Tips For Wearing Your Face Mask With Your Hearing Aids
According to the ABC “Two-thirds of Australians think mask use should be mandatory in all public places”. With this increase in use of face masks, it is becoming harder for people with hearing loss to understand what people are saying due to the extra muffle. This is not the only problem people with hearing aids are facing, as the face masks are pulling on the hearing aids. This creates discomfort and in worse cases loss of the hearing aids.
How you wear your face mask depends on if you have a behind the ear aid or in the ear aids. We specialise in small, discreet and invisible aids, allowing a facial mask to not affect the comfort of your aid. Below is 5 easy steps to ensure optimal luxury and easy to manage ways of wearing a mask with hearing aids.
- Place face mask comfortable over both ears. Ensure the elastic is not too tight and pulling your ears down. If the mask doesn’t fit around your ears without the hearing aids you will need to loosen the elastic, have a custom made mask or refer to the bottom of this article for alternative ways of wearing your face mask.
- Gently place the outer tube of the hearing aid in between the elastic and your ear. This will secure it between two points.
- Place in inner tube in your ear and make sure everything feels secure
- If you need to re-adjust or something doesn’t feel right, stand in front of a mirror or get someone to hold a mirror for you. Adjust your mask only by pulling forward or back. Try not to pull the mask up or down, this will pop the hearing aid out of your ear.
- Fit you mask on at home and try not to take it off until you are in your car or back at home. This saves the hearing aid being lost in a public place.
The best thing you can do is practice putting you hearing aids and the mask on at home in front of a mirror. This will allow you to feel comfortable, and not panic if one of your hearing aids does come out.
Alternative Ways Of Wearing Your Face Mask
If you have tried fitting your hearing aid external tube around the face mask elastic and there is still discomfort. We recommend finding alternative ways of wearing the elastic when securing the facial mask. Here are some options you can try!
Have a facial mask that is tied around you head. You can alter your face mask or sew a custom made mask with the elastic or straps to be longer to fit accordingly.
You can tie the elastic in your hair, if your hair is long enough to be put up in a bun securely.
Wearing a headband with two clips or buttons can be a great alternative if your hair is not long enough to securely fit the elastic into it.
We are here to help- call our office today! Our friendly team are more than happy to assist you choosing a hearing aid to cooperate with your chosen facial mask.
