| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Amplifier | Increases the volume of sound in a hearing aid and sends it to the receiver. |
| Analog hearing aids | Adjusted manually with a small screwdriver and can only be adjusted within a limited range. In recent years, analog hearing aids have become obsolete and replaced by digital hearing aids. |
| Audiogram | Graphical representation of a hearing test. An audiogram is a chart that hearing healthcare professionals use to chart hearing losses. The symbols indicate the lowest level at which a person can hear at each frequency, or pitch. |
| Audiologist | Hearing Healthcare Professional with either a Master’s or Doctorate in the studies of hearing and balance. Audiologists are licensed to identify, diagnose and treat hearing and balance disorders as well as dispense hearing aids. |
| Bands | In hearing aids, input sounds are divided into a number of separate bands, each of which is separately programmed and controlled. The more bands the hearing aid has, the more clear and precise the sound will be. |
| Behind the ear hearing aid | Hearing aid in which the circuitry sits in a casing behind the ear. Sound is filtered into the ear by way of tubing and an earpiece. |
| Binaural | Hearing with two ears or two hearing aids. |
| Cerumen | Ear wax. |
| Channels | The number of channels an instrument has indicates the amount of flexibility your hearing healthcare professional has to adjust specific pitches, or frequencies, independently. A hearing aid with more channels allows your professional to customize the device to better meet your hearing needs. |
| Cochlea | Snail shaped organ, also called the inner ear. |
| Conductive hearing loss | Hearing loss caused by interference of sound in the outer ear or middle ear. This type of hearing loss can be caused by trauma, disease, wax, or infection and can often be treated medically. |
| Configuration | Shape of the hearing loss as depicted on an audiogram (pictures of reverse slope, cookie bite, sloping???) |
| Custom hearing aid | Hearing aids that are custom made and fit for a patient using earmold impressions. |
| Decibels | Measure of loudness by which hearing is tested. (Often abbreviated as dB.) |
| Digital hearing aids | Most advanced hearing aid technology available to date. Digital hearing aids convert sound into numeric code and adjust automatically in order to detect and amplify speech while turning down background noise. Digital hearing aids can be programmed by your hearing healthcare professional via programming software on a computer. |
| Direct Audio Input (DAI) | A feature of some behind the ear hearing aids that allows the aid to directly connect with a source of audio, thus sending the sound from the source directly to the hearing aid wearer’s ear. The connection is typically made by a “boot” that is placed on the bottom of the hearing aid and sometimes is wireless. |
| Directionality | The use of dual microphones on a hearing aid to focus in on speech so that understanding conversation in background noise is easier. |
| Dispenser | Hearing Healtcare Professional that is licensed to sell hearing aids and is trained in hearing assessments, hearing aid specifications, modifications and programming. |
| Dual Microphones | Some hearing aids have two microphones that assist with speech understanding in background noise. These dual microphones focus in on speech while turning down the background noise that interferes with speech understanding. |
| Earhook | A plastic hook |
| Earmold | A custom made earpiece that fits into the hearing aid wearer’s ear and sends the sound from the hearing aid and tubing into the ear. |
| Earmold impression | Process by which a hearing healthcare professional makes a mold of the hearing aid user’s ear in order to create custom earmolds and hearing aids. Typically earmold impressions are done by filling a plastic syringe with silicone and applying it into the patient’s ear. The silicone then dries and hardens for a few minutes and is pulled out from the patient’s ear in order to be sent off for the mold and or hearing aid to be created. |
| Feedback | “Whistling” sound produced by a hearing aid that is caused by leakage of sound from the ear via a vent or an ill fitting earmold or custom hearing aid. This sound reenters the hearing aid microphone and becomes reamplified, causing feedback. |
| Feedback reduction | A hearing aid feature that works to detect feedback and reduce or eliminate it. |
| Fitting Software | A program used by hearing healthcare professionals to program and adjust digital hearing aids using a computer. |
| Frequency | Pitch of sound. Represents the number of cycles per second. (See Hertz) |
| Gain | Amount of volume being produced and released by the hearing aid. Gain settings vary depending on amount of hearing loss and how the hearing aid is set. |
| Hearing Aid | An electronic device that amplifies sound for individuals with hearing loss. |
| Hertz | Unit measurement of frequency, or pitch, of sound. Hertz is the number of cycles of a sound wave per second. High frequency sounds, such as a whistle, have a high number of cycles per second. Low frequency sounds, such as the rumble of an engine, have a low number of cycles per second. |
| Microphone | The portion of the hearing aid that receives the sound then converts it to electrical impulses and sends it to the amplifier. |
| Mild | thresholds between 25 |
| Mild to Profound Hearing Loss | Hearing loss is defined by what a person can and cannot hear. Degree of hearing loss is described using the following criteria: |
| Mixed hearing loss | Combination of both conductive and sensorineural hearing loss. Typically will be treated both medically and with hearing aids. |
| Moderate | thresholds between 41 |
| Moderately | severe |
| Noise reduction | Setting in hearing aids that assists with background noise reduction so that speech is easier to understand. |
| Occlusion | Sensation of being “plugged up” due to having a hearing aid or earmold in your ear. Open fit instruments help in eliminating occlusion. (See Open Fit) |
| Open Fit | Behind the ear hearing aids that are have a very small, thin tubing that fits onto an earpiece that keeps the wearer’s ear canal open. Open fit hearing aids are a great alternative for people who feel “plugged up” when wearing custom hearing aids or earmolds. |
| Profound | thresholds above 91 dB HL |
| Program Button | A control on the exterior of the hearing aid that enables the user to access different programs that are set up for different types of listening environments. |
| Programs | Some hearing aids offer different programs that the user can access by pressing a program button on the exterior of the hearing aid. One program can be set for quiet situations, another for noisy environments like restaurants, and a third for phone usage. |
| Receiver | Also known as the speaker. Portion of a hearing aid that converts sound back from electrical impulses to acoustic sound and sends it to the wearer’s ear. |
| Receiver in the Ear | Behind the ear instrument in which the receiver, or speaker, is placed inside the wearer’s ear instead of inside the circuitry behind the wearer’s ear. |
| Sensorineural hearing loss | Commonly known as nerve hearing loss and is caused by damage to the inner ear or auditory nerve. Sensorineural hearing loss typically cannot be treated medically or surgically and can often be helped with hearing aids. There are many different causes such as the aging process, noise exposure, viruses, infection or trauma. |
| Severe | thresholds between 71 |
| Telecoil | Magnetic coil inside the hearing aid that allows the user to directly connect to their landline telephone or hearing aid compatible cell phone as well as some other assistive listening devices. Telecoils are optional on most hearing aids. |
| Threshold | Lowest level at which a sound can be heard, tested at individual pitches for each ear, then illustrated on a graph known as an audiogram. |
| Tubing | Small plastic tubing that connects a behind the ear hearing aid to an earmold and channels the sound from the hearing aid into the ear. |
| Vent | A hole drilled into the shell of a custom hearing aid or custom earmold that helps decrease occlusion, or the “plugged up” sensation that some hearing aids can cause. There are many different vent size options and your hearing healthcare professional will determine the appropriate size depending on your hearing loss, the type of hearing aid your are purchasing, and the physical characteristics of your ear. |
| Volume Control | A control on the exterior of the hearing aid that enables the user to turn the overall volume of the aid up or down. Typically the volume control is in the form of a wheel or a toggle switch. |
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Getting used to hearing aids
Compare digital to analog
Pick a style
Hearing aid technology
