A hearing aid is a device that people who have hearing problems use to hear more easily. Early designs of the hearing aid can be described as "ear horns," funnel shaped amplification devices that people put up to their ears whenever they needed to listen to something.
Of course, the evolution of technology made it possible for the extinction of the atrocious-looking device. Now, hearing aids are commonly electronic devices that are worn on the ear like the conventional ear phone. The first design of these had a rectangular battery pack that connected to the ear piece with a lengthy wire. The battery pack was usually placed in the user's pocket. This design tended to be flawed, as the microphone used to amplify sounds wasn't placed very strategically, often suffering disturbances from the user's clothing. During the mid 20th century, they came up with hearing aids that had a small battery inside the actual earpiece.
There are several types of hearing aids, varying in size and power. There are the body worn hearing aids, which were mentioned earlier, there are behind the ear (BTE) hearing aids, which are placed behind the ear with a specially made ear mold. They came in different colors, from skin tone to bright colors for children. This design, since placed behind the ear, still enabled users to utilize their natural hearing.
The next type is the in the ear (ITE) hearing aid. These are also custom made to fit the user's ear. Modern models of the ITEs have the ability to regulate and cancel feedback, a loud, screeching sound caused by sound leaking out and being amplified again.
There are also in the canal (ITC), mid canal (MIC) and completely in the canal (CIC) types of hearing aids. ITC aids only fill the bottom half of the external ear. MIC and CIC are smaller and usually not visible. They are advised for mild to moderately severe hearing problems.
Bone anchored hearing aids (BAHA) are aids that are surgically implanted devices that use bones as pathways of sound.
In the 50s, there were devices that were catered for those who had problems with both hearing and seeing. They were called eyeglass aids, devices that combined both hearing aids and spectacles. The hearing aids were put in the temple part of the glasses. The problem with the design was that there wasn't a wide range of choices for frames, and one had to wear both the glasses and the hearing aids at the same time, or not at all.
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