Are You Small Enough For The Smallest Hearing Aid?

Centuries ago, if you wanted a hearing aid, you had to stick something the size of a French horn in your ear. Not only did you know you had a hearing problem, but so did everyone else in town. Just like with computers, hearing aids have gotten smaller and more powerful. But how small are the smallest hearing aids?

Depends Who You Talk To

There are at least two hearing aid manufacturers claiming to make the smallest hearing aid in the world. The Sonic Adesso is one of these contenders. These hearing aids are designed to be inserted into the ear. They are smaller than the ear canal of an adult woman. They'd probably be pretty tight for a child. Since they are smaller than the ear canal, they are encased in shells to fit your ear snugly.

These shells for the smallest hearing aids come in two kinds – a custom-made hard shell and disposable soft shells. You won’t necessarily save money with the soft disposable shells, since you have to get them at the same place where you get your Adesso smallest hearing aids. For some people, they are far more comfortable than a permanent shell.

Over The Ear

The Sonic Adesso might be the smallest hearing aids for inside the ear, but the Phonak Sovia devices are the smallest hearing aids for outside of the ear. For some people, over-the-ear hearing aids are more comfortable and effective than ones you have to stick inside your ear. If you are prone to ear infections, then over-the-ear hearing aids are your only sensible option.

The Phonak Sovia uses the latest and greatest in digital hearing aid technology, with automatic sound adjusting. Like a camera focuses to pick up an image clearer, a digital hearing aid focuses on a particular sound and zooms in on it so you can hear it clearer. It analyses extraneous noises and screens out background noises, letting you focus on speech and important sounds. It also has a very low feedback rate.

Are They For You?

However amazing the world's smallest hearing aids are, they still might be the wrong hearing aids for you. Since you will be working with these devices every day, you need to be comfortable handling them, putting them on and taking them off. If you have trouble getting your hands around such tiny instruments, then a bigger hearing aid may be the only practical option for you.