The style of a hearing aid refers to how the device looks and the way it fits in your ear, as opposed to the features that it offers. Here are the most common styles.

The tiniest and most discreet hearing aid option, these devices fit all the way inside your ear canal and are custom molded. For a majority of people, these are completely invisible to others.

Another great discreet hearing aid option, these devices are also custom molded and fit completely inside your ear canal. While not completely invisible, CICs are subtle enough for most people and often feature a button which allows you to change the program/memory/or volume manually, as well as a tiny handle for easy removal.

Still discreet but a bit larger and easier to handle, an In-The-Canal hearing aid sits mostly inside the ear canal while a smaller portion of the device sits in the outer ear and is subtly visible.

Custom-made for the wearer, durable and easy to adjust, In-The-Ear devices sit mostly in the outer ear. These are the most visible of the hearing aid styles and are available in half shell or full shell styles.

The body of this type of hearing aid sits behind the outer ear, while a small, comfortable earbud-like receiver sits inside the ear canal without sealing it. The body of the hearing aid (which houses the technology) and the earbud portion are connected by a very thin, subtle wire.

These hearing aids are quite similar to RIC models, with the key difference being that Behind-The-Ear styles make use of a plastic tubing to connect the body of the hearing aid to the receiver.

Thanks to a flurry of technological innovation in recent years, there is now an abundance of features which can help to reduce listening effort and make daily life more seamless for hearing aid wearers. Here are some of the most common and in-demand features on the market today.

How will my new hearing aids help me to understand conversation more easily in the presence of background noise? This is one of the most important questions to ask yourself and your hearing healthcare provider when considering different devices. Every hearing aid will include features which assist with speech understanding, yet they may differ in the technology they use to achieve this goal. Some devices have even been designed to work more naturally with the sound processing center of the brain to reduce listening effort.

Many hearing aid wearers today want devices that can make their lives easier by multi-tasking, much the same way that their smartphones do. Fortunately, there is a wide variety of hearing aid models that can wirelessly connect to other devices so that wearers can stream music, watch TV or answer phone calls, all through their hearing aids. This is often achieved through Bluetooth technology, special connectivity devices, or technology within the hearing aid itself.

Growing in popularity in recent years, rechargeability is an excellent feature which offers improved ease-of-use for those who don’t want to fuss with changing hearing aid batteries, or users with dexterity issues. The majority of manufacturers offer one or more options for rechargeable hearing aids, which can be charged while you sleep and provide 24 (or more!) hours of wear-time.

Tinnitus–a ringing or buzzing in the ears with no external source–is a very common secondary health issue for those with hearing loss. To help address this complaint, many digital hearing aids today feature tinnitus therapy programs which help to mask the sounds so that wearers can feel at ease.

Unlike the competition, Evergreen Audiology works with all of the leading hearing aid manufacturers to ensure our clients have the widest selection of devices to choose from. These manufacturers include Starkey, ReSound, Oticon, Signia, Phonak, and Widex.