Does wearing headphones over hearing aids damages hearing aid microphones/speakers?
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I have been wearing radio headphones daily for years and have never had a problem
I use headphones all the time while practicing music, typically to hear a youtube version of a tune. I keep the cup on one ear and slightly off the ear on the other side so I can hear my instrument against what’s being played.
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I currently use my Bose Quiet Comfort over-ear headphones while wearing my KS10s with vented domes. No issues, and I have been amazed at hearing new sounds in my favorites that I don’t hear/notice without the hearing aids. Additionally, I noticed I have been listening with an overall lower volume, thanks to the hearing aids.
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I can’t wear headphones because I get feedback if I do. My left ear is the worst, I will get feedback in that ear even if I hug someone!
My old ReSound aids used to do that. My newer Oticon’s do not.
I suppose it’s newer technology that suppresses the feedback.
I refrain from listening with headphones, because I’m afraid I’d crank them up too loud. I keep sound meters (SPL) handy to monitor the surrounding volumes, making sure everything is 85dba or less.
Bob
I imagine headphones would damage what’s left of your hearing if volume is much too high before hurting the aids. But subjectively, I can hear w/phones about as well with/without the aids.
Only problem I have w/headphones is hot ears. That’s why I want Bluetooth to work.
No, no harm.
Yet, I recommend wearing over the ear headphones without hearing aids in. Adjust the eq to compensate. The frequency range and response of most hearing aids kinda sucks……
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Never aids and headphones.
Yes to headphones and HAs. As long as you don’t get feedback it works fine. As for damaging your hearind aids No that won’t happen afaik.
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No, no harm. Yet, I recommend wearing over the ear headphones without hearing aids in. Adjust the eq to compensate. The frequency range and response of most hearing aids kinda sucks……
I agree 100% with this comment by efigalaxie.
@ussama.abbasx Which h/a’s do you use?
Th op has very profound hearing loss.
Most of the modern generation of ha’s can have a music program added, which will benefit the user much more than a graphic eq.
Now if they wish to invest in a hi quality parametric eq, maybe the op would get some improvement.
Bottom line, good over ear headphones wearing h/a’s with music program is the best path forward.
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There should be no issues with wearing headphone with your HAs, but there may be pointers and some solutions that are better than others:
On the ear headphones - these sit on top of the ear - these need to be adjusted on your head to sit over the microphones on your HAs - usually right behind the ear on RICs, if you have Resound or Jabra with M&RIE receivers, the headphones can sit atop your ears normally.
Over the ear headphones or “cans” - cover and surround the entire ear, including your HAs, and would work normally, assuming you have enough real estate inside of the “can” so that they are comfortable.
As others have indicated - you can use headphones without your HAs - if you have the ability to boost the ranges to compensate for your hearing loss - but there often is not enough granularity to do this well and you may miss the other HA benefits like suppressing unwanted noises and improving speech in noise if you are doing this to attend MS Teams or Zoom meetings.
Key is to experiment and see what works best for you.
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I don’t have any experience with Rsound, but a ggole search indicates the model you have, does include a music program.
I used to wear my over the ear headset when computer gaming but because my HA’s sit above/behind my ears I did get some pressure pushing my ear against them which can be uncomfortable. Also I get the feedback peep if they are not fitting correctly. Was hoping with these Phonak Paradise and the built in BT and mic I wouldn’t need my headset again. (But for reasons unknown when enabling the mic it kills all sound on windows machines, thread in other topic)
The headset has never damaged my HA’s.
I do it all the time too…but like pageskipro my left gives feedback…but only sometimes.
It’s odd…I can listen to stuff through the headphones for hours with nothing…then all of the sudden something triggers it. Usually I can adjust the headphones either to cover the aid a bit more or sometimes a bit less to stop the squeal. It often happens when whatever I’m listing to stops and I’m sitting there with nothing coming out of my headphones…for a few seconds or even longer like a minute or two, then seemingly without reason it’ll start.
I’ll add this. I used to have some phones that set on top of my ear so that the aid behind my ear wasn’t really covered. That was bad because it would amplify the room sounds too much.
I use my headphones which are OTE and there is no discomfort using BTE HA. If there is the headphone cups are too small.
I can hear external sounds at only slightly reduced volume. I use the headphones in ANR mode. There is a noticeable improvement in HA sounds with HP ANR on.
I can also stream Bluetooth to the HA at a reduced volume too.
Comfort is personal and wholly subjective.
I also wear headphones (sometimes, primarily in loud environments) over my HA’s. My high-frequency hearing is pretty bad, so headphones alone sound VERY flat.
I wear over-the-ear headphones and works really well. Over ear cans are better for me than on-ear type, as they surround my HAs and then include them in the process.
I’ve tried using headphones without my HAs and adjusting equalization to compensate, but haven’t been as successful with that. Over-ear headphones are easier. Bose are a great choice, but just need to try out and find ones that fit you well with HAs in the mix. I personally am happy with a model from Anker - Soundcore Q30.
Most helpful for me is when flying - noise canceling over-ear headphones are great choice. Noise canceling part enables me to hear and understand video from laptop/tablet over the airplane noise. Using BT just to HAs (KS9s) isn’t sufficient for me when flying as background noise drowns out voice, etc. YMMV…
I previously used noise canceling earbuds on plane and that worked fine as well. But then I have to remove HAs and replace with earbuds each time, and I’m too afraid with swapping out that I’ll eventually lose HAs :).
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