Mid Coast Hospital
Hearing Aids

Ideas to consider when choosing hearing instruments:

• Lifestyle – Every aspect of your favorite activities is important for selecting the most appropriate hearing aids for you. Do you enjoy travel? Have a big family? Interact in various social situations? Enjoy movies or plays? These are some of the factors that play a role in the selection of your new hearing devices.
• Type of hearing instrument – Each hearing loss is different, posing special challenges for the best amplification for your hearing loss. There are four basic types of hearing aids: Behind-the-ear (BTE), In-the-Ear (ITE), In-the-canal (ITC), and Completely-in-the-canal (CIC).
• Physiology – The shape and size of your outer ear and ear canal may determine which hearing instruments you can wear. There are numerous options available and our Audiologist will work with you to find something that comfortably fits your ear.
• Technology – A combination of different technological features may benefit your particular hearing loss. Today’s hearing instruments offer a number of high-tech features which are programmed to compensate for your specific hearing needs.
• Program options – Some instruments adjust automatically, while others have manual controls for volume and/or alternating between listening programs. The Audiologist will discuss these options with you to decide what best suits your needs.
• One or two? – If you have hearing loss in both ears, you will benefit the most by wearing two hearing aids. The difference between ears created by wearing only one hearing instrument causes users continued difficulties in hearing background noise, which might be improved by hearing with both ears.
  

For more information on Audiology and Hearing visit:
http://www.audiology.org/resources/links/Pages/default.aspx