Take a Look at the Smallest Hearing Aid

July 6, 2009 — -- Claudia Cohen said she likes nothing better than rocking out to music while she works out at the gym, but a youth spent at rock concerts left her with moderate hearing loss.

Even though doctors diagnosed her problem 15 years ago, she refused to get hearing aids for years.

"I would constantly embarrass myself. For instance one day my sister said, 'Do you have any Depends?' And I said, 'Depends? Why would I have Depends?' " she said. "Finally she came up to me face to face and said, 'Do you have two tens?'

"I kept waiting and hoping that I would become a better lip reader. And that wasn't happening," Cohen added.

So finally in 2008 she decided to get a hearing aid, but once she started wearing one she immediately felt withdrawn and self-conscious.

"I was totally embarrassed because I know when I see somebody with a hearing aid I tend to enunciate; I tend to speak loudly; I tend to deal with them as though they are impaired in some way," Cohen said. "For me to be wearing that hearing aid, I thought for sure the days where someone was going to look at me in some attractive way were totally over."

And since traditional hearing aids can't get sweaty and they fit over the ears, Cohen said she couldn't wear them to the gym or use them to listen to earphones.

But a few months ago Cohen read about the Lyric hearing aid. The device was designed by Dr. Robert Schindler, who is one of the pioneers of the cochlear implant.

Cohen immediately made an appointment to learn more.