How to make hearing aids less noticable (a vanity thread)

Hearing Aids
#1

I’m lucky because I’m a woman with long hair, but I have a friend with short hair who needs hearing aids. Unfortunately, she hasn’t purchased any because she can’t get over the fact that everyone will see the aids because she has short hair. I believe there are a lot of people out there who feel similarly.

Yes, she knows that the aid itself comes in various colors, but she thought that if the plastic tubing (receiver?) were the color of her skin, it would be less noticeable. I’m not sure if that would help or not. She thought the shine draws attention.

It got me wondering why that tube is even necessary. With all the wireless devices, it seems like you should be able to put something small in your ear and then have a device behind your year. It could even be held in place with a piercing. I have no doubt that many women would gladly pierce their cartilage to avoid “the tubing”.

Anyway, these are just my random thoughts.

#2

I have RIC’s and I keep my head shaved or buzzed and no one believes I have hearing aids until I pop them to prove it.

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#3

I will concur with Uncle Larry, very few people will notice if your friend has hearing aids. I’ve had people not believe I have hearing aids until I remove it and show them. If your friend got a mini BTE with RIC ( receiver in canal) I would bet they would almost be invisible. You don’t want the HA to be the color of your skin but rather the color of your hair if you want to have them blend in. HA manufacturers aren’t to good at matching peoples skin color. I’ve worn HA’s for several years and I think I can count on one hand the number of people who have noticed them and finally tell her that her hearing loss is more visible than HA’s would be.

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#4

That is very true, it won’t be a big deal to most and they may not notice.

I have been wearing them for over 40 years and, like most, went through that initial stage of discomfort. But then I attended a great VA class and that convinced us that people need to know you have a hearing loss and if they know in most cares they will adjust, speak louder, and have your attention. So when I started a class I would explain my hearing loss and warn them I may hear you but I may not understand so bear with me, And a few jokes about hearing loss helped.

So tell her give them a try and be up front about her hearing loss.

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#5

Bob,
I agree, prior to getting HA’s I told most of the people I knew I was getting HA’s and I will tell someone whom I have trouble understanding I have hearing loss and they have to either pronunciate what they are saying a little better or face me when they are talking to me, so I can understand what they are saying. With my hearing loss my lows are good, so I hear everything but with my HF loss I lose clarity, so my word rec scores are also good but give me someone with a foreign accent or a soft speaking person and I sometimes have no idea what they are saying. If you are upfront with them they will usually do their part so you can understand them.

#6

So are you guys (assuming your are guys) saying that no one notices that little plastic tube coming out of your ears? I think that bothered her more than the hair-colored aid behind her ear.

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#7

I have a very thin tube that fits right against my skin. If properly fitted, it is nearly invisible.

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#8

When I first got HA I had told a couple people in advance I was getting them. A few weeks later they asked when I was getting them. At that point I had been wearing them for a week and they didn’t notice them.

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#9

FadingFast,
Mine isn’t the little tube but the larger tube with an earmold and yes people don’t even see it. Basically people look at your face and seem to ignore your ears. Most of the time when I tell someone I wear HA’s they look at me and say you do? So Yes, they don’t see the tubes or the HA’s.

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#10

I have to agree, your friend has nothing to worry about. I have BTE’s with microtubes…and short hair.

Nobody notices my hearing aids, unless I point them out…or at least if they notice them, they say nothing.

One person at my job did notice…it took them over a year to do so…

The tubing is essentially invisible, unless someone is actually looking for them…and why would they be???

Your friend has nothing to worry about.

Evil

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#11

Fading Fast – do you have an old pair that she could just wear for a couple of days, not turned on, to see if anyone notices or if she feels self conscious? Or maybe someone on this forum can send you a broken pair that s/he no longer needs?

I am always looking for people I can talk to about their HAs, since I’m the first of my friends or family to get them. I’m constantly straining to look at people’s ears, and even to peek inside them. And even looking for them, I find them hard to see. Just this past summer, I complimented a young woman on what I thought was a large earring, and it turned out to be a pin that she had attached over her thick tube.

#12

Are there any women on this board? I’m glad you all feel so confident.

My friend tried a pair for a week, during which time she asked her boyfriend, “Do you notice anything different?” His reply, “I wasn’t going to mention anything.” So obviously he noticed. Too bad he didn’t follow that up with, “It’s been great not having to repeat myself all the time” or “I only notice them when I stare at the back of your head.” (I notice them on a lot of people in church when I sit towards the back of the church.)

I don’t have any old ones to lend her, as I’m on my first pair. If she gets to the point where she feels her hearing loss outweighs her looks, she’ll try them again.

#13

I have RICs, with a thin wire that goes into the ear.

A few months back, after having them “cleaned” I noticed they did not fit snug to the ear, and wanted to “walk” out all the time. I went back twice before someone noticed that the retention cord was on backwards.

RICs are noticeable if not fitted properly - as in the wire does not fit perfectly to the curve of your ear…it should stay right in the fold. I see a lot of people with the wire not tight to the ear, and that is very noticeable.

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#14

Fading Fast – I’m a woman, and I’m as vain as the next person. I think the thicker tubes are quite ugly. I’m not bothered by anyone knowing I have a hearing problem, but it’d be nice if the pesky tubes were beautiful. I also have a lot of hair, so you can’t see my HAs. That being said, when I do wear a ponytail, no one notices. I think this is just one of those areas where you feel really self conscious to start, and then, over time, it mostly goes away. If this is really the stumbling block for your friend, could she maybe grow her hair out just a bit so it covers her ears?

#15

Mine are black, since I wear eye glasses and have a black cord attach to keep the in place, they blend in perfectly. But if I did not have eye glasses then they would be of a grayer color since my hair is silver - gray. Also I.m still working and have not informed my employee of such.

My wife asked why in black, easy to hide, mine are the BTE type

#16

FadingFast,
If your friend is worried about someone seeing her hearing aids, then she isn’t ready to wear them. How bad is her hearing anyway, is her hearing loss super noticeable and are you sure her boyfriend noticed the HA’s and not something else?

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#17

Is IIC not an option? Some of them are really invisible.

#18

I have long hair also. But I do pull up the top half quite a bit especially in the summer (think bumbit) LOL! When I do that, you can’t see behind my ear, but you can definitely see the tube.

You don’t notice from the front, but I’m sure you can from the side. I don’t care. What I care most about is being embarrassed if I have to say, “what” or “I can’t hear you will you repeat”. Other than loved ones, people will get tired of having to do that and move on to someone else.

#19

I have the RIC type, but don’t think I have ever seen the IIC type (Maybe that’s what my friend needs). Here’s a picture of an RIC and you can clearly see the tube. I think Costco and Sam’s Club sell primarily the RICs.

She does wear glasses, so maybe she should be matching her glasses, instead of her hair. That said, I think her glasses are gold wire rimmed, so maybe not;)

http://www.nuear.com/hearing-aids/products/imagine/styles/receiver-in-canal.jsp

#20

I guess it depends on the shape of your ears. On my ear (and I"ve looked) and other people’s ears the tube seems to disappear sooner and lay on the ear better than in this picture. The tube also seems more transparent than in the picture. It’s not invisible, but more so than in your attachment I think.

She would just have to have the audi swap out different colors and look in a mirror to see what pleases her. There is no other way.

I think if I wore glasses and could wear IIC (which I can’t) I would try that. I wear glasses in the evening, and it does bother me a bit more than when i wear my contacts. However, I would think IIC would itch alot, especially if you have allergies.