HAs - BTE vs RITE through the NHS thoughts please.

[Graham-E]

Hi all and I hope that for those of you living in the UK the bank holidays give you an opportunity to rest and catch up with friends and family.

I’m looking for any thoughts on moving from Oticon’s Engage ‘behind the ear’ (BTE) HAs to the ‘receiver in the ear’ (RITE) type please.

My hearing in one ear has degraded in the last few years to the point where the amplification of my current NHS HAs has hit a limit.

Interestingly I am noticing my T seems to be more one sided for the first time rather than just being central. Since having a audiology appointment and a correction to my HA settings recently, my perception of my one sided T has eased a little which I am grateful for.

I’m unfamiliar with this type of HA (RITE) and understand that instead of the small clear tube that delivers the sound to the in ear mould, this is replaced by a wire. I was told that the part that goes behind the ear is a little smaller than my current (BTE) type.

Does anyone know what type of (RITE) the NHS uses please as I’d like to find out about them before they arrive for fitting.

Many thanks and remember to be kind to yourselves.

G

[Tal-r789T]

I tried CIC, which were plastic moulded to the shape of my ears, but I found them hard and uncomfortable, and if I moved my jaw much (clench teeth, chew etc) they worked their way out of my ears. I went over to BTE as the transmitter is more comfortable in my ear canal from NHS but also brought a pair of RITE from Boots. My Father in law has traditional BTE from NHS and mine are smaller, but TBH not that much smaller. I'm not aware of the NHS supplying RITE as I believe they are still using the more traditional BTE due to costs (may be wrong, may be just my loc NHS so don't quote me!). They supplied me traditional BTE last year. I've had my RITE adjusted a few months back and changed now so I can manually adjust the volume on each ear (rather than being synchronised) (I wear two HA).

[Graham-E in reply to Tal-r789T]

Thanks for this reply. I’ve also tried the ones moulded into my ears and also found them very uncomfortable. I’ve been getting on well with my BTE ones from the NHS so am concerned about swapping them for the RITE versions that have a wire I understand and not a tube. Can I ask please how do you find the ones from Boots with this different tech?

I think I’m asking if you have had experience of both do you prefer BTE OR RITE please?

Many thanks

[Tal-r789T in reply to Graham-E]

Hi, TBH in terms of comfort, no real difference - the sound quality is better with RITE and the electronic components are more modern (compared to my NHS BTE) so the sound processing is faster with RITE. Basically the wire just delivers the sound direct into the canal as I understand it - the end with the ear bud on it is rectangular but I notice no difference. Boots do a 3 month trial, so I made sure I was able to get on with them first, although I brought different ear buds as I found medium sized more comfortable than the large ones they provided. Definitely prefer the RITE as sound quality is better.

[Graham-E in reply to Tal-r789T]

Thank you so much for that clarification.

Wishing you all the best Graham