How does a person with microtia hear?
A person with microtia and atresia hears by conduction of sound through bone to reach the inner ear (the cochlea, or nerve center), which is almost always normal in microtia since it develops from a tissue source separate from the middle and outer ear. Bone-conductive hearing aids are worn against the bone just behind the ear region, and thus bypass the abnormal middle ears by amplifying and directing sounds to the normal inner ears. This allows a child with both ears involved to hear and develop speech.
