by EBSCO Medical Review Board

Hearing Aids

Hearing aids are devices to make sounds louder. They are worn in or behind 1 or both ears. Some people may hear at a normal or near normal level with them. Others may find that they help, but do not fully bring back hearing. It can take time to get used to them. Things will not sound the same. Some people need to try more than one. This helps them find one that works well for them.

Assistive Listening Devices

An assistive listening device (ALD) can be used with or without hearing aids. An ALD helps with background noise, distance, or rooms that are loud or echo.

Some types are:

  • Personal frequency modulation (FM) systems—the person speaking uses a microphone and the listener uses a receiver. The receiver can also send sound to a hearing aid. It can help in large group settings, such as classrooms, meetings, or restaurants.
  • Infrared systems are often used at home with TV. They can also be used in large settings like meeting halls. Sound is sent by infrared light waves.
  • Some phones, answering machines, computers, and alarm clocks can make sound louder.
  • Alerting devices can give a person a sign they can see or a vibration they can feel. They are made for things like doorbells, phones, alarm clocks, smoke detectors, and pagers. Text telephones and captions on TV and movies also use visuals.

Implanted Devices

Cochlear Implant

A cochlear implant is a small device surgically implanted behind the ear. It can bring sound to a person with severe hearing loss. It picks up sounds through a microphone. It processes them and converts them into electrical impulses. It sends the impulses past the damaged parts of the inner ear to the brain. The microphone and transmitter are worn in a headpiece behind the ear. The sound processor is placed in a pocket or on a belt. The receiver and electrode are implanted.

It does not make normal hearing. But it can help many people understand and communicate in person and over the phone.

Implanted Hearing System Attached to Middle Ear Bones

An implanted system is used to treat sensorineural hearing loss in adults. It attaches to the middle ear bones and is implanted behind the ear. It vibrates the middle ear bones. This turns up sound and helps a person hear.

Communication Techniques

Lip Reading

Lip reading is focusing on how a person’s mouth and body move when they talk. This is to help find out what they are saying.

Sign Language

American Sign Language (ASL) uses signs made with the hands, face, and body. It has its own rules for grammar, punctuation, and sentence order. There are other types of sign language that are based on English. They spell out English words with hand signs.

References

American sign language. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders website. Available at: https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/american-sign-language. Accessed May 11, 2022.

Bourn S, Goldstein MR, et al. Hearing preservation in elderly cochlear implant recipients. Otol Neurotol. 2020;41(5):618-624.

Cochlear implants. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders website. Available at: https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/cochlear-implants. Accessed May 11, 2022.

Hearing aids. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders website. Available at: https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing-aids. Accessed May 11, 2022.

Hearing assistive technology. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association website. Available at: https://www.asha.org/public/hearing/treatment/assist%5Ftech.htm?print=1. Accessed May 11, 2022.

Hearing loss. Healthy Children—American Academy of Pediatrics website. Available at: https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/ear-nose-throat/Pages/Hearing-Loss.aspx. Accessed May 11, 2022.

Hearing loss and older adults. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders website. Available at: https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing-loss-older-adults. Accessed May 11, 2022.

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at: https://www.dynamed.com/condition/sudden-sensorineural-hearing-loss. Accessed May 11, 2022.

What is a cochlear implant? US Food & Drug Administration website. Available at: http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ProductsandMedicalProcedures/ImplantsandProsthetics/CochlearImplants/ucm062823.htm. Accessed May 11, 2022.

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