The Starkey Listening Instrument Company makes six versions of devices to meet the needs of its customers. Hearing loss sufferers are afflicted with varying degrees of the condition.
Grades are typically described as mild, moderate, and severe with several crossover designations such as moderately severe. Circumstances that lead to this affliction make specificity challenging since the receptors involved in your ability to detect sounds are damaged by frequency and loudness, which vary based on experience.
The company’s BTE units come in two styles: standard and “receiver in canal”. The latter is similar to those made by other brands except the receiver inserts into the canal, allowing the unit to have a low profile and be difficult to see from a distance.
They also make ITE, or in the ear instruments, which are not different from what you’ll find at other manufacturers. These devices are custom molded for your ear shape and come in a variety of colors to blend with your skin tone including, light brown, medium brown, chestnut, and dark brown.
Starkey also makes the increasingly popular ITC and CIC listening instruments. As their name suggests, these devices are small enough to slide into a wearer’s ear canal, making it difficult to notice that there is anything there at all.
While that may be an attractive benefit for some, many wearers have expressed these units give them a “plugged up” feeling in effect, cutting them off from the sensory world.
This is a result of the devices blocking the passage of air into your ears. There are several things manufacturers, including this one, do in order to circumvent these issues. Smaller devices are the logical enhancement as they allow more space for air to flow.
Advancement is the use of smarter materials to create hearing aids that flex with the natural movements of your ear.