At a recent class I learned that hearing aid technology has advanced more in the past 7 years than in the previous 70 years combined. The progress I have witnessed in technology over the past 17 years, and especially the last 7 years since opening Blue Ribbon Hearing & Tinnitus Center, has been extraordinary.

Just days after the class I had a conversation with a long-term patient and we discussed recent technology breakthroughs. She explained in detail to me her experiences with hearing aids over the past 50+ years and how much technology has changed in that time, and marveled at recent advancements.

Her two favorite improvements in hearing aids in her lifetime are the miniaturization of devices and improved audio quality from programmable aids. Her first memory of a hearing aid was a body aid, worn in her front pocket, with a cord that connected to a receiver in the ear. In the 1970s she was grateful to become untethered from the box as she began to wear behind-the-ear (BTE) devices that allowed her to interact freely with her friends and even play sports. In the 1980s she was able to wear a more discreet in-the-ear (ITE) device that fit flush in her ear. She no longer had to worry about the device becoming tangled in her hair or being knocked off. In the 1990s she transitioned to smaller completely-in-canal (CIC) devices. Then in 2010 she was able to get her first invisible-in-the-canal (IIC) devices followed by more advanced IICs a few years ago.

While more convenient sized devices made life easier, sound quality was a major issue for her the first 40 years. When I first met her 16 years ago, she would only wear the devices when absolutely necessary and often in only one ear because wearing them was uncomfortable. Background noise and louds sounds were a major problem. The lack of custom programming led her to remove the devices when she was not in work or school and led to consternation with her family at home in the evenings.

Her first CICs were digitally programmable, but only had 4 bands and were still not comfortable in noise. Finally, in 2010 when I convinced her of the importance of wearing both aids all the time and the promise we could program the devices specifically to her hearing loss, she decided to get the IICs with 16 bands! Within a couple of visits her devices were programmed so she was able to wear them all day, most days. This led to much better communication and she was much happier, but sometimes she would still take them out at home. Finally, with the 24 band IICs, she was able to wear them all day, every day.

Hearing her story reminded me of how far we have come, and how amazing today’s technology really is. She is looking forward to getting her next set of devices with even more improvement in background noise management, fine tuning and connectivity to her cell phone.