The Invisible Hearing Aid - Lyric & Wow! Hearing Aids
Posted: Thursday, October 08, 2009
by Kelly Calkins
AidRight Hearing Aids
Hearing Aid manufacturers are always looking for new ways to attract more patients and creating more "invisible" hearing aids has been a top priority for most of them. One of the most recent inventions in the hearing aid world is the Lyric (which is also been released under the name Wow!). Both Lyric and Wow! fit very deep into the ear canal right before your eardrum and it is so small that it literally cannot be seen! You can wear them 24 hours a day, sleep with them, and shower with them. There are no controls to manipulate and the reportedly have decent sound quality and they can be programmed to fit your hearing loss.
Initially, much of the excitement we heard about these hearing aids was that you could even go swimming with them. The manufacturer does not recommend this though as it could damage it. Once you take the hearing aids out, you cannot put them back in again! Once the old device is removed, you have to buy new devices since the old ones can't be used again.
A large majority of patients cannot wear these hearing aids because their ear canal is not the right size, or has too much bend, they have too severe of a hearing loss, or they have a medical condition which precludes it. Because the product is deep in your ear there is a danger that moisture could be trapped in your ear canal, which could lead to infection. While the hearing aids are programmable, they are not digital. The amount of fine tuning available is very limited, about the same as we had on analog programmable hearing aids 12 years ago.
Invisible hearing aids are a great idea, but these still need some work and the price is far to high for most patients to be able to afford them. The hearing aids offered today by the major manufacturers are so discreet that they are virtually invisible. Technology has advanced so much and it is leaps and bounds better than what we had even just a few short years ago. The price tag for quality hearing aids is coming down, though they are still not "cheap". Our recommendation is to save your money and stick with more traditional hearing aids. You could buy a new car or take an exotic vacation with the money you save!
--------
Kelly C. Calkins, AuD., has practiced audiology for over 20 years. For more information about hearing aids or to find the nearest hearing aid professional to you visit our website at http://www.adviceonhearingaids.com
This Article has been viewed 9,524 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (7 total)A nice idea but the real problem with hearing aids is the cost. These "invisible" hearing aids actually raise the cost further! For a starter hearing aid, we have been recommending the Acoustitone PRO hearing aids with excellent results.Like anything thats new and being developed, the cost starts high and will come down, the first home computers cost thousands of pounds, now you can get better for a hundred, these develoments are a good thing, and offer choice for people with hearing loss
removeable deep insertion hearing aids are now available at much lower cost. They are custom fit and high end digital technology. Otolens invisible intra canal (IIC).Can you provide some more details on this (availability, price) or a link where I can find out more?
Thank you for this article. It saved me a lot of time and trouble, and the information was just what I needed.
Love the article, but the closing comment, saying save money and go on a holiday and buy a standard hearing aid, isnt the way forward.Prices will come down, 80% of people with hearing loss dont wear hearing aids for a reason, And the technology that hasnt developed much in 30 years has now started to take leaps forward.
Lyrics are $3300 annually and you get their latest version with each replacement when they make updates, (like the new waterproof model). I spent 10k on my last set of Phonak BTE's with the FM modulators, adapters, receivers, transmitters.... and they were worthless after 4 or 5 years. These are more money for sure, but they have a lot of benefits as well. If you want the cutting edge, I don't think they are that much more though. No reason not to try the 30 day free trial anyway.
Thanks for the info--great to see both pros and cons
I have had WOW Hearing Aids for the last two months now and I love them. I have had two sets of conventional aids in the past and I chose not to wear them after a few days. My WOW aids are expensive but to me they are so worth it. My thought 'if you haven't tried them yourself don't knock them'. Seems like all kind's of people have an opinion that is all just too biased.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.