'Open-Ear' hearing aid solutions

A new development in hearing aid technology, called open-ear fittings have revolutionized the way we think about helping those with a high frequency hearing loss and/or tinnitus.

The most common type of hearing loss is called a high frequency hearing loss. Which means the person will hear low frequency (bass) sounds quite well but more trouble hearing the high frequency (treble) sounds.

A high frequency hearing loss is most commonly associated with noise exposure, ageing and tinnitus. A few of the symptoms of a high frequency hearing loss include:

• Trouble hearing clearly in background noise or group situations
• Turning the TV/radio volume higher to hear clearer (which then becomes too loud for others)
• Having trouble hearing clearly if not facing the speaker
• If it sounds like people are “mumbling”

Conventional hearing aids (in the canal hearing aids, or behind the ear hearing aids with large ear moulds) would help to amplify the required high frequency sounds, however they often introduced annoying side-effects which, in some cases were enough for the patient to not wear the hearing aids as often as they should have in order to get the benefit they needed. These side effects included:

• “echoing” of the patients own voice
• chewing and eating sounds would reverberate through the patients head, often drowning out what they were trying to hear
• a plugged-up feeling in the ears

Open ear fittings were therefore developed to minimize the symptoms listed above, and they have managed to do this without sacrificing cosmetics or hearing aid technology. In fact, open-ear solutions are some of the most discreet digital hearing aid solutions available today.

They comprise of a miniature unit which is placed behind the outer ear, and an ultra-thin transparent tubing which delivers the sound directly into the ear canal.

Open fittings are available with a range of features to suit most budgets and lifestyles. They are also available with the latest state of the art hearing aid technology including:

• Automatic environment detection to ensure the hearing aid is performing optimally no matter what the listening situation is
• Adaptive directional microphones, which have been proven to give the best speech clarity in background noise
• Data logging, which gives the audiologist most of the information they require to fine tune the hearing aid optimally for the individual
• Feedback-free performance, which means no more annoying whistling

Open-ear solutions have also proved to be tremendously popular for our tinnitus patients. The vast majority of tinnitus patients report that their tinnitus is significantly less noticeable when wearing the open-ear hearing aids.

In addition, the new open-ear hearing aids can be fitted and trialled “on the spot” following a comprehensive hearing test to ensure an open-ear solution is suitable for your individual hearing loss.

Call us on 1800 622 121 to find out more about 'open-ear' hearing solutions or to arrange a free trial.