There are three sorts of individuals out there: people who find history to be incredibly interesting, individuals who think history is terribly dull, and people who think history is full of aliens.
Aliens aren’t responsible for the history of hearing aids. But it’s probably a lot stranger than you may believe. Hearing loss is, after all, a human condition that has been around as long as we have. People have, consequently, been trying to come up with new effective ways to cope with 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 discovering some history about them.
Hearing loss has existed for thousands of years
Evidence of hearing loss dating back to the very beginning of human existence has been found by archaeologists. They can detect indicators of ear pathologies in fossil evidence. It’s rather amazing! Civilizations like the Egyptians and even older groups were reporting hearing loss for as long as writing has existed.
Obviously, hearing loss isn’t new. And it’s likely always sort of sucked (particularly when left untreated). When you have untreated hearing loss, you will find it more difficult to communicate. Friends and loved ones may become more distant. When humans were a little more primitive, untreated hearing loss could result in a shorter lifespan as they might not have been able to detect danger.
So going back thousands of years, humans have had an incentive to figure out how to treat hearing loss. And they didn’t completely fail at this.
A timeline of hearing aid-style devices
It’s significant to note that we don’t have an exhaustive history of the hearing aid. Not all evidence of hearing devices is documented through time. Even if we don’t have a written record of exactly what ancient people did to relieve hearing loss, it’s very likely that they took measures in that direction.
Still, here’s what the known “hearing aid timeline” looks like:
- 1200s: Animal Horns: Hollowed out animal horns served as some of the earliest proto-hearing aids. People most likely used this device to amplify sound and decrease the impact of hearing loss and evidence of this sort of device dates back to the 1200s. The concept was that the funnel-shape of a hollowed out animal bone would help conduct sound more directly into the ear. There was no amplification used, so these animal horns weren’t working on the same level as a modern hearing aid (obviously). But it’s likely they give some moderate ability to reduce distracting sounds.
- 1600s: Ear Trumpet: For centuries, the “cone shaped” hearing apparatus was the prevalent form. And that continued into the seventeenth century, when “ear trumpets” became a popular means of treating hearing loss. They were known as “ear trumpets” because, well, that’s what they looked like. The small end would go inside your ear. You could find them made out of a wide array of materials (and with a startling range of shapes). The early models were quite large and unwieldy. Subsequently, more portable models that could be carried around with you were created. Again, these weren’t super efficient, because they couldn’t amplify sounds. But they could funnel sounds into your ear, and direct sound more intentionally toward you.
- 1900s: Electronic Amplification: Alright, here we go: the invention of the carbon microphone (okay, the carbon microphone was actually developed in the late 1800s, but it wasn’t really employed for hearing aids until later). Their ability to amplify should have made hearing aids effective and practical, right? Well, not so much. In 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: Say hello to vacuum tubes! At one point, believe it or not, those vacuum tubes that powered those bulky television sets were cutting edge technology. These vacuum tubes allowed (relatively) smaller, wearable hearing aids to be manufactured, the size of a backpack. New technologies also enabled better amplification and slightly clearer sound.
- 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! This was the result of the invention of the transistor, which meant you needed less technological bulk to accomplish the same effect. As a result of this progress, people could easily take 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 considerable reduction in the size of hearing aids. This made them easier to use, and more prevalent. Sadly, the actual amplification was still fairly rudimentary. They just boosted all of the sound they picked up. 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: The first digital hearing aid was introduced in 1982, though it was not commercially available until 1996. Digital hearing aids changed the hearing aid landscape by making everything smaller and more discrete while providing custom amplification and clearer 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. Wireless, Bluetooth connectivity came first. Today, modern hearing aids will help you hear better than ever by using machine learning algorithms. Hearing aids are more convenient and more efficient due to this integration with other technologies.
History’s best hearing aids
Humanity has been working on and improving hearing loss for centuries, at least.
Better than at any other time in history, we are able to achieve that with modern hearing aids. These little pieces of technology are more prevalent than they ever have been because they’re so beneficial. They can help with a wider range of hearing problems.
So hearing aids can help you if you want to have a stronger connection with your friends, loved ones, or the clerk at your local pharmacy. (See? No aliens involved.)
Learn how hearing aids can improve your life. Contact us for an appointment.
References
https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/blogs/hearing-aid-history-ear-trumpets-european-royalty-earbuds
https://www.hear-it.org/lighter-smaller-and-better