Hearing aid is a sound-amplifying medical equipment helping the people to hear distinctly even after undergoing some physical impairment. If we consider the gross physical structure, then hearing aids work like miniature PA system having four integrated components – speaker, amplifier, microphone, and battery. Research has established that good hearing skills play a significant role in maintaining one’s social, physical, and psychological well-being. There are different types of hearing aids available in Mumbai – behind-the-ear (BTE), mini behind-the-ear (mini BTE), in-the-ear (ITE), in-the-canal (ITC), and completely-in-the-canal (CITC) types. The selection of the right hearing aid depends on the person’s severity of hearing loss, budget, and his lifestyle.

Who Requires Hearing Aids?

The patients may require hearing aids due to many pathological and physiological reasons. Most of them remain associated with the inner ear, and the hearing aids make the audio signal stronger. It makes it easy for the eardrum to detect and transmit to the sound waves to the cochlea (inner ear, shaped like a snail) via the middle ear. There are different types of hearing loss which may improve by using the hearing aids. It includes sensorineural hearing loss (hearing loss due to impairment in the cochlea or vestibule-cochlear nerve), conductive hearing loss (this hearing impairment occurs when there is a problem in the conduction of sound waves either in the outer, middle, or inner ear), and single-sided deafness (this type of hearing loss occurs only in one ear). The ENT specialists usually ask for an audiometry test to evaluate the hearing level and the necessity of the hearing aid.