# Hearing aids.....question



## Pappy (Jun 17, 2013)

I recently received a behind the ears hearing aids from the VA. I work weekends mostly outside and my question is: when it rains ( a lot up here ) should I take them out so they don't get wet? Taking them out is no problem but I don't hear so well without them. I guess I should ask the VA next time I go. Any ideas.


----------



## That Guy (Jun 17, 2013)

Sorry, Pappy, I know very little about hearing aids.  Asking the folks who gave them to you is a great idea.  But, from what I've read, moisture is not a good thing.  Don't find any advice about removing them in the rain but it is suggested to wear a hat to protect them.


----------



## R. Zimm (Jun 30, 2013)

Maybe just bring a hat???


----------



## Pappy (Jun 30, 2013)

A full brim hat would work fine but I have to wear a cap at work. We have had so much rain that I have been leaving them out.


----------



## SifuPhil (Jun 30, 2013)

My father had a hearing aid and he worked as a plumber - he always left it home when he went to work because, as he said, he "didn't want to get it wet". But that was 50 years ago - depending upon the model you got it may or not be weather-resistant (not weather-_proof_ - I'm not sure if there IS such a thing).

As has been said, the best thing to do would be to ask the VA folks - they _should_ know.


----------



## Pappy (Jun 30, 2013)

My last visit at the doctors. As you can see, I forgot my hearing aids.


----------



## That Guy (Jun 30, 2013)

Pappy, I searched for waterproof hearing aids and found this:

http://hearing.siemens.com/us/en/products/bte/aquaris/aquaris.html


----------



## rkunsaw (Jul 1, 2013)

Huh?


----------



## SifuPhil (Jul 1, 2013)

rkunsaw said:


> Huh?



*He Said He Searched For Waterproof Hea-


*Oh, never mind. layful:


----------



## vinylted (Jul 10, 2013)

I have worn hearing a hearing aid for over 30 years, early ones you could hardly breathe on.... newest not mind and little damp, but don't wear them in a shower, like I did once..DOH!


----------



## That Guy (Jul 10, 2013)

Had a friend who wore hearing aids after being in artillery blew out his listeners.  Sometimes, he would rip 'em out complaining of feedback.  I started calling him Jimi Hendrix.  He liked that.


----------



## rkunsaw (Jul 11, 2013)

When I was a teenager, we were visiting at my great grandfathers and one of his neighbors ( about the ame age as Great grandfather) and I happened to be sitting on the porch talking.when his daughter ( about the age of my grandmother) came out and told him he needed to put a sweater on, did you take your pills, and on and on. When she left I started to resume our conversation and he held up his hand and said just a minute , let me turn my hearing aid back on.


----------



## veejay (Jul 21, 2013)

Hubby had two hearing aids some years ago, and once when in hospital recovering from something or other, and in rather a befuddled state from drug problems, he managed to get a battery lodged in his ear, so instead of the battery pointing outward it was inward and came out of the aid. It wasn't discovered for some weeks when it started to hurt, and had to have an operation to remove it, where it was corroded and fused to the eardrum, and left him completely deaf in that ear, and the other wasn't very strong anyway.  Fortunately n his case, he learned to Lip read (before he was deaf) which took him 2 years, 6 days a week and twelve hours a day, he wear a badge to say he can lip read, and as long as people talk straight at him etc. then he can read  anyone's lips. He was a coach driver and his boss knew he had a nephew who was deaf and asked Hubby of he would learn it, especially for the Sydney Olympics and Paralympics.  He has also done work for the police when they are out and about and they interview someone and forget to put the recorder on. Shame there isn't any money in it!! It can be very frustrating at times, but much better way to communicate than signing n the long run. Depends on degrees of deafness etc. We don't know anyone who needs that, but he can do it a little as well. 
I can always talk about him behind his back, when I get annoyed with him


----------



## SeaBreeze (Jul 21, 2013)

Oooooh Veejay, that's terrible that the battery was fused to his eardrum...I'm sure that was horribly painful, and it's so sad that he lost his hearing after all that too.   You're so bad joking about talking behind his back, lol.


----------



## vinylted (Jul 21, 2013)

Bad luck with hubby VJ, at least he can cope with lip reading. Does he still have some hearing in the other ear, helped by the aid?

I had an operation on one ear many years ago, which got stuffed up (sadly in the days before people sued doctors..) So no hearing in left ear.
The right ear has being going down hill quite steadily and now I have about 10% normal. I have the most powerful aid available and am coping.
The last time I visited the audiologist I asked what happens next? She replied a cochlea transplant... no way for me...


----------



## Ozarkgal (Jul 21, 2013)

I know that hubby diving into the swimming pool twice with his, forgetting he had them in, sure didn't do them any good.


----------



## veejay (Jul 21, 2013)

He still has only about 1% in the other ear, doesn't use an aid any more,but can watch TV etc. by using booster speakers or some such thing and can hear quite a bit of a movie, lip reading is hard for that, as they aren't always looking at you and Subtitles are usually too fast for him to read.

Seabreeze, he knows that I tell people about talking about him, doesn't bother him.


----------



## Pappy (Jul 22, 2013)

Getting use to them now. Almost got into the shower the other day with them still in.When I'm at my part-time job, and it rains, I just take them out. I got this neat gadget, on line, that lets me listen to my ITunes, on my IPod wireless though my hearing aids. I love the "old" country music and this lets me listen while at work.

People look at me kinda funny when I line dance out to the propane shack or am singing One Piece at a Time by Johnny. :jammin:


----------



## That Guy (Jul 22, 2013)

Speaking of your Ipod, Pappy, reminds me of a guy I knew in junior high who wore a hearing aid that was a small box in his shirt pocket with a wire to his earpiece.  He showed me once, in class, that it was actually connected to a transistor radio . . .


----------



## Davey Jones (Aug 11, 2013)

Cochlear implant isnt for everyone.check out a web site and ask others what they think.


----------



## Warrigal (Aug 11, 2013)

Cochlea implants are for people whose inner ears don't work, usually because the auditory nerve is damaged.
Hearing aids are for people with middle ear disfunction.


----------



## Davey Jones (Aug 13, 2013)

Pappy said:


> I recently received a behind the ears hearing aids from the VA. I work weekends mostly outside and my question is: when it rains ( a lot up here ) should I take them out so they don't get wet? Taking them out is no problem but I don't hear so well without them. I guess I should ask the VA next time I go. Any ideas.



 Ive had a BTE for several years now,I have jumped into a pool forgetting I was wearing one.(idiot)
Using a hair dryer on low heat will solve the problem most of the times,make sure you take the battery out first and leave the battery chamber open and if you can remove the ear piece and tubing it will also help.
Anything you can do to protect the aid from getting wet(rain) is a plus,I just simply remove it and appreciate all the quietness around me(g)
The VA will never tell you about these remedies.


----------



## Davey Jones (Aug 13, 2013)

Warrigal said:


> Cochlea implants are for people whose inner ears don't work, usually because the auditory nerve is damaged.
> Hearing aids are for people with middle ear disfunction.



That depends on the person wearing a BTE aid, I have nerve deafness in the inner ear since the age of 3 and do quite well in public AND Im an expert speech reader (lip reading is OUT today,speech reading is in).
my motto is "where there is a will there is a way"


----------

