RECEIVER IN CANAL

28th Sep, 2020

Whatever you ever wanted to know about RIC, we’ll tell you here. The Receiver in Canal or Receiver in the Ear hearing aids were introduced more than a couple of years ago. They are extremely prevalent among specialists and consumers alike because they are small, modest and immensely adaptable. Their popularity has just increased since they were introduced and they make up a huge part of global hearing aid sales. Like everything in life, they have their own merits and demerits. We get asked a lot of questions about the devices so we decided to try and answer them all over here. There is this big question that always pops up is about the costs of RIC / RITE hearing aids. Normally, there is never any difference in prices between the cost of Receiver in Canal hearing aid types and other hearing aid types within the same range or platform. So you won't pay a superior price if you choose RIC hearing aids over anything else that is available in the same range or level of technology. Now, what does the Receiver actually mean in Receiver in Canal? It refers to the speaker of the hearing aid, in this context it simply means that the receiver or speaker goes into your ear canal. It is attached to the main body of the RIC hearing-aid by an electronic wire. This adds benefits but can cause reliability problems, the benefits are a better sound for less amplification, and the problem is that the wax or moisture can kill the receiver.

If the receiver gets damaged, how to replace it? Replacing a receiver in a RIC or RITE is pretty simple. In some cases, you can simply pull the old receiver out of the hearing aid where it connects and push in the new one. It is like a plug and socket set up and is really easy. In other scenarios, you need to slide or remove a pin with a tool or something pointed, take out the old receiver. Simply slide in the new one securely and then slide the pin back. Generally, you can find YouTube videos on the process or the people who sell them online can give you instructions.

We often get asked which is better, RICs or BTEs? The answer isn't simple and it depends on what your hearing loss is and what level of discretion you need. RICs can be less reliable than BTE hearing aids, however, the problems that usually occur are both avoidable and easy to fix. RICs are discreet and can often cover a loss down to profound, a BTE that covers that type of loss is going to be bigger and less discreet. The BTE will also use a tube and a mold, the RIC just has that slim wire and a special custom tip. Again, the RIC set up is more discreet. The RIC receiver may fail though, while the chances of anything going wrong with the BTE are pretty remote. BTEs are generally much more reliable, again though, replacing the receiver in a RIC is easy.

So, RIC comes with its own benefits that is the reason for its stronghold in the market. We hope this study was useful and will surely help you to choose your hearing aid as per your requirement.