Hiking with hearing aids

[bobgessner57]

I was diagnosed with a moderate hearing loss in both ears this week and now am full of questions about hearing aids. I would be interested in any input from users with experience, particularly on longer trips. I like to winter hike (battery life? do you keep them in your sleeping bag at night?) and am a heavy sweater in hot weather. What about rain? I tend to just get wet if hiking in warm weather, would I need to rethink headgear to protect the ears? Do you clean the aids daily or wait for town stops? If you have any input on the utility or ease of care and practicality of various types of aids for people that live a grubby lifestyle it would help me focus my research and budgeting. When not hiking I farm and do masonry chimney restoration so the aids will be subjected to a lot of grit grime and moisture all of the time, just like when hiking.

Thanks for any info. There is a bewildering amount of internet info on this subject but most seems to be from people that want to push their product.

[Slo-go'en]

Since you only have moderate hearing loss, I would think only using them when you need them (like while having a conversation with someone or a group while sitting around the campfire) would be the thing to do. Earplugs might be a better idea when your working with farm machinery or doing masonry to help to prevent farther hearing loss.

[peakbagger]

One of the local hiking "legends" had pretty serious hearing loss and in winter could not use his aids as the sweat would short them out. He finally got some sealed ones that had a remote for setting. He had nothing bad to say about them and made hiking with him a lot more enjoyable. I would definitely ask about waterproofness of anything you look at.

[Traillium]

I've been wearing hearing aids for over a decade and a half — and should have been wearing them for a long time before that. I have a -65db high frequency loss, symmetrical in both sides. I'm lost without my hearing aids in day-to-day life, missing far too much of consonants to understand all but the clearest speech.
I have always worn high-end Phonak aids and loved them. Well worth the (huge) expense. I treat them very carefully, carrying s drying jar for nighttimes. (I open the battery gates, but leave the batteries in.)
I'm taking my hearing aids on my 40-day Bruce Trail hike, just as I've taken them before on wilderness paddling trips.
I almost always wear a broad-brimmed Tilley hat for my bald head and my hearing aids. In real downpours, I take out my hearing aids and put them into my drying jar.
I carry a supply of fresh batteries. Two for every four days — my aids have huge computational capabilities. I also carry spare wax guards, which I expect to replace with every battery change, given that I'll be sweating …
I should add that my aids are in-the-ear. I have used a behind-the-ear version, but I much prefer my present style: more protected, and produce better hearing by far.
Even though I'm expecting to be alone most of the time on the Bruce Trail and therefore not in conversation often, I'm taking my aids because I want to do a bird census along the way (in addition to my on-going flowering count, botanist that I am). Birding is at least as much an auditory experience as a visual one.


Bruce Traillium

[Traillium]

BTW, you'll really appreciate good hearing aids. And most people seldom value cheap ones.


Bruce Traillium

[bobgessner57]

BTW, you'll really appreciate good hearing aids. And most people seldom value cheap ones.


Bruce Traillium

That is usually the case. I find I've got a beer budget and champagne taste so I'm going to try and find the sweet spot on cost and satisfaction. I also need to look at how any aid will work with comfortable hearing protection. For the last 30 years I have mostly been using plugs to get away from the heat of muffs.
Thanks for all the suggestions. Traillium I also value hearing the birds and other natural sounds. I am at the point where I am generally ok with one on one face to face conversations but have difficulty in crowds or with a lot of ambient noise and can't hear on a phone if not in a quiet place. I know I am missing natural sounds and have had some misunderstandings due to not correctly hearing things.
Both ears are 40-45 db loss above 1,500 hz, only 20 -25 db below, enough to be concerned about but I do have some time to figure this out.

Thanks for all the replies

[Traillium]

I am at the point where I am generally ok with one on one face to face conversations but have difficulty in crowds or with a lot of ambient noise and can't hear on a phone if not in a quiet place. I know I am missing natural sounds and have had some misunderstandings due to not correctly hearing things.
Both ears are 40-45 db loss above 1,500 hz, only 20 -25 db below, enough to be concerned about but I do have some time to figure this out.

I wear my hearing aids from the moment I awake until I go to bed at night. I now realize how much I foolishly rationalized against needing them, and how much talk I missed, and how much I alienated others who often gave up trying to communicate with me.
My experience out in the natural world are also much richer now that I can hear more completely. That's why, even hiking solo, I'm taking my hearing aids.


Bruce Traillium

[Traillium]

BTW, when I use hearing protection, I remove my hearing aids. One or the other, not both.
For windy situations, I have a headband made of windproof fleece. Or I remove my hearing aids … Wind is the worst.


Bruce Traillium

[Feral Bill]

I also wear aids all the time. See Costco for good value on them, and especially on batteries. You will probably find them easy to live with. A small box for evening and a minimal cleaning kit works, depending on your ear wax production. Mine use the red tab batteries, which last a week or ten days, easily. And don't worry about cold, they are nice and snug, in or behind your ears. For behind the ears style, bring spare tubes. You might consider the advantages of taking them out when you don't want to hear. When my co workers get into "girl talk" it helps.

[Mountain Bluebird]

A hearty +1 for all Traillium's posts above. I have worn Oticon hearing aids now for about 6 years. I have a 55dB loss in both ears. They really do help in chatting with folks. With my hearing aids on I can hear the entire 'song' of the Black-throated Green Warbler! Without them I only get the last three buzzies.

As far as care: I do not wear aids while working outside and sweating. Moisture can enter the Oticon Intigas that I have behind the ear. Nor when I'm on the garden tractor with ear muffs on. If I start to sweat on the trail, I will take them off.

Otherwise, I care for them just as Traillium says.

I will do a section hike this summer--my first. I certainly will take my aids.
Hope this helps.

"You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways." Psalm 139

[Traillium]

Thanks, Mountain Bluebird.
You're lucky! Without my hearing aids I don't hear Black-Throated Greens at all …
FWIW, I find my in-the-ear Phonaks more sweat-resistant than my former behind-the-ear Phonaks.
I do swab out my ears daily with Qtips — with my audiologist's approval. It really minimizes the wax-plugging.


Bruce Traillium

[bobgessner57]

Lots of good tips here. When Traillium was writing his first posts I was actually out doing an exercise walk on my farm and jumped 4 American Woodcock, a first sighting for this place. I couldn't hear the wings and barely heard the song as each took flight. I was within 15 feet of them, too. It kind of pointed out what I am missing.

The sweat/moisture thing has me concerned. I can not wear them around the farm when haying or doing other really dirty or sweaty tasks but my non farm job often gets me very dirty and sweaty and I have to communicate throughout the day with clients, my partner, or other contractors. It doesn't seem very practical to have to slip them on and off. My preference would be to wear them most of the time and only remove or maybe turn off when hearing protection is needed. So, are the remote controls practical and if I do go with an in the canal version is the small size a potential problem? I am thinking about fumbling/dropping it on a job site or in the leaves in the woods.

I like the earband idea, does double duty as a wind sock and warmth.

[Traillium]

I have a remote that I wear around my neck. Useful but clunky and it's not coming in my thruhike (even though I will lose several features).
In my experience, in-the-ear are much more protected from everything: sweat, dust, abrasion, rain, wind …


Bruce Traillium

[Traillium]

You could wear a cotton terry headband in dirty situations. It would also help with sweat …


Bruce Traillium

[Traillium]

My in-the-ears have never fallen or been bumped out.


Bruce Traillium

[zelph]

I've had extensive experience with behind the ear aids and recommend the "sock" for moisture protection.

hearing aid sock

https://www.google.com/search?q=hear...HTdRCXcQsAQILQ

[Feral Bill]

I've had extensive experience with behind the ear aids and recommend the "sock" for moisture protection.

hearing aid sock

https://www.google.com/search?q=hear...HTdRCXcQsAQILQ

Now that's some information I can use!

[zelph]

Now that's some information I can use!

Ahhhh, glad to hear that :-)

Now I'll see if I can get a link to a rain sock for yah :-)

[zelph]

Hear it is.....Ear Gear

http://www.gearforears.com/

[bobgessner57]

who would have thunk it- gaiters for hearing aids. you can even color coordinate with the Dirty Girls. Thanks Zelph, I was wondering if something like that was feasible. The real question is how many grams per pair?

Seriously, thanks everyone for all the replies to this thread.

A friend that does long distance sailing says he uses a small silica gel bead drying jar and has had great success keeping his aids dry during month long ocean trips by storing them in the jar at night. The beads change color when they get saturated and can be redried but he says he has never had to redry them on a voyage. That sounds like a good idea for a section or thru hiker.