What Is Hearing or Listening Equipment?
If you are hard of hearing, suffering hearing loss or living with a mild to moderate hearing ability, you can so easily improve your quality of life by finding the right type of specifically designed hearing or listening equipment and other devices for the deaf.
Constant product improvement for those who have to wear a hearing aid means there is now a remarkable range of hearing or listening equipment, in the form of an assistive listening device, to choose from which help make sounds louder, conversations easier and help you hear on the telephone.
Hearing aids, assistive listening devices and other types of hearing or listening equipment are available in different shapes, sizes and types. However, all hearing aids work in a similar way. They have a built-in microphone that picks up sound, which is processed electronically in the hearing aid or listening equipment. The resulting ’signals’ are then passed on to a receiver where they are converted back into louder sounds that you can hear. Some hearing aids reduce certain background noises.
Hearing aids are described as either analogue or digital, depending on the technology they use to process sound. Digital hearing aids are the newest kind, available as standard, and can be finely adjusted to suit your individual needs.
Behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids usually have an ear mould, which sits inside your ear and are the most common types of hearing or listening device. BTE hearing aids with ‘open ear fitting’ have a small, soft earpiece and can be less noticeable than an ear mould but is only suitable if your hearing loss is mild or moderate. It can give you a very natural sound.
Receiver-in-the-ear (RITE) or loudspeaker-in-the-ear BTEs have a clear tube with a wire inside, which runs from the BTE to a loudspeaker held in the ear by a soft earpiece. These BTEs are often smaller because the receiver (a mechanical part of the hearing aid) sits inside the ear at the end of the wire.
There are different RITE hearing impaired equipment aids for different levels of hearing loss. If your hearing loss is severe, you may need an in-the-ear (ITE) and in-the-canal (ITC) type where the receiver sits in an ear mould so the whole aid fits into your ear. The smallest in-the-canal aids fit right inside your ear canal, where they can hardly be seen at all.
Body-worn hearing aids have a small box that you can clip to your clothes or put in your pocket. This is connected by a lead to an earphone and ear mould. Body-worn hearing equipment may be suitable if you have sight problems, or problems using very small switches or buttons. Some models are very powerful.
There are hearing and listening equipment products and digital devices for most applications such as an amplified telephone and multi-alert signal systems that can be used to attract your attention to different sounds in your home.
Indoor public spaces often have installed a form of hearing and listening equipment called an audio induction loop system with a wireless looped headset to be worn around the neck and works with your hearing aid.