With many of us now wearing masks on a regular basis, you may be facing new challenges with your hearing loss and hearing aids.
Unfortunately, face masks can make communication more difficult, especially if you have a hard time hearing. People with hearing loss often rely on facial expressions and lip-reading to better understand others, so masks can pose a real barrier for understanding.
Additionally, since many face masks loop behind your ears, it is easy for the mask to become entangled with the hearing aid or the hearing aid’s tube, which can lead to the hearing aid falling off when the mask is removed.
To help you better understand the people around you during this unusual time and to help you keep your hearing aids safe, we have a few tips to share with you about wearing your hearing aids and your face mask together!
Tip #1:
When you're removing your face mask, you want to be careful not to dislodge other items you're wearing, like your hearing aids or your glasses.
To keep your hearing aids secure, use an OtoClip or similar product. An OtoClip attaches to your hearing aid on one end and clips onto your clothing or onto your glasses on the other. If you’re wearing an OtoClip with your hearing aid and your hearing aid falls off while you’re removing your mask, you shouldn’t lose your hearing aid because it will still be clipped to your clothing!
Click here to buy an OtoClip that clips your hearing aids to your clothing, or click here to buy an OtoClip that attaches your hearing aids to your glasses.
Tip #2:
Wear a mask that ties behind your head instead of a mask that loops behind your ears. The masks that loop behind your ears seem to be more likely to cause issues if you’re wearing behind-the-ear hearing aids since they are more likely to become entangled with your device.
Tip #3:
If your friends and family can wear a transparent face shield instead of cloth or other types of masks that hide your face from sight, it may help you communicate better with them!
Tip #4:
If you’re having difficulty hearing and communicating with your loved ones, with store staff, or with medical professionals due to masks, try asking the other person to enunciate carefully and to rephrase what they are trying to get across if you aren’t understanding.
If necessary, you can even type out messages on your phone and ask your conversation partner to do the same on their own phone.
Tip #5:
Try to communicate using technology instead of face-to-face. You may have a better hearing experience using video chat, where neither you nor your conversation partner has to wear masks or social distance, than you would in-person but both wearing masks and standing 6 feet apart.
We hope you find these tips helpful, and we hope you stay happy and healthy this summer!
If you would like to purchase an OtoClip for your hearing aids, or if you have any questions, please just give us a call at 1 (800) 804-0434.
We are here to help you in any way we can!