Tips and Tricks for Hearing Aids

Very low temperatures can reduce your hearing aids’ battery life, or even cause the batteries to fail. During the cold season, save your batteries by keeping your ears and hearing aids warm with hats, headbands or earmuffs.

Make sure to carry spare batteries with you. Keep them in a pocket under your coat, where your body heat will keep them at a good temperature. If the temperature drops below 0 Celsius degree, your hearing aid batteries may stop working.

Condensation in hearing aids occurs during sudden transitions from cold to warm. Water droplets can enter the hearing aid circuits and cause damage. Special drying containers with dehydrating tablets, such as the ProtecLobe, can prevent possible damage from condensation. These containers are available in all Lobe clinics.

Do you love cross-country or downhill skiing? What happens when you like to ski and have hearing loss?

Wearing hearing aids should not keep you from enjoying this activity, but there are some tips to keep in mind.

You will need to adjust your helmet to prevent acoustic feedback (unpleasant whistling). Wearing a thin headband (A) or a hood underneath the helmet can keep hearing aids in place. The combination of helmet and hood also helps to neutralize the effect of the wind noise captured by the microphones.

If you’re looking for a comfortable helmet for hearing aid users, go for a “rack-and-pinion” model, or even a simple adjustable model.

Additionally, pay close attention to how the system works. Height and tightness are important. To determine your helmet size, use a measuring tape to measure the circumference of your head, passing over the ears, eyebrows at the front and on the widest part of the skull (the occiput) at the back. The goal is to measure the greatest circumference of the skull.

The padding of the helmet around the ears should not be altered in any way for two reasons. First, changing the padding also changes how the helmet absorbs energy, reducing protection. Secondly, hearing aids are not designed to withstand impact.

Hearing aids need to stay dry during skiing and many other winter sports (hockey, snowshoeing, skating, etc.). This can be a challenge, since winter sports often involve both snow and sweat. Newer hearing aid models are designed to be worn for longer periods of time and are much more moisture-resistant than older models.

Upon arrival at home after a winter sport, you should put your hearing aids in a ProtecLobe container or an electric dehumidifier (B) as soon as possible.

It’s important to stay active so you can make the most of winter! Do not deprive yourself of your hearing aids when practicing your favourite winter sports. Stay connected to the world of sounds that surrounds you.

If you think you or someone close to you may have hearing loss, make an appointment with an audiologist quickly.

For more information about wearing hearing aids in winter, talk to an audioprosthetist.