ENT (Otolaryngology) and Audiology
Main Line Health otolaryngology and audiology experts treat and manage conditions affecting your ears, nose and throat at locations in the Philadelphia area.
Hearing Aids
Hearing aid options
Hearing aids should be custom-fit to your ear or both ears individually, and hearing needs. The best hearing aid for you depends upon your particular hearing loss and listening needs, the size and shape of your ear and ear canal, and the dexterity of your hands.
The Audiology and Hearing Aid Center at Riddle Hospital offers highly sophisticated options in hearing aid technology, including superior noise reduction, wireless streaming from electronic devices, and responsiveness to the user's sound environment.
Types of hearing aids
There are several styles of hearing aids:
- Behind-the-ear (BTE) aids go over the ear and are connected with tubing to custom-fitted earpieces
- Open fit receiver-in-the-ear (RITE) aids are a newer design, and while still placed over the ear, they are extremely small and nearly invisible
- In-the-ear (ITE) hearing aids fill the entire bowl of the ear and part of the ear canal
- Smaller versions of ITEs are called half-shell and in-the-canal (ITC)
- The least visible aids are completely-in-the-canal (CIC)