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.
As we consider these hearing aids, it just seems that the negative aspects tend to outweigh the positive ones. Both Lyric and Wow! are very expensive, ranging from $1,700 - $2,000 per year per ear! Over a five year period, you will end up spending around $16,000 - $20,000 on a pair of Lyric or Wow! hearing aids! This is about three times as much as you would spend on the most expensive hearing instruments available today, and there is no proof that you will actually hear any better. The manufacturer surveyed 67 people that said they thought it sounded better than their old hearing instruments, but no scientific research. We have spoken with several users and they were changing over to "real" hearing aids after the first year.
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!
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information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
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