Types of Hearing Aids
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Receiver-in-canal (RIC) hearing aids are small devices that sit over the ear with the speaker inside of the ear canal. RIC hearing aids are commonly prescribed because they sound natural, work well with high-pitched hearing loss, and are cosmetically appealing. | ||
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Behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids are devices that sit over the ear and deliver sound through an attached custom earmold. BTE hearing aids are often prescribed for children because the earmold can be changed as the child grows. BTE hearing aids are also very powerful and may be used with adults who have severe to profound hearing loss. | ||
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Invisible-in-the-canal (IIC) hearing aids are small custom devices that sit deep inside of the ear canal. Although not actually invisible, they are cosmetically appealing. IIC hearing aids may have limited features and limited sound quality given the small size. | ||
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Completely-in-the-canal (CIC) hearing aids are small custom devices that sit inside of the ear canal. Although still small, they generally can accommodate more features than IIC hearing aids. | ||
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In-the-canal (ITC) hearing aids are custom devices that fill half of the bowl of the ear. Sometimes called a half-shell hearing aid, they are a good compromise between power and technology. | ||
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In-the-ear (ITE) hearing aids are custom devices that fill the full bowl of the ear. ITE hearing aids are sometimes called full-shell hearing aids. The larger size allows for more powerful amplification. |
Photos courtesy of www.phonakpro.com.