Due to hearing loss being too often an aspect of getting old, there are many people that suffer from hearing loss as there are already those that have been hard of hearing from birth, due to hereditary problems, and those that have suffered damage to their hearing earlier in their life Combined these make a large number of people that require hearing aids which in turn prompts manufacturers to make them in a variety of fashions. The result of all of this is that there are today, a wide variety of types and brands to choose from when looking to buy a hearing aid. Although this could cause some first time users a dilemma as to which one would be best for them, companies like Audika make the choosing easier by first allowing customers’ free trials before they have to buy. 

Although there are many different brand names available to buy today, there are in fact only three main types of hearing aid and those three types are the ones which fit behind the ear, the ones that fit in the outside part of the ear and those which are placed inside the ear where they are barely visible. The ones which are behind the ear take advantage of a fact discovered in the 17th century and that was that sound vibrations travel through bone. This meant that bones could transport sound vibrations to the brain where it could translate them.  Although these types of hearing aids have been used since the discovery, the similar ones of today are far more hi-tech than those earlier ones, being able to also take advantage of modern technology including the miniaturization of amplifiers and batteries. 

Whether a hearing aid fits in the outside part of the ear or in the inner ear, their principles are the same. Sounds are picked up by a receiver, amplified and then dispersed in the ear through a speaker. All these parts though are of course miniaturized so that they are hardly noticeable and yet are now highly effective. Thanks to modern technology any of these hearing aids are now very effective and efficient and so it is possibly vanity only that causes the “invisible” ones to be increasingly popular. Apart from how good each of them is though, the other two factors which most people take into consideration are comfort and price but effectiveness should really be anyone’s first priority of choice. 

Today is the second time in history that vanity has played a role in hearing aid designs as in the 1800s many people were concerned about appearing hard of hearing and so they would go to extraordinary lengths to try and hide or camouflage their chosen devices. Some would have them down into their collars or placed in their wigs and some would even have them disguised as jewelry. Then though, due to there being no miniaturization technology, it was harder for them to hide the devices t than it is today or will be in the future.