Adapting to your new hearing aids can be a challenge for a number of reasons. In fact, your brain actually requires some time to adjust to your newly regained ability to hear. This can take several weeks, but being able to hear again makes the process worth it.
In addition to allowing your brain to adjust, adjusting to the feeling of these foreign objects in your ears can be an experience in and of itself. However, with the prevalence of age-related hearing loss, many hearing aid wearers also need to wear other devices, like glasses or nasal cannulas.
The most common hearing aid type, behind-the-ear (BTE), is also the most likely to create issues for those who wear glasses or use oxygen. Why? BTE hearing aids, glasses, and nasal cannulas all rest behind your ears, making it easy for one item to interfere with the other.
The good news is that there is still a way for you to hear, see, and breathe better all at once. In the following, we’ll address how to wear glasses with hearing aids, how to wear a nasal cannula with hearing aids, and how to wear all three at once.
Wearing Glasses with Your Hearing Aids
The best way to address this issue is by ensuring that you are careful when putting on, or taking off, your glasses and hearing aids. We recommend putting your glasses on first; by doing so, you will prevent yourself from accidentally pushing out your aids.
Once you feel comfortable with the placement of your glasses, carefully put the body of your hearing aids behind your ear, push the tube beneath the glasses, and put the tip into your ear. Once the tube appears snug inside and behind your ear, push the retention line into place.
Now, you’re ready to see and hear your best!
Special tip: If you have a lot of trouble wearing your hearing aids with your glasses, you can purchase clips that allow you to attach one to the other.
Wearing a Nasal Cannula with Your Hearing Aids
Wearing a nasal cannula with your aids is just as easy as wearing them with glasses. In this case, however, put your hearing aids in first, ensure that they are snug, and then proceed to put on your nasal cannula, placing the tubes over the aids.
If you use oxygen and wear glasses, you’ll want to follow a combination of the steps mentioned above: Put on your glasses first, your hearing aids second, and your nasal cannula last. Soon, you’ll be seeing, hearing, and breathing just as you should!
Special tip: If you have a nasal cannula that secures beneath your chin, you may want to replace it with one that secures behind your head, which provides more room behind your ears for your BTE hearing aids.
Other Important Considerations
By following the aforementioned steps, you should be able to easily wear your glasses, nasal cannula, or both with a pair of hearing aids. However, there are a few circumstances in which wearing BTE hearing aids with glasses or a nasal cannula may not be the best option.
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Your ears sit very close to your head. This can make it difficult to fit any more than one item behind your ear.
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You wear large glasses and/or hearing aids. Some hearing or vision impairments require larger devices to provide adequate assistance for your needs. But if you have significant impairments in both areas, wearing two bulky devices may present an issue. Wearing croakies with your glasses can present further issues as well.
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You frequently remove your glasses. Because your glasses must be put on before your hearing aids, you may find yourself removing both items every time, which become very inconvenient.
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You do not want to amplify the sound of your nasal cannula. Unfortunately, the sound of your nasal cannula will likely be amplified by your hearing device, and if this bothers you, you may not enjoy having the two items so close together.
While these three factors can present difficulty with wearing your assistive devices at once, don’t let these factors rule out the potential to wear hearing aids.
Instead, consider ways to circumvent these issues. For example, if you wear thick glasses, you may want to purchase a slimmer BTE hearing aid. If that’s not an option, you may want to look at other styles of hearing aids, such as the ITE (in-the-ear) models.
If you still have questions about how to wear your glasses or nasal cannula with your hearing aids, we can help. At Advanced Affordable Hearing, our customer service representatives are ready to provide you with answers.
Whatever your type of hearing loss may be, we want to help you hear better at a price you can afford. Feel free to give us a call at 1 (800) 804-0434 or contact us today.