Children's Hearing Aid – Bone Anchored Hearing Aids

A revolutionary hearing aid is transforming the lives of deaf children in the UK. The fitting of bone anchored hearing aids is still in its infancy, but The National Deaf Children’s Society believes it will become more common and has published good practice guidelines to ensure all deaf children that can benefit from a BAHA receive the best service possible.

A BAHA uses bone conduction technology, so the sound bypasses the outer and middle ear and is sent straight to the inner ear through the bones in the skull. It is suitable for some deaf children with a conductive hearing loss whereby sound cannot pass efficiently through the ear in the normal way.

Before the introduction of implanted BAHAs, children were often fitted with an external bone conduction hearing aid, which the child or young person had to wear on a headband. As well as being uncomfortable and making the child feel self-conscious, the hearing aid could vary in its results, due to the difficulties in keeping the aid tightly enough to the head. The sound would also have to reach the bone through skin and hair, again meaning the consistency could vary.

But now a simple surgical procedure is transforming the lives of children who benefit from bone conduction hearing aids. The BAHA is implanted directly onto the mastoid bone in the skull, so the inconsistency in sound level is removed, and all that is visible externally is a small sound processor just behind the child’s ear. The sound processors even come in a range of colours, so many children can choose one that matches their hair colour, making them much less self-conscious.

NDCS’s quality standards and good practice guidelines for bone anchored hearing aids in children are launched today at the British Library in front of an audience of professionals who can make up a BAHA team – audiologists, surgeons, speech and language therapists and nurses. The NDCS believes that guidelines such as these are vital in ensuring that, as the operation becomes more common, the quality of care received by children doesn’t fluctuate. The guidelines stress the importance of including the family and child in every stage of the decision-making process and draws attention to the need for clear and balanced information. They also go through each stage of the procedure from the referral to the assessment, to the surgery and the aftercare, offering recommendations for the best service.

Susan Daniels, NDCS Chief Executive, says, “Our guidelines aim to give professionals a valuable and practical framework in which they can work to deliver the most effective care and support to deaf children.”

Speaking at the launch will be a 13-year-old BAHA user, who says that her life is very different since she was fitted with the new device. She has much more confidence at school and rarely suffers from the ear infections that used to make her ill for much of the time.

About The Author:

Trent Offer is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.digital-hearing-aids-n-protection.com. Finding out more about hearing loss, so you can choose the digital hearing aids or therapy that is necessary.