Bone Anchored Hearing Aid (BAHA) and Middle Ear Implants
Hearing Aids are the most common solution for the majority of people suffering from hearing loss. However, if you suffer from damage to the outer or middle ear (Conductive Hearing Loss), suffer from recurrent ear infections or have no hearing in one ear, a Bone Anchored Hearing Aid (BAHA) or Middle Ear Implant may be an option for you.
While a hearing aid tries to push sound through the damaged area of the ear, a BAHA system uses bone conduction to send clear, crisp sound directly to your inner ear (or Cochlear).
There are two main types of BAHA:
- Subcutaneous – which is a magnetic attachment seated just under the skin with an external processor. The processor picks up sound and sends vibrations through to the middle ear. This then sends vibrations through to the inner ear or cochlea.
- Percutaneous – which is an abutment that is inserted into the bone of the skull typically the Mastoid bone. This too has an external processor that sends signals to the cochlea.
Some examples of the types of devices that are available can be seen in the following links:
Middle ear implants can be an effective solution for cases of mild to severe sensorineural hearing loss, as well as for conductive or mixed losses. Sound is converted into mechanical vibrations that directly stimulate the middle ear structure (e.g. the ossicular chain in the middle ear) causing it to vibrate. These vibrations then conduct sound to the inner ear (the Cochlea) where they are passed onto the Brain and are perceived as sound.
After being referred by your GP, your Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Consultant and Audiologist will do a full and in-depth hearing assessment for you to establish if you would benefit from either a BAHA or a middle ear implant. In some cases you may be able to have a non-invasive trial of how it may sound to you. Both the BAHA and middle ear implants do require surgery, but this will be discussed with you and you will be given all of the viable options so you can make a fully informed decision about what is best for you.
BAHA and Middle Ear Implants are not suitable for everyone, so a strict criteria is followed by our ENT consultants and Specialist Audiologists to ensure that you obtain the best hearing aid for your hearing loss and severity.
You can hear about BAHA and Middle Ear Implants and how they work by following the links below:
If you would like further information regarding implantable devices for a child, please see our Paediatric Services section on this website.
If you already have a BAHA hearing aid device and you have any problems or faults with it, please contact the department on the email or telephone number below and one of our specialist audiologists will be in touch to discuss how we can help you.
If you have any questions or you would like some more information, you can contact us by email on [email protected] or phone on 0113 3922484 (general enquiries) and our specialist audiologists will be happy to help.