Hearing loss treatment

How do
hearing aids work?

How do hearing aids help me hear?

An amp for your ear

In its most simplest form, think of a hearing aid as a miniature public address system with four basic components:

  1. Microphone
  2. Amplifier
  3. Speaker (receiver)
  4. Power supply (batteries)

No matter what style or size, all hearing aids consist of these four components.

Microphones and receivers are transducers, meaning they convert energy from one form to another. The microphone gathers acoustic energy (sound) and converts it into an electrical signal. The receiver gathers electrical signals from the amplifier and converts them back into acoustic energy (sound).

Located between the microphone and receiver, the amplifier increases the amplitude of the signal supplied by the microphone before transmitting it to the receiver, which sends it to your inner ear.

How do hearing aids work?

Someone says hello

How Do Starkey Hearing Aids Work

We hear the hello

A microphone picks up the sound and converts it into an electrical/digital signal.

An amplifier increases the strength of that signal. In more sophisticated devices, the signal is manipulated by advanced processing.

A receiver/speaker converts it back into sound and sends it to the inner ear. The brain “hears” and understands the sound as speech.

Digital makes a difference

The advent of digital signal processing revolutionized hearing aids, enabling scientists and manufacturers to write smart software and develop sophisticated algorithms that lead to new benefits such as:

  • Improved speech understanding in noisy environments
  • Increased gain without feedback
  • Enhanced listening comfort and speech perception
  • Ability to shape instrument settings to match the specific wearer's hearing needs
  • More precise directional capabilities

You might also like:

  • Five steps to better hearing

    Our free guide walks you through what you should do if you have hearing loss.

    Download it
  • Test your hearing

    Wondering if you have hearing loss? Our free online test takes just 5 minutes.

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  • Schedule an appointment

    Meet with a local hearing professional who can help.

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