The Open Fit hearing aid is a mini BTE (behind the ear). It is very light and sits behind the ear connected by a tiny thin tube into the ear. Stylish and practically invisible, these hearing aids have revolutionised hearing aid fittings since 2005.

These hearing aids provide superior sound, are easy to insert and are less prone to occlusion effects. These hearing aids are available in modern colours and some can be linked by blue-tooth to modern devices such as mobile phones.They can be fitted more easily as they do not require custom made ear-moulds.

This type of hearing aid is not suitable for people with severe hearing loss.

The BTE hearing aid sits behind the ear connected to an ear mold. The ear mold is essentially plumbing that directs the sound down the ear while the electronic device sits behind the ear.

This is often a more high powered hearing aid suited to more severe hearing losses. It is less prone to whistle or feed back.

Some times slightly more difficult to use. Clients with small ears can have difficulty using the hearing aid while wearing glasses

A larger style all-in-the-ear hearing aid that sits in the bowl of the ear or concha.

This style allows for

• A more powerful hearing aid.
• A larger volume control for manual hearing aids (ie: easy use of the volume control being able to make the aid turn louder and softer).
• Other controls to be placed on the hearing aid such as programming switches or telephone or telecoil. Making them less prone to feedback or whistling problems.

Sometimes less cosmetically appealing

This is a smaller type of aid that fits inside the ear. In theory it only takes up the canal space but in practice it does take more than just the canal. Size or cosmetic appeal often varies between manufacturer and the client’s ear canal.

More cosmetically appealing.

These are more prone to feedback or whistling.  The smaller components such as the volume control means people with limited feeling or arthritis find these aids are more difficult to control.

Clients that have limited manipulative skills of small controls should not consider this hearing aid unless they are willing to use an automatic aid, which sometimes has disadvantages.

The completely-in-the-canal hearing aid is the smallest aid possible, designed to sit inside the canal.

This is a cosmetically appealing hearing aid as it is almost invisible to the eye. This type of aid is excellent for telephone use as there are no switches and the phone sits against the external ear quite well. There are several acoustic advantages with this aid as the hearing aid uses the ear for enhanced directionality.

Certain hearing losses and certain ear canal shapes exclude the use of this type of hearing aid. Battery life is very short because the aid uses very small batteries. Some clients find the placement of this very small hearing aid difficult. It is an expensive aid. The hearing aid is so small that it has no controls requiring an automatic circuit, which adds to the cost.