Li, Zhaohui

IELI2320

May 23, 2023

How Does Hearing Aids Work and Apply

There are nearly 20% of the global population live with hearing loss. Losing some of the

hearing ability is frequently occurs among all ages. It can be caused by accidents, for

example: car crash, physical illnesses and even high-volume strike. All of these factors can be

improved by suitable hearing aids. In the speak of that, hearing aids contribute and improve

to people’s hearing ability by increase the surrounding sounds.

To give a brief introduction, “mild hearing loss affects an estimated 25.4 million people

in the U.S. ages 12 years and older” (Wirth, 2023). there are two main kinds of hearing aids

in nowadays, the most commonly used type is a small device in the shape of a headphone. In

order to hear sounds clearly, it can help to increase the volume of the surrounding sounds.

The second type of hearing aid is the artificial cochlea, it is only used for serious injure or

impairment on hearing. Such as car crash accident. It repairs some of the hearing ability and

help the equipper to catch most of the sound, and live normally. To continue, most people

only need the head phone-like hearing aid, it is enough for most of the hearing-involved

activities.

To begin with the topic, the headphone-like hearing aids are commonly used among

people with various hearing disabilities. It is marked in an average of 400 dollars, but more

expensive products are existing too. The good ones have better performance, upgraded

battery and hardware of the hearing aid. However, what exactly is the function of the hearing

aids to help people to catch the sounds? With the question in mind, most Hearing aids first
convert sound signals into electrical signals, amplify the electrical signals, and then convert

them into acoustic signals, thereby amplifying the sound. With the openness and

development of hearing aid technology, more and more people have accepted its existence

and become the mainstream choice for hearing-impaired individuals.

(Figure 1)

An old lady I know also started wearing hearing aids a few years ago due to age issues.

Before wearing it, she often ignored what we said, and even if she heard it, she needed others

to repeat it loudly several times. When she first wore a hearing aid, the first thing she felt was

surprise, then surprise. She said that hearing aids will make the surrounding sounds clearer,

and our conversation with her will also become more fluent.

To wrap up all of the information, the previous paragraphs has demonstrated how does

the hearing aids provide recognizable sounds for an old lady, and how can it change the way

she communicates or respond, therefore, the old lade can proudly say that, a suitable hearing

aid had supported her life and made it better. There are still many people who not only

suffered from hearing disability, but also struggle in poverty. Therefore, as the social

responsibility become a unignorable part of related companies, it is necessary for them to

come up with a plan in order to solve the problem. In this case, they can produce hearing aids

in a more affordable price, to make our world become a better place.

 Reference

“Deafness and Hearing Loss Statistics.” Forbes, 3 May 2023, www.forbes.com/health/hearing-

aids/deafness-statistics/.