How are hearing aids different from cochlear implants?
Hearing aids amplify sounds, which makes sounds louder. The sounds produced by even the most sophisticated hearing aids may not offer much benefit to people with severe – profound hearing loss in both ears. Quite simply, no matter how loud the sound is produced by the hearing aid, a profoundly hearing impaired ear can not process the sound information due to the damaged hair cells in the inner ear (cochlea), which caused the hearing loss. A cochlear implant does not make sound louder; it provides useful sound information by directly stimulating the surviving auditory nerve fibers, bypassing the damaged hair cells, in the cochlea, allowing the person to perceive sound.
