Glossary of Ear and Hearing Loss Terms

The ear canal—that portion of the external ear between the pinna and the eardrum.

The outer portion of the ear that is normally visible. Components of the external or outer ear include the pinna and the external ear canal.

See External Auditory Canal.

A style of hearing aid, popular in the 1950s through the 1970s, in which the hearing aid was built into the eyeglass frame. They were similar in many ways to BTE hearing aids and used similar earmolds.

See Food and Drug Administration.

A high-pitched whistle or squeal that’s made when an amplified sound is picked up by a microphone and re-amplified. For example, it occurs when the sound coming out of a hearing aid leaks out of the ear canal, gets back into the hearing aid’s microphone and is amplified over and over until all it does is howl at its maximum loudness. Feedback can be caused by as earmold or hearing aid that does not fit properly, from a cracked or damaged earmold (or tube in BTE hearing aids) or from a damaged hearing aid. Many modern digital hearing aids have special anti-feedback circuitry to prevent (or greatly reduce) feedback.

May be caused by a physical condition—e.g. fluid in the middle ear, or by Meniere’s disease, or it may be a psychological feeling—the result of rapidly losing some of your hearing. When this happens, your brain thinks that your ear must be “stuffed” or “blocked” or else you’d hear normally, wouldn’t you—hence the feeling of fullness.

The name of the sound processing strategy (software) for the Harmony and Platinum cochlear implant sound processors. It works with the HiRes 90K and CII implants from Advanced Bionics.

Acoustically, a device that allows the passage of certain frequencies and attenuates others.

Using hand-shapes to represent the letters of the alphabet in order to spell out words. Fingerspelling is a part of all signed languages, including American Sign Language.

See Frequency Modulation system.

This is the government agency responsible for approving and regulating drug use in the USA.

The base of the tiny stirrup (stapes) bone which rests on the oval window in the middle ear.

The unit of measurement related to the pitch of sound. It is the number of cycles or number of complete vibrations in one second. Frequency is now expressed in Hertz (Hz). (It used to be expressed in cycles per second [CPS].) The more cycles per second, the higher the pitch. Human ears normally can hear sounds between 20 and 20,000 Hz.

A wireless assistive listening device that picks up a speaker’s voice through a microphone and transmits it, using radio waves, to a person wearing a corresponding FM receiver. The device effectively moves the speaker’s mouth right up to the hard of hearing person’s ears thus removing background noise and distance problems.

The range of frequencies to which a hearing aid can respond, adjusted to your degree of hearing loss.

Another name for an ITE hearing aid.

The difference in a person’s responses between aided and unaided threshold measures. Functional gain is less reliable and valid than other methods of testing aided benefit.

A hearing loss that is not caused by any organic condition. In other words it is a “psychological” hearing loss, because the hearing system is working properly.

An increase in the amplitude or energy of an electrical signal with amplification. Gain is the difference in amplitude between the input signal and the output signal.

A tumor that may grow in the middle ear and can interfere with the vibration of the middle ear bones (ossicles).

Habituation is the term used when you are no longer aware of your tinnitus except when you focus your attention on it. When habituation occurs, your tinnitus is no longer intrusive and annoying. It is just “there”.

See Hearing Aid Compatible.

Sensory cells in the inner ear where nerve endings attach to the auditory or vestibular nerves. Hair cells within the cochlea convert sound waves into electrical (nerve) impulses that are carried by the brain. Hair cells in the vestibular labyrinth respond to motion.

A style of hearing aid that is a bit larger than a canal aid, but is smaller than an ITE aid.