Time to Read: 3 minutes
Wearing face masks during the current pandemic has certainly created challenges for hearing aid wearers.
Muffled sounds and the inability to see lips in order to read them has made communication difficult but now there is a new challenge - disappearing hearing aids.
Hearing aids are designed to be put in your ears at the beginning of the day and taken off at the end. But if you are putting on and taking off face masks regularly, the risk of losing one or both hearing aids increases.
The problem of missing hearing aids can also be exacerbated if you also wear glasses.
Replacing hearing aids is a stressful, not to mention expensive, disappearing trick.
You might think finding something so small is a hopeless cause - especially if you’re not 100% sure when you last had it on.
Over past few weeks, we’ve had a number of our clients come to us in distress over missing hearing aids but they also tell us some good news - in three cases in one week alone, a missing hearing aid has been found in exactly the same place for three different clients.
Car(d) Trick
Face masks are most frequently worn when out and about.
We bring them with us when we leave the house, get in the car and drive to our destination, where we put on our mask, do our shopping and return to the car, take off our mask and then return home.
Since the confined space of the car is the place where you are putting on and taking off your mask most frequently, it is the first place to look.
You might be surprised by the small nooks and crannies a hearing aid might fall into, so make sure your search is thorough:
- Check between the seats of the car
- Check in and around the gear shift and handbrake
- Check the cup holders and door map pockets
- Pull the seat adjustment all the way back to check on the floor (also check under the corners of the floor mat
- Get a torch and look further under your car seat
- Check the seat rails - that’s where three different clients in just one week found their missing hearing aid
Tips for using hearing aids and masks
There are ways to wear a mask that doesn't require it looping around your ears. We've created a cute infographic with great ideas on how to protect your hearing aids while wearing a mask. Each time you put on and take off your mask, be sure you can feel your hearing aids tucked safely behind your ear.
Tips for glasses wearers
Tips to wearing glasses with your behind-the-ear hearing aids.
- Put your glasses on before you put in your hearing aids
- Place the hearing aid between the glasses earpiece and your outer ear.
- Adjust both as needed until they are comfortable and the hearing aid isn’t hanging away from your outer ear.
- Practice removing and putting on your glasses, in front of a mirror. Use both hands, and only use a straight-forward and straight-back motion.
Read more:
- Can I wear hearing aids with glasses?
- Making Sense of Masks
- Face masks, hearing loss and lip reading
- Face Masks and Hearing Aids
- Programming hearing aids for masks
