A hearing aid is a small, wearable, battery-powered electronic device that helps those living with hearing loss to hear sounds and better understand speech. They are also used to reduce background noise so wearers can hear more clearly in noisy environments.

Hearing loss is generally a gradual process, and it’s no secret that it can have a huge impact on your emotional wellbeing, your ability to work and how well you connect with others, while also increasing the likelihood of developing dementia. 

Hearing loss is categorised by different levels - normal hearing, mild hearing loss, moderate hearing loss and severe hearing loss. While hearing is unique to everyone, hearing aids are normally needed if you’re suffering from any form of hearing loss, even if you have a mild diagnosis.

If you’re struggling to understand speech, find yourself turning up the TV more and more, if background noise is making listening hard or you’ve noticed a significant change in your hearing, you might need a hearing aid. Contact a trained audiologist or Ear, Nose and Throat specialist if you’re struggling with your hearing.

Hearing aids are either analogue or digital and normally consist of three main components: a microphone, an amplifier and a speaker. 

They work by receiving sound through the microphone, which sends a signal to the amplifier, which increases the sounds and sends them into the ear via the speaker. Find out more about how hearing aids work.

Unlike older, bulkier technologies, the hearing aids you can buy today are much more advanced and are designed to be more discreet and powerful. A perfect choice given the recent demand for smaller devices. There are two main types of hearing aids available: 

• In-the-ear (ITE) hearing aids
• Behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids

While the right hearing aid will depend on several factors, from the degree of your hearing loss to your budget, there are several additional features available that could help to improve your hearing experience:

• Rechargeable batteries: being able to recharge the batteries in your hearing aid is both better for the environment and more cost-effective
• Telecoil technology: also known as t-coils, these are small copper wires that are added to hearing aids to pick up magnetic signals from loop systems, removing background noise and amplifying sounds directly to your hearing aid. They make it easier to hear in a range of environments such as theatres, cinemas or places of worship
• Bluetooth compatibility: to allow your hearing aid to connect to devices such as your mobile phone or wireless speakers
• App integration: a range of modern hearing aids also come equipped with smartphone apps where you can adjust your aids or even translate different languages 

Hearing aids can be either closed or open in design. 

An open design means that the sound waves will reach your eardrum more naturally. Behind-the-ear hearing aids can have open fittings; the sound tube and earpiece sit in your external ear canal. Because the hearing aid doesn’t fill your whole ear canal, it’s possible to hear louder sounds naturally. Open-fit models also give you better ventilation of your ear canal.
A closed design means that your external ear canal is mostly filled by either an earpiece or an in-the-ear hearing aid. But this doesn’t mean that air can’t circulate – hearing aids have vents that allow air through. By fitting a closed design to your ear canal, sound is transmitted to you more directly, so the full range of your hearing aids’ features can be used more effectively.

For many hearing aid wearers, the cost of a device can be concerning. However, there are a range of devices on the market at a variety of prices and at Boots Hearingcare, our hearing aids start from just £345 for a single hearing aid and £495 for a pair. 

We also offer a range of flexible interest-free monthly payment options so you can spread the cost to better suit you. Find out more about hearing aid prices.

If none of the above hearing aids meets your hearing needs, there are other, more specialist alternatives available. Both bone conduction and bone-anchored hearing aids bypass the middle ear to transmit sound, while implants might also be a viable option. These might include middle ear implants, cochlear implants or brainstem implants.

All these specialist types of hearing aid could be available through the NHS, so speak to your GP for more information.