When it comes to history, there are three distinct kinds of individuals: individuals who find history to be incredibly interesting, people who think history is horribly dull, and those who think history is full of aliens.
Aliens aren’t behind the history of hearing aids. But it’s probably a lot weirder than you may think. After all, hearing loss isn’t exactly a new thing; it’s been around as long as humans have. People have, consequently, been trying to find new effective ways to handle hearing loss since the beginning of our existence.
An appreciation for your incredible little digital devices, their functionality, and why it’s important to wear them, can be gained by knowing some history about them.
For thousands of years, people have been dealing with hearing loss
Evidence of hearing loss going back to the very beginning of human existence has been discovered by archaeologists. They can see indicators of ear pathologies in fossil evidence. It’s pretty cool! Civilizations such as the Egyptians and even older groups were reporting hearing loss for as long as writing has existed.
So, clearly, hearing loss is nothing new. And it wasn’t any better then than it is now (this is especially true because it was more challenging to deal with then). Communication will be a lot harder if you have untreated hearing loss. You might lose touch with friends and loved ones. When humans were a bit more primitive, untreated hearing loss could result in a shorter lifespan as they may not have been able to detect danger.
Humans, thus, have had a great incentive to address hearing loss for thousands of years. And they didn’t totally fail at this.
A timeline of hearing aid-style devices
It’s important to mention that we don’t have an exhaustive history of the hearing aid. Throughout time, some of the developments in hearing aid technology were simply not documented. Even if we don’t have a written record of precisely what ancient people did to relieve hearing loss, it’s very likely that they took steps in that direction.
Still, here’s what the recognized “hearing aid timeline” looks like:
- 1200s: Animal Horns: Some of the oldest known proto-hearing aids were hollowed-out animal horns. People probably used this device to amplify sound and reduce the impact of hearing loss and evidence of this sort of device dates back to the 1200s. Sound would be more easily carried to the ear with the funnel shaped horn. Clearly, this device isn’t working like a modern hearing aid because there’s no amplification. But it’s likely they provided some moderate ability to limit distracting sounds.
- 1600s: Ear Trumpet: For centuries, the “cone shaped” hearing device was the prominent form. And that continued into the seventeenth century, when “ear trumpets” became a desirable means of managing hearing loss. They were known as “ear trumpets” because, well, that’s what they looked like. The narrow end would go in your ear. They came in a wide variety of shapes and materials. Initially, they were large and cumbersome. Eventually, clever individuals created smaller, more collapsible models of these ear trumpets, so people could take them on the go. Because there was still no amplification, they were about as efficient as the bigger versions. But they could carry sound more directly to your ear.
- 1900s: Electronic Amplification: In the late 1800s, the carbon microphone was developed but wouldn’t be employed as hearing aid technology until early the 1900s. Their ability to amplify should have made hearing aids reliable and practical, right? Well, not so much. As of the early 1900s these devices were too large to be realistic or wearable. The technology would need quite a bit of refinement before it would be very useful.
- 1920s: Wearable Hearing Devices: Then came vacuum tubes! The same technology that energized those old, extremely bulky television sets was actually cutting edge, once upon a time! Relatively smaller hearing aids that were the size of a backpack were now feasible. Slightly clearer sound and better amplification were also feasible.
- 1940s: Pocket-Sized Hearing Aids: From fitting a hearing aid in a backpack to being capable of putting one in your purse or pocket, it’s a huge leap! The same effect was now available with less bulky technology thanks to the development of the transistor. Because of this progress, people could easily bring hearing aids with them wherever they went, it was a huge benefit!
- 1970s and 1980s: Hearing Aids Get Smaller: Hearing aids became smaller as technology advanced. The 1970s and 80s, in particular, saw a substantial decrease in the size of hearing aids. This made them simpler to use, and more popular. Sadly, the actual amplification was still rather rudimentary. These hearing aids essentially just made everything louder. Most people need something a little more fine tuned to manage their hearing loss, but it was still better than nothing.
- 1982: Digital Hearing Aid: While not fully adopted and commercially introduced until 1996, 1982 was the year of the first digital hearing aid. Digital hearing aids changed the hearing aid landscape by making everything smaller and more discrete while offering personalized amplification and clearer sound quality. With the introduction of digital hearing aids, treatment for hearing loss became much more potent and effective.
- 2000s (and Beyond): Hearing Aids Get Wireless and Smart: Since the launching of the digital hearing aid, manufacturers have been able to stack more and more technology into these tiny devices. This started out with Bluetooth wireless connectivity. These days, modern hearing aids will help you hear better than ever by utilizing machine learning algorithms. Hearing aids are more convenient and more efficient because of this integration with other technologies.
The best hearing aids in history
For centuries or more, humans have been working on managing hearing loss.
Modern hearing aids can attain that better than at any time in the history of humanity. These little pieces of technology are more prevalent than they ever have been because they’re so effective. A wide variety of hearing problems can be addressed.
So if you want to get back to connecting with your children or your family or the cashier at the supermarket, hearing aids can help you do it. (See? No aliens involved.)
Contact us and schedule an appointment to discover what hearing aids can do for you!
References
https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/blogs/hearing-aid-history-ear-trumpets-european-royalty-earbuds
https://www.hear-it.org/lighter-smaller-and-better