What is the better hearing aid for children?
As we all know, not all types of hearing aids can fit for children to improving their hearing loss problem. Then, what type of hearing aids is workable for Children? Children can wear In-Ear Hearing Aids (ITE or CIC or IIC ), but as the hearing aid specialist of Earsmate, we recommend children to wear hearing aid till them older, usually around 10 years old. There are several reasons why infants and young children are not suitable for in-ear hearing aids. One of the most important reasons is that children鈥檚 ears grow very fast during infants and toddlers. The In-ear shell replacement is more troublesome than the behind the ear of BTE hearing aid mold replacement.
Firstly, the small size of ears:
When children's ears grow, they need to replace the ear molds in time to ensure tightness. In-ear hearing aids need to be sent back to the hearing aid factory for replacement. During this time, there is no hearing aid amplification on the child's ears, which is obviously undesirable. Hearing-impaired children need continuous hearing aid amplification to promote speech development, which the BTE hearing aid is much more convenient than the In-ear hearing aids.
Secondly, the hearing devices鈥� comfort and safety:
Another reason why in-ear hearing aids are not the first choice for infants and young children is that the hearing aids鈥� comfort and safety issues. Infants and preschoolers often wrestle, crawl around and roll around. Usually, the in-ear hearing aids are made by hard materials, which may damage their soft small ears. And the behind-the-ear BTE hearing aid can use soft ear molds, and its safety and comfort will be higher.
There is the third reason is the accessory of hearing aids product:
The BTE hearing aids have more functions, and one of the most meaningful functions for children is to connect wirelessly with accessories, such as the network + or FM system. These wireless systems allow children to listen better to long-distance sounds in noisy environments, such as classrooms. It is not easy for in-ear hearing aids to connect to the network+ or FM system. This means that the use of BTE hearing aids will have more benefits in the future when the child goes to school.
Based on the above three reasons, the behind-the-ear BTE hearing aids are the first choice for hearing-impaired or hearing loss children. Until the ear canal development is finalized when the child is about 10 years old, we can consider choosing an in-ear hearing aid for children.