The Benefits of Behind-the-Ear Hearing Devices

You’ve taken a hearing test and the verdict is in: It’s time to start using a hearing device. You should find this as exciting news, because your hearing is about to improve. But in reality this can be an unsettling time when stepping into the unknown makes you feel vulnerable.

Perhaps your knowledge of hearing aids is limited, and the little you’ve seen looked confusing.

There are many different types of hearing devices and the choice can seem baffling. Of course your audiologist or hearing healthcare professional will guide you, but it does helps to have a grasp of the benefits and disadvantages of the different styles. In this article we take a close up look at the behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing device.

How a BTE works

The BTE is so-called because the device hooks over the top of your ear with the body of it resting behind the ear. The sound is transmitted into the ear canal by a narrow transparent tube fitted with a special earplug called an earmold.

BTEs may have started life as being the traditional hearing aid most people think of first, but a lot has changed in design and capability since those days of chunky intrusive devices. Nowadays BTEs are altogether more streamlined and discrete, nestling unobtrusively behind the ear. Indeed, some people elect to go the other direction and use their BTE as a fashion accessory. This is possible because some designs incorporate the ability to choose casings in a wide range of colors (including animal print!) and metallic finishes. Alternatively, there are new mini designs that are so streamlined that they are barely visible in place behind the ear.

Advantages of a BTE

Of course there are reasons that BTE have been a successful design for so long and these include power capability and ease of use. The size of a BTE relative to other styles such as the in-the-ear (ITE) and invisible-in-the-canal hearing aid (IIC) allows them to access greater power, which means greater amplification and also longer lasting battery power. Thus the BTE is suitable for all types of hearing loss from mild to severe, whereas other styles are better suited to mild to moderate hearing loss.

Another great advantage of the BTE is the ease of access to the controls. The latter, such as the volume control and the channel selection switch, are housed on the body and so easy to adjust once the wearer becomes accustomed to their location. In addition, for those for whom dexterity is an issue, the BTE is easy to put in place and less fiddly than other options.

Points to consider 

As to the disadvantages, well some people with mild hearing loss may feel a visible device to be ageing, in which case they should consider an IIC. In addition, the external natural of the BTE does make it exposed to the wind and therefore wind noise.

Whatever your choice, know that looking after your hearing is an investment in your overall good health.