[funkdified]

A recent survey of over 500 audiologists showed that the most popular (~70%) form factor of hearing aids today is the receiver in the ear (RITE). RITE aids place the hearing aid body (battery, mic, processor, etc) behind the ear, and run a thin plastic coated wire down over the front of the ear leading to the earcanal. On the end of the wire is a speaker (or receiver) that produces sound. This is an interesting shift from the past, where most people wanted hearing aids that fitted entirely in their ear. As it turns out the RITE is more or less just as invisible, but avoids some of the comfort and occlusion (blockage) issues that the fully custom in the ear hearing aids create. Either way, people want discretion, but RITEs have accomplished discretion with better performance, leading to the growth in their popularity. https://www.hearingtracker.com/audiologist-survey