How To Wear A Face Mask With Your Hearing Aids

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our way of doing things. Wearing face masks is one of the recommended ways to reduce the spread of the virus. In most jurisdictions, it is mandatory to wear the mask when in public areas. This is true even if individuals aren’t experiencing symptoms. People with hearing loss are finding it hard to talk with people wearing masks. Voices can sound muffled and you can’t read lips through a mask. Inaudibility is not the only problem facing people with hearing loss during COVID-19. The most common and available face masks have straps that hook behind the ears. This design poses the risk of you losing your hearing aids. This can happen while removing the straps wrapped around your hearing aids support. A common workaround is wearing the N95 face masks for people with hearing loss. The tips below will help reduce the chances of losing your hearing aids, while wearing any type of face mask.

Choose The Right Face Mask

It is important to make sure that you take your hearing aid into consideration when buying a face mask. Our recommended face masks are those with straps designed to go over the head. Don’t use those that anchor themselves around the ears.

Options When Wearing A Hair Bun

For people who have hair buns, there is an easy hack when wearing the mask with hearing aids. Since most masks have long and stretchable bands, wind the band around the hair bun as the point of anchor.

If You Have The Double Strip Face Mask

Masks worn above the ear can also be of use without touching the ears. You can attach the two bands behind your head with a button or a rubber band. This way, it assumes a circled position.

Use A Headband

Another trick when wearing a face mask is making use of a headband. This is to avoid running the mask over the ears. Sew a pair of buttons at the temple level of the headband. Make sure the two bands attach to the buttons for safe holding. It is possible that even with the above measures in place, you might still lose your hearing aid. Below are steps which you should take in case your hearing aid falls off as you pull the mask off.

• If your hearing aid has a support feature, follow prompts on your smartphone as you look for it. This helps to know if you are close or far from it.
• In case the hearing aid switches off, the GPS feature should help locate its last position.

If you don’t use a smartphone, carry out a physical search of the most likely places you could have lost it. Do you have any questions about caring for your hearing aid during this pandemic? Our team at Chicago Beltone are ready and willing to listen and respond. Contact us today!