The Severity of My Hearing Loss Determines the Style of My Hearing Aid

People suggest it all the time, always meaning well: why don’t you just get the small invisible hearing aids? I can’t. I never could, and I never will.

When most people picture hearing aids, they think of the tiny ones from the TV commercials, the kind that disappear inside your ear canal. Those are real. But the style of hearing aid you can wear is decided by how bad your hearing loss is, not by what looks best on you. The worse the loss, the more amplification you need, and more amplification means a bigger device.

If your loss is mild or moderate, which is usually what comes with age, you have options. You might wear something small that sits in the canal, or an open-fit aid that leaves it partly open, sometimes nearly invisible.

My loss is profound, so none of that works for me. I wear behind-the-ear aids with a mold that seals the ear canal completely. The device sits behind my ear with a tube running down into a custom piece molded to fit me, and it’s the most powerful style they make. It’s also the most visible. The seal isn’t optional either, because without it the amplified sound leaks back out and you get that high-pitched squeal everyone has heard at some point.

So when someone tells me to just get the smaller ones, I know exactly where it’s coming from and I don’t hold it against them. But the severity of the loss makes that choice, not me. I wear what my ears need.

#LLHearingMyStory #HearingLoss