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Hearing loss news and trends for hearing health professionals
Here are a few tips to help you stop losing hearing aids when out in public or even around the house:
Be Sure You’re Inserting Your Aids Correctly
One of the most important things you can do to avoid losing your hearing aids is to make sure they don’t fall out of your ears unexpectedly. Consult the owner’s manual and work with your hearing healthcare provider to learn how to properly insert your hearing aids for a secure fit.
If you’re concerned about your hearing aids falling out, consider choosing a more secure style. In-the-ear (ITE) may be the least noticeable style, but behind-the-ear (BTE) and receiver-in-canal (RIC) can provide better stability.
Be Careful When Removing Clothes and Masks
Hearing aids are designed to stay in place. Even some professional athletes manage to compete at the highest levels without constantly losing their hearing aids. If your hearing aids are inserted correctly, they probably aren’t going to just fall out. In fact, the biggest threat to your hearing aids isn’t physical activity, it’s the rest of your clothing.
When you take off a sweatshirt, your hearing aids may get caught in the folds of fabric. If you don’t immediately notice and search them out, they may wind up lost. Even worse, if you’re not careful when removing a protective face mask, your aids may get caught on the elastic band and flung across the room! Always be careful and deliberate when removing clothing that may snag your hearing aids to reduce the chances of losing them.
Use a Hearing Aid Case
Having a case for your hearing aids is a great way to protect them from damage and keep track of them when they’re not in use. Many models come with their own case, though there are also plenty of options for purchase online.
There are a few benefits here. If you have two hearing aids, using a case keeps them both together. Cases are also typically easier to spot, whether on messy tables, in grassy fields, or wherever you might drop something. They’re also easier to feel and identify in your pockets than loose hearing aids, making it easier to notice when it’s not there.
Label Your Hearing Aid Case
Mistakenly dropping your hearing aids or forgetting where you put them down aren’t the only ways for them to go missing — sometimes someone else moves them. In most cases it’s just a family member tidying up around the house or perhaps a maid cleaning up your hotel room. Either way, properly labeling your hearing aid container can help prevent this kind of mix up.
A clear, noticeable label will help others understand the importance of the case and what’s inside and help you find it if you do misplace or drop it.
Store Hearing Aids at Eye Level
When at home, you should have specific places where you always put your hearing aids whenever you take them out. For example, you probably already are in the habit of putting them on your bedside table before going to sleep. You may even keep them there when you hop in the shower.
But when you take out your hearing aids at more random times — maybe out on the porch to enjoy some peace and quiet or before exercising — it’s important to choose a good spot to set them down. Keep them out of reach of pets and kids, and ideally in places where they’re not likely to get covered up or obscured by other objects.
Invest in Hearing Aid Clips
Losing hearing aids is common enough that there’s an entire industry of products designed to solve the problem. The most popular products are hearing aid clips, which let you attach your hearing aids to your clothing or keep them on a loop around your neck, like eyeglasses with a band.
While clips may draw more attention to your hearing aids, they are undeniably effective. Plus, they’re easily detachable, so you can opt to only use them when you really need them, like at the gym or an amusement park.
Set Up Device Tracking
Not all hearing aid models have this option, but some feature GPS tracking hardware that allows you to use other devices, like your smartphone or computer, to find lost hearing aids. Check your owner’s manual to see whether this is an option with your hearing aids and for detailed instructions on set up and use of this feature.
If you’ve already lost your hearing aids, then a list of preventative measures isn’t going to be much help. So here are a few things you should do in the event that you do misplace your hearing aids:
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