We support brand new or refurbished hearing aids, all makes and models from any manufacturer at Lawrence Hearing Aid Center. There are several different styles and sizes of hearing aids. Which one is the best for your hearing loss? That depends on the severity of your hearing loss and the physical shape of your ears. Below are the most common styles of hearing instruments fit today, and information on their benefits and limitations.
Invisible-In-Canal – IIC
The IIC is a very special hearing instrument that is fit very deeply in the ear canal, nearly to the eardrum. The obvious benefit of this type of hearing aid is that it is almost, if not completely, invisible to the naked eye. As the most discreet and cosmetically appealing custom instrument made today it has a practical benefit for people with mild/moderate hearing losses; the placement of the IIC’s microphone being actually in the ear canal, it uses the ear’s natural landscape for improved location of sounds, and to minimize the occlusion effect due to the fitting being in the bone portion of the ear canal.
Battery size: 10
Completely-In-Canal – CIC
The CIC is the original deep fit custom style hearing instrument and fits a much broader range of hearing losses than its small cousin the IIC. The CIC has other benefits besides fitting range; it also has the capability to have wireless communication between the right and left instruments as well as a memory button physically on the instrument for comfort control.
Battery size: 10
Canal
The Canal instrument has all the capabilities of the CIC style instrument with the added space for volume controls, memory buttons, and directional microphones. This style is very flexible and fits nearly all hearing losses with the exception of profound hearing losses. The placement of the dual microphones (directional) is not in the canal, they are placed in the concha-bowl diminishing some of the benefits of the natural ear for the location of sounds.
Battery size: 312
Fullshell
The Fullshell style instrument provides the same benefits as the canal style instrument, but also offers a larger battery for longer use times. As this style fills in the full ear, it will provide a better seal which will reduce feedback (whistling) in most cases. This style is also very beneficial for those individuals with dexterity issues, with its larger battery and physical size as compared to the IIC, CIC, and Canal style instruments.
Battery sizes: 312, 13.
Receiver-In-Canal – RIC
The RIC (Receiver in Canal) is the latest style of instruments and is gaining in popularity due to its small size, natural sound, and versatility. This style instrument is very comfortable and allows the ear canal to remain open high-frequency hearing losses and can be fit for other more severe hearing loss configurations.
Battery sizes: 10, 312, 13
Behind-The-Ear – BTE
The BTE (Behind the Ear) style hearing instruments are typically the largest hearing devices in the group and will have all the whistles and bells of the hearing aid industry available to the user. This style instrument will fit all types of audible hearing losses. The benefits of the BTE are, they are easy to handle, larger battery size, onboard controls, and typically they have a longer life expectancy than other styles of hearing instruments.
Battery sizes: 10, 312, 13, 675
There are several manufacturers of the above-mentioned styles of hearing instruments the professionals at Lawrence Hearing Aid Center can fit and are familiar with all manufacturers. It is the responsibility of the hearing instrument specialist to choose the best style and technology, may it brand new or refurbished hearing aid, for your individual needs. Some manufacturer names we work with:
and many others.
