# Hearing aid attached to head?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-aid-attached-to-head/560833>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 16, 2010, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-aid-attached-to-head/560833 "2010-11-16T04:51:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-aid-attached-to-head/560833/1 "2010-11-16T04:51:01Z")

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I saw a fellow the other day wearing what looked like a hearing aid - rounded piece tucked behind his hear, little tube going into his ear - fairly normal.

Except there was another piece - a small squarish piece on his head, about two inches up from the piece behind the ear, connected to it by a wire or tube. It looked like it was stuck on his head somehow.

What was that rig?

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**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-aid-attached-to-head/560833/2 "2010-11-16T04:54:47Z")

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I’ve heard of a [BAHA](http://www.umm.edu/otolaryngology/baha.htm)–a Bone-Anchored Hearing Aid–but to the best of my knowledge, a BAHA does not connect to anything that externally enters the ear. Still, look at the link, and see if it looks like what you saw.

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**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-aid-attached-to-head/560833/3 "2010-11-16T04:55:55Z")

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Cochlear implant? I have a friend who brother in law has one. Did it look similar to this?

[http://www.wired.com/wired/images.html?issue=13.11&topic=bolero&img=1](http://www.wired.com/wired/images.html?issue=13.11&topic=bolero&img=1)

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**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-aid-attached-to-head/560833/4 "2010-11-16T04:56:39Z")

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Yeah, a cochlear implant would be my guess, too.

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**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-aid-attached-to-head/560833/5 "2010-11-16T05:41:22Z")

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Yep, the picture of the cochlear implant looks similar to the one I saw.

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**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-aid-attached-to-head/560833/6 "2010-11-16T05:46:16Z")

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Yes, lots of implantees wear a tube and earmold to stablize the whole set up