Hearing Aid Information

Hearing Aid Evaluation
The hearing aid evaluation appointment takes about an hour and is mainly an information sharing session with the Audiologist. A hearing aid evaluation can be booked with Dr. Tietze’s secretary. After a brief review of your hearing test, the various styles of hearing aids will be discussed and shown to you.

You might be asked to tell us about your listening needs. This information is helpful in determining which type of features would benefit you most. The most sophisticated digital processor will be needed to handle the most difficult listening situations. But if you are not exposed to a lot of background noise, then a less costly digital aid might be recommended for you. There are normally five different hearing aid types and our goal is to find one that will meet your hearing needs and budget.

Once it has been determined which style and level of technology you want, usually an ear mold impression will be taken of your ears. The impressions will then be sent to the manufacturer or ear mold lab for processing. In several weeks, you will be called to return to our office for the fitting of the hearing aid(s). You will be given a copy of the hearing aid payment policy which outlines the terms of the 30 day hearing aid trial period. It is a company policy that the hearing aids are paid for in full at the time of the fitting.

Types of Hearing Aids
CIC – Fitting “completely in the canal”, it is the least visible hearing aid available. This style requires that the patient have good dexterity in order to manipulate the small device and battery. The CIC is best suited for hearing loss in the mild to moderate range.

ITC - Still having a cosmetically appealing look, this device fills the outer portion of the ear canal. The “in the canal” aid has a larger battery, which allows for more power and longer battery life. The ITC fits mild to moderate hearing loss.

ITE - Filling the entire bowl of the outer ear, this “in the ear” style of hearing aid uses a larger battery generating even more power and battery life. The ITE is best suited for mild to severe hearing loss.

BTE - The “behind the ear” device is connected to a custom made ear mold that fits in the canal through a clear tube. This style of hearing device can be used for mild to profound hearing loss and allows for the most amplification and longest battery life possible.

Open Ear Technology (OET)

New "Open Ear" technology offers many advantages over traditional hearing aid fitting approaches and accommodates almost any hearing loss. Typically traditional technology blocks the normal hearing ranges while trying to boost the high frequency regions (2 to 6 kHz).

Thanks to advances in digital processing, sound can now be delivered to the ear at prescribed levels without the occlusion effect. A very small thin tube delivers digitally processed sound to the eardrum from a small processor located behind the ear. This type of fitting keeps the ear open to lower-pitched sounds that don’t need amplification. The small processor and thin tubing is cosmetically appealing and the improved clarity, especially in the presence of background noise, is a welcome benefit.

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