When kids and teenagers have hearing loss, one of the most important things to do is diagnose it as soon as possible and follow through with a proper course of treatment. This is especially applicable for younger children who are just getting familiar with the speech. It is because hearing is an essential part of developing social skills and language skills. The better a child can hear, the better they will be able to communicate.
Treatment that has been delayed even for a few weeks or months really can significantly impact their development. If the hearing loss is left untreated, the children will feel both isolated and withdrawn, which can seriously affect their ability to fulfill their true potential. This article will discuss how hearing aids are different for kids and the 4 Best Hearing Aids for Children.
- Best in Overall: Nano Hearing Aids
- Most Popular Hearing Aids: Oticon
- Best in Technology: Signia
- Most Discreet Style: Starkey
The specific treatment method that needs to be applied to a particular child will depend on both the cause of their hearing loss and the type of hearing loss they have. On the other hand, many children will also benefit a lot from hearing aids.
Pediatric Hearing Aids
Hearing aids run on batteries that use microphones to increase the volume of sounds going into the ears. These days, all the hearing aids available for children have modern designs and very sophisticated and state-of-the-art technology. Therefore, the hearing aids that are of the BTE (Behind-the-ear) variety are better suited for children. There are, however, some specific ITE (In-the-ear) ones that also fit teenagers.
Hearing aids should not only enhance a child’s ability to hear, but they should also make a massive difference when it comes to their confidence. The devices should be able to empower the children to realize their potential fully.
Hearing aids for children should ideally be a bit robust, resistant to water, and also dust-proof. Some essential features in a child’s hearing aid include remote controls, push buttons that are child-safe, and batteries free from tamper. Many hearing aids can now offer connectivity to smart devices like TVs and Computers by Bluetooth. This will help the kids to stay connected with the world around them.
How are Children’s Hearing Aids Different?
The hearing aids for toddlers/children have to be safe and also durable. The doors of the batteries need to be tamper-proof. Because you do not want the curious fingers of children to open the devices, another thing that has to be factored in is that we all know that children are very active; they enjoy playing sports and playing outside regardless of the weather. Many of these hearing aids feature very advanced nanotech coatings to protect the device from sweat, dirt, and sometimes even rain. One of the features that are sure to get your child excited is the ability to customize the device’s color.
Now let’s get into our list!
The 4 Best Hearing Aids for Children
1. Best in Overall: Nano Hearing Aids
Of all the brands mentioned in this article, the one that stands out is Nano Hearing Aids, one of the best hearing aids for children available in the market. This company that completely cuts out the middle-man and can hence, provide hearing aids for children for a fraction of the cost of other hearing aids with similar features. In fact, one of the primary motivations behind the company’s formation was to break up the monopolistic nature of the hearing aid industry and offer hearing aids that reflects the actual cost of manufacturing them. Among many of Nano’s lines of products, the one that they recommend for children is their most powerful device known as the Nano X2.0. This is one of the most powerful hearing aids that will give your hard-of-hearing child a much better hearing.
2. Most Popular Hearing Aids: Oticon
Oticon is a brand that comes highly recommended with regards to hearing aids for children. Their Sensei product has been mentioned particularly by a lot of experts as being very good for children. These are more in the premium range of products and aim to give the user an easy listening experience regardless of the environment. This device can get rid of feedback, manage noise properly, and has directionality. This device is particularly good at making sure that your child’s cognitive load has been reduced so that they can better focus on learning instead of struggling to hear properly.
3. Best in Technology: Signia
Signia offers a whole range of hearing aids made explicitly for both kids and teens. Of their range of products, the ones that they particularly recommend are called the Insio, Aquarius, and also Nitro. Finally, for teens who want a more discreet hearing aid but still get all the connectivity, there is the Pure. This is a very tiny hearing aid that comes packed with a lot of really advanced technology. One other handy feature of this device is controlling it with your smartphone using an app.
4. Most Discreet Style: Starkey
Instead of just creating many hearing aids specifically designed for children, this particular brand has taken quite a different approach. They have allowed their pediatric team to make versions of their products that are a lot more child-friendly. This applies to their entire catalog of products like the Ignite series or the Z, Wi, 2 and X series. The hearing aid devices for children are a lot more customizable when it comes to color, and they are also a bit more durable.
Conclusion
Hearing loss is a tricky thing to contend with, even for adults. So it is not that surprising that it can seriously affect children as well. As we have mentioned before, the key to properly treating hearing loss in children is to get them diagnosed early and to get the treatment procedure started as quickly as possible. The devices mentioned above devices are some of the best hearing aids for children that can give children a semblance of everyday life.
Frequently Asked Question:
Q. How do you know if your child needs hearing aids?Ans: If you notice the following signs, then your infant/kids might have hearing loss thus needs immediate attention and hearing aids (after consulting with the pediatrician)
1. Lack of reaction and speech
2. Inattentiveness
3. Stopped trying to bubble or experimenting with sounds
4. Lack of understandable speech
