Finding and Using Your Perfect Hearing Aid

Many people wonder how to install a hearing aid. Learning to use these devices takes a little practice at times, but everyone figures it out. Before too long, it becomes second nature to both put them in and take them out as well as how to adjust them. If you're just starting out it may be useful to you to be able to be somewhere where you have a flat surface to help keep from losing the device or having it fall on something where it could break.

If you're using an in the ear type of hearing aid, standing in front of a mirror can help a great deal, if you need to see what you are doing. Usually, there is a color indicator which will let you know which ear it needs to go in. Line the device up with your ear, with the longer canal type closest to you. Move it around a little bit so that you can fit the canal portion into the ear and insert. You may need to turn it downward a little so that it fits snugly into your ear.

If you have the style that goes behind your ear, you just insert that ear mold portion of the device into the ear as above. But then you slide the hearing device around to loop it over the backside of your ear. You'll find the tube that connects the two parts rests comfortably if you have done this correctly. When it is time to remove the hearing aid, you will want to break the seal gently and then, if using the in the ear model, pull it forward gently. If you're using a behind the ear, you may need to rotate it towards your nose a bit to remove it.

You might notice that there are several different types of devices, not just fits. There are simple sound amplification devices, which are simply electro-accoustic types that can be either analog or digital. These usually come in both behind the ear and inside the ear models and just helps amplify your own auditory input. Then there are the digitals and the analogs themselves. These are very different- digital devices involve computerized technology where as analog uses electrical signals to amplify the sounds that you hear. Each type will have three similar parts: the amplifier, receiver and microphone. The microphone collects the sound waves, the receiver converts the electric energy into the sound waves you need and the amplifier helps to increase that and promotes clarity.

Digital devices are quickly becoming the most prevalent on the market. This is because they pick up those signals produced and then convert them into bits of data that are then processed and tailored to the specific needs of the wearer. Analog devices, however, simply use different electrical signals to generate the sound you hear. They are then amplified and fixed close to the ear drum. They don't have as many features as the digital types may have.