If you’ve heard of BAHAs but still aren’t 100% sure what a bone anchored hearing aid is or why it’s sometimes worn on a headband, this is the blog for you.
Today, we’re looking at what a BAHA is, how it works and what the difference is between a BAHA implant and a BAHA headband.
What Does BAHA Stand For?
BAHA stands for Bone Anchored Hearing Aid. A BAHA is a type of hearing aid or hearing device that transmits sound through the bones of the skull, bypassing the ear canal.
You may also see the acronym BCHA used. This stands for Bone Conduction Hearing Aid and this term is often used interchangeably with BAHA to mean a hearing aid system that bypasses the outer and middle ear.
What Is a BAHA Implant?
As its name suggests, a BAHA implant is a surgically implanted hearing aid. This involves having an operation, in which a small implant is placed into the skull bone behind your ear.
The implant is connected to an external processor, which vibrates in response to sound. The vibrations are transmitted through the bones of the skull to the cochlea, which is a spiral shape inside the inner ear that conducts sound to the auditory nerve. Here, vibrations are converted to sound that the wearer is able to process and understand.
There are two types of BAHA implant:
An abutment BAHA is where the implant comes through the skin of the scalp and can be attached to the sound processor. Whereas a BAHA attract is a magnetic device that sits completely under the skin and connects to the sound processor via a magnet.
There are also several different bone anchored hearing aid manufacturers and different models of BAHA to choose from.
What Is a BAHA Headband?
It’s also possible to wear a bone-anchored hearing aid externally, without undergoing surgery. Instead, a bone conduction hearing device is worn on a soft band or headband, with the BAHA processor placed over the mastoid bone, allowing it to transmit sound in the same way an implant would.
Who Wears a BAHA Headband?
Since bone-anchored hearing aids send signals directly to the inner ear, bypassing both the external ear and ear canal, they’re ideal for anyone who might struggle to wear traditional hearing aids. This includes people living with conditions that affect the development of the outer ear, such as Microtia, Goldenhar Syndrome, and Treacher Collins Syndrome.
Bone-anchored hearing aids can also be a solution for people who have issues with their middle ear, like a narrowing of the ear canal or people living with certain skin conditions or recurrent ear infections that might make it difficult or impossible to wear a hearing device that sits on or in the ear.
BAHAs can also help people with single-sided hearing loss, and a person can have unilateral or bilateral bone anchored hearing aids.
There are hundreds of thousands of BAHA wearers worldwide and many of these people wear their BAHA on a headband. This includes adults, teenagers and children of all ages, including very young babies.
Anyone who is considering having a BAHA implant will be asked to trial a BAHA headband first to make sure it’s the right solution for them before going ahead with surgery. Babies and young children who aren’t yet old enough to have surgery will also wear a BAHA headband while they wait, as this improves their hearing and gives them access to language from an earlier age.
However, for many people, wearing a BAHA headband is a permanent hearing solution. This might be because they don’t want to have the surgery or it might not be suitable for them. For these people, wearing a BAHA on a softband or headband, means they are still able to benefit from having a bone anchored hearing aid.
BAHA Headbands and Accessories
BAHA Accessories was founded by owner, Bryony Walker when she began making BAHA headbands for her goddaughter. She quickly realised how difficult it was to source good-quality BAHA headbands, especially in the UK.
Inspired by her new-found knowledge of bone-anchored hearing aids and her crafting skills, Bryony began to design and develop a range of BAHA headbands and other accessories for other BAHA wearers.
Over the years this has grown and BAHA accessories now offers a huge variety of BAHA headbands and BAHA hats along with accessories such as safety lines, button connectors, stickers, teddy bears and hearing aid essentials like storage cases and drying jars.
Get In Touch
If you’ve been wondering about the difference between a BAHA implant and a BAHA headband, we hope this blog has made it a little clearer.
For answers to more FAQ and to learn more about bone anchored hearing aids, please visit our blog.
You can also view our full range of BAHA headbands and accessories. We love working on custom creations too so if there’s something in particular you have in mind but can’t see in the store, don’t hesitate to get in touch and we’ll do our best to help.
If you’d like to find out more about any of our products and how they work, don’t hesitate to get in touch and we’ll be happy to help you find the right one for you. You can also email us at sales@bahaaccessoriesuk.com or give us a call on 07432 620644.
We look forward to hearing from you!