The new tiny Lyric hearing aid, designed by Dr. Robert Schindler, may be the answer to self-conscious worries held by many people suffering from hearing loss. Its size and versatility combined with the way it is held in the ear makes the Lyric hearing aid different from classic hearing aids, and much more appealing. The Lyric hearing aid is smaller than a dime, and it fits inside the ear canal, down by the ear drum. It cannot be easily seen, and it can be worn while wearing headphones. Ordinary hearing aids fit over the ear, can be easily seen, and cannot get wet. For people like Claudio Cohen, interviewed by ABC news these attributes were deal-breakers, causing her instead to try to become "a better lip-reader". She would not have been able to wear a classic hearing aid when exercising or listening to headphones, and she chose to suffer her hearing loss rather than have the anxiety and self-consciousness that a hearing aid's visibility would have caused her. Now that the Lyric hearing aid has been released, however, Cohen, as well as innumerable other people avoiding hearing aids, have a new option.
Problems with sweating while exercising are not an issue with the Lyric hearing aid either. It does not have the problems with moisture that classic hearing aids do. The Lyric hearing aid was designed by Dr. Robert Schindler, who was also a pioneer of the cochlear implant. The Lyric hearing aid consists only of a tiny microphone, microchip and speaker. Because it fits so far into the ear, it uses the natural shape of the ear, designed to catch sound waves naturally, to help it amplify sound for its wearer.
