If you’ve ever wondered how exactly your hearing aid works, in this week’s blog, we’re taking a closer look at the technology behind a BAHA and answering the question, “How do bone-anchored hearing aids work?”
What Is a Bone Anchored Hearing Aid?
While traditional hearing aids transmit sound through the ear canal, bone anchored hearing aids (or BAHAs for short) transmit sound through the bones of the skull. Rather than being inserted into the ear canal or worn behind the ear like many other types of hearing aid, a bone anchored hearing aid is either fixed to a surgical implant in the wearer’s skull or worn around the person’s head on a softband or headband.
How Does a BAHA Work?
A bone-anchored hearing aid consists of a processor, which is either attached to a titanium implant that has been surgically placed or is worn on a headband. The device vibrates in response to sounds entering through the microphone on the processor and these vibrations are then transmitted through the bones of the skull to the cochlea, which is a snail-shaped spiral inside the inner ear that helps to conduct sound to the auditory nerve. Here, they are converted to sounds that the wearer can then process and understand.
A bone-anchored hearing aid sends signals directly to the inner ear, bypassing both the external ear and ear canal, making it particularly suitable for those who are unable to use more traditional hearing aids. This includes people living with conditions that affect the outer ear, such as Goldenhar Syndrome, Treacher Collins Syndrome and Microtia. Bone-anchored hearing aids also work well for people who have issues with their ear canals, such as narrowing of the canal, skin conditions or recurrent ear infections that mean it isn’t possible or advisable to have a hearing device sitting on or inside the ear. BAHAs can also help people with single-sided hearing loss.
Bone-anchored hearing aids can be worn by babies, toddlers, children, teenagers and adults alike. Bone-anchored hearing aids don’t restore perfect hearing but can help wearers to more easily distinguish speech and other sounds in their environment, aiding communication and improving their quality of life.
Are There Different Types of Bone Anchored Hearing Aid?
There are three different ways to wear a bone-anchored hearing aid. Two of these involve having a surgical procedure to have a BAHA implant fitted. The other is to wear a bone-anchored hearing aid externally on a BAHA headband.
Getting a BAHA implantable device involves having an operation where a small implant is placed inside the mastoid bone of the skull. There are two types of surgical BAHA available; The first is an abutment BAHA, where the implant comes through the skin of the scalp and can be directly attached to the sound processor. The second type is called a BAHA attract and is a magnetic device that sits entirely under the skin and connects to the sound processor via a magnet.
There are pros and cons to both these options; An abutment BAHA often gives hearing outcomes but there can be complications at the site, such as skin irritation and infections. There are usually fewer issues post-op with a BAHA attract thanks to the skin being completely closed over the magnet but it can cause problems with future MRI scans.
An alternative to surgery is to wear an external BAHA on a headband. This works the same way as a surgically-implanted BAHA, transmitting sound from an external processor through the skull bones, but is the preferred option for those who can’t or don’t want to have surgery.
If an audiologist believes that a bone-anchored hearing aid might help you or your child, a BAHA headband will often be offered as a trial to discover whether or not you find it useful. You may then decide to go ahead with the surgical procedure or continue wearing the hearing aid on a headband.
There are also several different manufacturers of bone-anchored hearing aids as well as different models of BAHA. The names you will come across most often are Oticon Ponto, Cochlear BAHA and Medel Adhear, as well as the BHM Contact Mini. Our BAHA headbands work with all of these types of bone-anchored hearing aid in conjunction with a button connector that attaches your processor to the headband.
Get In Touch
We hope this blog has explained how bone anchored hearing aids work. To learn more, take a look at our blog. If you have any other questions about bone anchored hearing aids or BAHA headbands and accessories, please don’t hesitate to get in touch and we’ll do our best to help.
We’re also more than happy to talk you through our various products and designs and their different functions to make sure that they’re the right choice for you. Get in touch today by calling 07432 620644 or emailing sales@bahaaccessoriesuk.com. You can also contact us online. We look forward to hearing from you!