Hearing Aids vs. Cochlear Implants: What’s the Difference?

Your audiologist is able to diagnose you with hearing loss, if it’s present, helping you understand your range of hearing and how to best protect your hearing in the future. However, they can also help you treat it by recommending the devices that are best suited to your needs.

The two options are a hearing aid and a cochlear implant. It’s easy to assume that both do roughly the same thing: helping you receive sound signals better, but there are big differences. From how they’re worn to how they work and even to who they can help, there are significant differences to each device. Let’s explore what sets them apart.

What Are Hearing Aids?

Hearing aids are small devices that are designed to be worn in or behind the ear. These devices work by picking up external sounds and amplifying them, making it easier for people with mild-to-profound hearing loss to interpret them correctly. This is done through the microphone, which picks up the external noise from the surrounding environment and converts it into electrical signals. The device reads and interprets these signals, amplifying them before outputting them through the speaker, which faces the inner ear.

Hearing aids can come in a wide variety of styles, usually categorized as in the ear (ITE), behind the ear (BTE) or in the canal (ITC), which indicates where they are worn, typically. Which type is suited for you depends on a range of things, such as which level of hearing loss you experience, as well as if you have the manual dexterity to use the smaller devices. Each type of device offers the ability to program them to different environments and background noise levels.

Hearing aids can also come with a variety of functions and features designed to make them more convenient or better suited to individual needs. This can include Bluetooth connectivity, noise cancellation, speech recognition and directional microphones.

What Are Cochlear Implants?

Rather than being worn behind the ears, cochlear implants are implanted directly into the skull and designed to reside there permanently. The primary component is inserted surgically, resting securely beneath the skin, while strings are implanted into the cochlea of the ear. They are designed to help those with the most profound cases of hearing loss.

As such, cochlear implants are often recommended for those who might not be helped much by hearing aids. Furthermore, they only work for sensorineural hearing loss, which is hearing loss that can be caused by gradual age-related inner ear cell degeneration, diabetes and head injuries.

Rather than amplifying sounds and then outputting them directly to the inner ear’s hair cells, cochlear implants bypass them entirely to stimulate the auditory nerves instead. This is done with a microphone to pick up the sounds, a receiver that converts them into electronic signals and a transmitter that outputs them through the electrode array. This array stimulates the auditory nerve, which then interprets the output as sounds.

What Are the Differences?

With the above information, the major differences between the two kinds of devices might already be clear, but just to break it down, here’s how they stand apart:

• How they are worn: Hearing aids are wearable, meaning they can be put in and taken out with relative ease. Cochlear implants have a component that has to be surgically embedded.
• Who they are suitable for: Hearing aids are more commonly used because they can help people who experience mild-to-profound hearing loss. Cochlear implants are more specifically targeted at those who experience the most profound levels of hearing loss.
• How they work: Hearing aids magnify noise with the help of an amplifier and use a speaker to play it back out to the inner ear. Cochlear implants bypass the inner ear, entirely, converting sound into electrical signals that are communicated directly to the auditory nerve.
• Ease of use: Hearing aids take a little getting used to but are relatively easy to adapt to. Cochlear implants tend to require ongoing help so that the user can better interpret the sound signals they output.

Get the Treatment That You Need

With the information above, you should have a much greater understanding of the differences between hearing aids and cochlear implants. However, if you need further help, then don’t hesitate to get in touch with an audiologist at Hearing & Balance Centers of West Tennessee. You can call our Jackson offices at (731) 256-5973 or reach our Memphis offices by calling (901) 201-6761.