The sound output from a hearing aid goes into the ear canal, and thence to the eardrum. That means the the bit that delivers the sound fits into the ear canal. Ear canals are sensitive, often waxy, and all different.
The challenge for you when you get hearing aids is understanding your ear canals.
I can see my feet, and the various peculiarities of my toe joints caused by years of track training in unsuitable shoes. I can’t comfortably wear narrow, pointy heels. But unlike my feet, I can’t easily see down my ear canal – I say can’t easily, as I have access to a video otoscope, so I can look down my own ear canal. Not an option available to many people.
Mine is narrow and has a sharp bend. That means, I have a longish tube to the receiver on my hearing aid, and a quite small ear tip. That way, it doesn’t fall out, and it’s comfortable. It is not quite as beautiful as if I had a shorter tube so that it fitted closer to my head.
My Granny used to say that “Pride pinches”. She was right, so I have gone for comfort and function as I do with my shoes.
If you are getting hearing aids, be prepared to compromise on some trade-offs depending on your needs, physical attributes and vanity. Getting hearing aids will probably make you look younger anyway, so a glimpse of a tube may not matter.
