse hearing in particular frequencies, because the problem areas can now be amplified more than others. So, instead of one volume control, digital hearing aids with multiple channels are like tuning an equalizer on a stereo.

Modern hearing aids have anywhere from about 4 channels up to 24 or more channels available in some premium models. However, this doesn’t mean that everyone has to have the most channels possible. An individual with hearing loss that is the same across all frequencies may do just fine with a basic-level hearing aid that has fewer channels, because they need the same amount of amplification across the entire range of hearing

On the other hand, someone with hearing loss that is normal in the low pitches and gets much worse in the higher ranges may need a hearing aid with more channels in order to more smoothly trace where they need amplification. Other features work in the same way. Different people need different features in order to hear optimally.

Your Lifestyle

Lifestyle plays a big part in the type of hearing aid you might need and the features that will be best for you. For example, an individual who works long hours, spends lots of time on the phone, and needs to be able to understand conversation in large meetings has different needs than the person who spends more time at home, who doesn’t use the phone much, and who spends most of their time in quieter environments.

Certain features, like advanced speech enhancement or noise reduction, may make more or less of a difference to you based on the activities you participate in most. It’s best to talk to your provider about which features are more critical for your unique hearing loss, so you can make an informed decision about your hearing health. That way you won’t end up overpaying for a hearing aid with features you won’t use, or underpaying for a hearing aid that won’t fit your lifestyle.

What You Want to Hear

Another important factor to consider is the exact sounds you want to hear. For example, it would be easy to assume that someone with only a slight hearing loss, who is generally in very easy listening environments, would do well with a basic-level hearing aid. However, an individual in that same situation who plays guitar, may want a hearing aid with advanced features that provides more clarity, so they can still enjoy a favorite hobby.

Overall, there are a number of factors to consider when purchasing a hearing aid, from price to lifestyle to your specific hearing needs. That’s why a provider is so important. The right providers can give you an exam and help guide you to the hearing aids that are not only right for your ears, but will also fit your budget and your lifestyle.

Learn how TruHearing can help with your hearing health.

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However, depending on your lifestyle and unique hearing profile, you may or may not need all of these new advanced features, which can affect price as well as function. Below, we’ve listed five of the most popular hearing aid features, how they work, and how they may benefit you. If you understand what these features do and how they affect your life, you can make informed choices when talking to your provider about your next pair of hearing aids.

Channels

The number of channels is usually one of the most prominent features you’ll see listed when looking at hearing aids. If one hearing aid has 4 channels and another one has 6 channels, the latter is probably a better hearing aid, right? Not necessarily. Having more channels doesn’t mean a hearing aid is better or more effective at addressing your unique hearing needs.

How it works:

Hearing aid channels slice the hearing frequency spectrum into many pieces, or “bands,” so a provider can adjust each one individually.

What that means for you:

Some people have more loss in the low end of the spectrum (deep bass sounds like the rumble of a truck engine) and some have loss at the high end (high-pitched sounds like birds tweeting or children’s voices) and some have a mix of the two. Hearing aid channels give the provider a way to “turn up” the volume in different parts of the spectrum without turning up everything. So, if you have a high-end loss, the provider has the option of only turning up the high end of the frequency spectrum, while leaving your low end hearing exactly where it should be and vice versa.

For people with very complex hearing profiles, a high number of channels helps a provider adjust several bands of the frequency spectrum to create a more even and natural hearing experience. If you have a slight loss on one end of the spectrum, you may not need as many channels to have a positive hearing experience.

Directionality

One of the biggest challenges for people with hearing aids is noisy environments, like restaurants, parties, and family get-togethers. Our brains normally help us sort through all the noise and focus on important sounds, like the person we’re having a conversation with. However, hearing aids tend to boost all sounds, which can make it hard to focus on the person in front of you. To combat the confusion extra noise can create, directionality attempts to focus your hearing on the sounds that are primarily in front of you.

How it works:

Directionality uses multiple microphones on your hearing aid to measure the length of time it takes for the same sound to reach each microphone. Then the hearing aid processes the time difference to calculate which direction the sound is coming from. It uses that information to focus on sounds that are directly in front of you while turning down the volume on sounds that are coming from other directions.

What that means for you:

In a noisy environment, hearing aids with directionality will automatically focus their attention on sounds that cut through background noise. Generally, that means focusing on the sound of the person in front of you. There are different levels of directionality, from basic directionality features to advanced and premium adaptive directionality. Highly advanced directionality is best for people who spend a lot of time in noisy places, like conventions, outdoor gatherings, or large meetings.

Noise Reduction and Speech Enhancement

Although directionality focuses on sorting the sounds going on around you, noise reduction and speech enhancement further shape those sounds in order to block out background noise and boost the level of dynamic signals, like speech, so you can hear them better.

How it works:

Noise reduction and speech enhancement take place in a small computer chip in your hearing aid. The chip analyzes all the sounds in the environment and identifies “static” sound signatures, like running water, background chatter, or a dishwasher. These sounds have a constant drone or pitch that doesn’t vary. Then, it identifies “dynamic” sounds, like speech, a TV, or the radio. Dynamic sounds vary greatly in tone and pitch. The hearing aid separates these two types of sound signatures and boosts the dynamic sounds while minimizing the static ones.

What that means for you:

Noise reduction and speech enhancement are standard features on most hearing aids sold today. However, if you frequently find yourself in situations with a lot of background noise, it may be worth investing in hearing aids with advanced or premium noise reduction features.

Feedback Suppression

Anyone with hearing aids can tell you how annoying feedback can be. Feedback occurs when the sound that is piped into your ears is picked up again by the hearing aid microphone, creating a looping sound that turns into a high-pitched whine or whistle. To minimize the annoyance of feedback, hearing aid manufacturers have created systems to identify and stop feedback before it starts.

How it works:

A computer chip in your hearing aid monitors incoming sounds for feedback signals. If a signal is detected, your hearing aid produces an equal and opposite signal to cancel out the feedback within a fraction of a second.

What that means for you:

Feedback suppression is also standard on most hearing aids today. Although feedback will happen from time-to-time with all hearing aids, some people are not as bothered by it as others. If feedback suppression is a major annoyance with your current hearing aids, you may want to ask your provider about hearing aids that have advanced feedback suppression systems.

Wind Suppression

When wind blows across the top of the microphones in your hearing aids, you’ll hear a loud whooshing sound that can be very distracting. Wind suppression systems work to minimize that noise, so you can enjoy outdoor activities without the interruption of loud wind noise.

How it works:

Like noise suppression, wind suppression monitors the sound coming into the hearing aid. When it detects the distinct sound signature of wind blowing across the hearing aid microphones, it automatically turns down the gain to minimize the impact of the sound.

What that means for you:

Wind suppression is a valuable feature for people who spend a lot of time outside. Hiking, sailing, biking, sporting events, and outdoor concerts are much easier to enjoy without the threat of wind noise. If you live a very active, outdoor lifestyle, wind suppression is a feature you should look for in your next hearing aids.

More Questions About Hearing Aid Features?

If you want to know more about hearing aid features, talk to your provider. They can answer your questions and help you determine which hearing aid features fit your needs and lifestyle best.

For answers to other common questions about hearing aids, visit our Ask a Provider page, where you can get in-depth answers from licensed hearing healthcare professionals—and even submit a question of your own!

Learn how TruHearing can help with your hearing health.

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