One of the biggest concerns about getting hearing aids, apart from the recognition of hearing loss, is the cosmetic aspect of wearing them. While encrusting your hearing aids with diamonds or getting charms for them may individualise them (and yes, you can do both!), it really doesn’t address the needs of those people who would like to be a little more discrete about their hearing aids.

Luckily the industry has advanced quite a lot since the days of the old beige blocks. When we talk about discreet hearing aids now, we are talking about what’s called CIC (Completely in the Canal) and IIC (Invisible in the Canal) devices. These aids sit completely inside the ear with nothing behind the ear. This means it’s very difficult for people, unless they look very closely, to see you are actually wearing aids.

Even hearing aids that you wear behind the ear are these days remarkably discreet. The RIC (Receiver in the Canal) models have the processor sitting behind the ear with the receiver in the ear. This allows for the bit behind the ear to be as small as possible. People wearing RIC models have said they wore them for days and had to tell their family, who didn’t notice, that they were wearing them!

Now, discretion isn’t necessarily interchangeable for glamourous but some of the devices on the market today come close. Earlier this year Phonak released the Titanium Virto B. This is a super discreet custom-made titanium IIC hearing aid. As it sits in the ear canal someone would have to be looking directly into your ear canal to see it. Other IIC or CIC devices available include the Signia Silk Primax instant fit device, the Soundlens and Muse from Starkey, and the Stride from Unitron.

When we talk about glamour in RIC models, the tiny Moxi Now from Unitron won the coveted Best of the Best 2017 international award from Red Dot for top ground-breaking and quality design. This is a tiny device that sits behind the ear with a barely visible wire running from the device to the receiver. Again, people have to look very closely to notice you are wearing a hearing aid.

If you want truly invisible, there’s the Phonak Lyric. Inserted by your audiologist into your ear canal, it remains there for up to three months at a time. It’s positioned four millimetres from your eardrum so no one can see it no matter how hard they look. The best thing about the Lyric is they are 24/7 and you don’t need to swap batteries.

We are not saying that the hearing aids are glamourous but, what you can rest assured of, hearing aids will not detract from your own glamour. The fact is they may in fact enhance glamour as, once your hearing loss is treated, you can engage vibrantly with the people around you once more.

Discuss all your hearing aid options with your qualified audiologist to see how discrete your hearing loss solution can be.

Clarity Hearing Solutions
266 Charters Towers Road Hermit Park
60 N Beck Drive Condon
4779 1566
www.clarityhearingsolutions.com.au