Hearing Aids, a History

People using ear horns or, older types of hearing aid devices, during a party.

There are three sorts of people in the world: those who are very interested and fascinated by history, those whose eyes gloss over and they begin to fall asleep when history is mentioned, and people who believe that aliens are responsible for history.

Aliens aren’t behind the history of hearing aids. But the true story is probably pretty weird too. After all, hearing loss isn’t exactly a new thing; it’s been around as long as we have. People have, consequently, been trying to come up with new effective ways to manage hearing loss since the beginning of our existence.

An appreciation for your incredible little digital devices, their functionality, and why it’s important to use them, can be gained by knowing some history about them.

For thousands of years, people have been dealing with hearing loss

Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of hearing loss that goes back to the beginning of humanity. Fossil evidence shows signs of ear pathologies. It’s kind of amazing! Mentions of hearing loss also start popping up once written language becomes a thing (for example, there are many Egyptian sources that discuss hearing loss symptoms).

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 manage then). When you have neglected hearing loss, you will find it more difficult to communicate. Friends and loved ones may become more distant. In a more “hunter and gatherer” type of society, you may also lose your ability to detect danger (resulting in a shorter lifespan).

Humans, thus, have had a great incentive to deal with hearing loss going back thousands of years. And they’ve even managed some great successes!

A timeline of hearing aid-type devices

The first thing to appreciate is that our history of hearing aids is not exhaustive. Not all evidence of hearing devices is recorded through time. 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: Hollowed out animal horns were used as some of the earliest proto-hearing aids. People probably used this device to amplify sound and decrease the impact of hearing loss and evidence of this type 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 reasonable ability to reduce distracting sounds.
1600s: Ear Trumpet: The “cone shaped” hearing aid was the prevalent configuration for centuries. And that persisted into the seventeenth century, when “ear trumpets” became a desirable means of managing hearing loss. They were called “ear trumpets” because, well, that’s what they looked like. The small end would go inside your ear. You could get them made out of a variety of materials (and with a startling variety of shapes). At first, they were large and burdensome. Subsequently, more portable versions that could be carried around with you were developed. Since there was still no amplification, they were about as effective as the bigger versions. But they could bring sound more directly to your ear.
1900s: Electronic Amplification: In the late 1800s, the carbon microphone was developed but wouldn’t be implemented into hearing aid technology until early the 1900s. Their ability to amplify should have made hearing aids effective and practical, right? Well, not so much. In the early 1900s, these devices were big, and not really wearable. The base principle was there, but the technology wasn’t fine-tuned enough to be truly useful.
1920s: Wearable Hearing Devices: Hello, vacuum tubes! At one point, believe it or not, those vacuum tubes that powered those bulky television sets were state-of-the art technology. These vacuum tubes allowed (relatively) smaller, wearable hearing aids to be made, the size of a backpack. New technologies also enabled better amplification and slightly clearer sound.
1940s: Pocket-Sized Hearing Aids: It’s a giant leap from a backpack sized hearing aid to a pocket or purse sized one. This was because of the invention of the transistor, which meant you required less technological bulk to accomplish the same effect. It became a huge advantage, as a result of this technology, to take your hearing aid with you wherever you went.
1970s and 1980s: Hearing Aids Get Smaller: Hearing aids became smaller as technology advanced. Hearing aids got substantially smaller in the 1970s and 80s. As a result, they became more prominent and easier to use. The amplification, unfortunately, was still very basic. They just increased the volume of all of the sound they picked up. Most individuals 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 better sound quality. With the advent of digital hearing aids, treatment for hearing loss became much more robust and successful.
2000s (and Beyond): Hearing Aids Get Wireless and Smart: An increasing amount of state-of-the-art technology has been put into these digital hearing aids since they were invented. This began with Bluetooth wireless connectivity. Today, modern hearing aids will help you hear better than ever by using machine learning algorithms. This integration with other technologies makes hearing aids more efficient, and more convenient!

History’s most advanced hearing aids

For centuries or more, humans have been working on relieving hearing loss.
Modern hearing aids can achieve that better than at any time in human history. And because they’re so beneficial, these little devices are also more popular than ever before. They can help with a larger number of hearing problems.

So hearing aids can help you if you want to develop a stronger connection with your friends, family, or the clerk at your local pharmacy. (See? No aliens involved.)

Call Today to Set Up an Appointment

References
https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/blogs/hearing-aid-history-ear-trumpets-european-royalty-earbuds

https://www.hear-it.org/lighter-smaller-and-better