I wouldn’t get orange ones even if I were fifteen. But I am not worried about hiding them.
I got a muted dark stone / granite type color. My hair is down past my shoulders so can’t see it anyway. But I’d rather ppl be able to see them than not - I’m tired of ppl assuming I’m ignoring them/being rude or am just spacing out… if they see them then they understand if I’m not spinning around at their first utterance
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I am worried if I go for an interview and they notice it or if I get the job and the coworkers look at me funny 
Interesting topic
I don’t know much of anything about the tube type, or the ear molds, but I can see where that’s taking it up to the next level beyond my RIC type.
I’ve taken a break from my re-bending the wire question for less obvious fit…but haven’t given up on that project yet. I think that’ll help some, but it’s not horrible as-is
I’m a man with short hair, and so the actual behind the ear part is very noticeable. The wire as it is now is noticeable I think , but not so bad…
I get a kick out of all the folks that say folks don’t notice it. Must be hanging around with blind people it seems. No way not to notice it…although I do think that a lot of people (maybe a majority) aren’t very observant and won’t notice right away. I think more likely people who are around a lot and do have ample time to notice just don’t comment…either out of politeness or just being not interested. I recon most folks just don’t care enough to mention. I suspect that like others have posted earlier, that many folks just think they are some sort of earbud or something, when they see it from behind
Anyway, in the relatively short time I’ve been wearing them (approx 5 months), I’ve had 0 people actually mention or ask about them
at the suggestion of my audiologist I didn’t tell anyone for a while just to see (except for one coworker who is a hearing aid wearer that I’d been discussing the whole thing with prior)
My young kids didn’t notice for several days into my trial, and it was only after they overheard me talking with my wife about the app on my phone that they asked “what are you talking about?”
regardless. I totally get it (vanity)…but I also totally respect people that “own it” (own who they are I mean). That’s why I like the kid’s models that they make…all sorts of bright colors…pink and the rest…not meant to blend in. I often think about a professor I had in college. he must have been about 30 years old and severely balding. He owned it. No trying to grow out the hair he had, flaps, or any of it. He just kept the little bit in back clipped nice and short…looked fine.
Short haired (currently with a purple section) middle aged (if I live to be 140 that is) female here. I WANTED to be open about HAs. Audio said the only fun color Oticon would let her order was blue, so we did. When I picked them up she said they sent grey instead. She said she called the company and complained with no satisfaction. I looked online and saw they have lots of colors for kids and vowed to fight. I soon realized, like someone above stated, that even the two people who knew I was getting them didn’t realize that I was wearing them, so fighting for color was a waste of time.
Tube size difference: I have behind the ear aids because that’s what my audiologist recommended for my loss. The tubes are wide. I went to a different audiologist affiliated with my neurotologist. She adjusted my hearing aids and randomly said “I don’t know why you need those tubes. I replaced with thinner ones.” Well, I couldn’t hear much. Went back to original audiologist, who said she wanted me to get the most sound possible, so put thick tubes back. Think of a flute versus a tuba. Which makes more sound, gets more vibration? Tube thickness makes a huge difference. I am beyond the point of fashion vs hearing. I happen to have longer hair that covers, but even if I were bald, I would still use my hearing aids.
I suspect tube size is a limiting factor in some situations. If you need more correction than what a thin tube can provide your correction will be impacted. If your gain is within the capability of the thin tube then they should work fine.
There’s a cool and funny YouTube video I recently came across made by a young man who wears hearing aids entitled: “If We Treated Glasses Like Hearing Aids.”
Although the video promotes a certain hearing aid brand at the end, perhaps it could help someone struggling with the perceived “stigma” of wearing hearing aids.
If she needs aids then everybody she deals with is probably looking for her aids and surprised to see she’s not wearing any. She’s only fooling herself
One thing the op mentioned that wasn’t picked up was wireless connection between the aid and the receiver. That’s an interesting idea, but now that I think about it, without the tube or wire, how would one keep the aid in place. CIC technology needs advancing, as CIC is by far better a form factor for protection from elements, mic noises, ease of wearing glasses, etc… (and vanity, I suppose). I’ve been wearing aids since I was 6. Vanity was a major concern of mine until I got out of college, then it just sort of ceased being a concern anymore.
I have to ask what a ‘bum it’ is 
With RIC only the speaker (receiver) is in the ear. A wire goes to the amplifier, battery, and microphone over the ear.
To eliminate the wire we would have to move the amplifier and battery into the ear, plus FM/BT radio. The (radio) receiver is bigger than the microphones. The processor could be either place but is quite tiny. In any case the over-ear part needs its own battery, so now you got two, per ear.
It would be simpler and cleaner to put everything inside the ear, which is a very common type. ITC, ITC, whatever works for your needs.
I wore CIC and IIC for decades until I discovered the RIC had better performance for me. I want the best of both worlds.
Topics like this really irritate me.
The same people embarrassed to wear hearing aids would calmly and PROUDLY wear a pair of earbuds to a ministers funeral.
This stupidity is why manufacturers are spending so many resources to make the aids smaller rather than have them perform better. I started wearing hearing aids in 1976 as a first grader.
I remember Dad thinking I would be picked on. He gave me a great strategy. Then, the six million dollar man and The Bionic Woman were staples. I simply loved Jaime Summers.(Lindsey Wagner). My classmates were told ahead of time I would be getting the aids. I came into school about 1pm - wearing them. My classmates thronged around me to see… I told them that just like Jaime Summers - I had bionic ears. They thought it was the coolest thing ever!! I never got picked on by that group…not once. Later when I moved, I did…mainly because they had experience with another kid with a hearing aid…and he could be kind of a jerk back then. (He turned out well) I transcended that. I went to a new job in 2007. My new employer’s supervisor called my audiologist up wanting to know what me deafness meant for them. (The same audiologist I had had since 1976 mind you!!) He got right with them…told them it didn’t mean anything for them. I had a lot of issues there…small place…didnt fit in to the clique…corporate moved me to the traveling group…and I learned more with them in a week than with the local office in 8 months. However, I didnt want to be gone for months at a time, so I left and took another job…where I excelled.
I work in a steel mill… My resound quattros were red, my marvel Skys are purple with yellow hook
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Honestly I was considering making the opposite of this thread but otherwise titling it identically - How to make hearing aids more noticeable (a pride/vanity (?) thread)…
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I wear half shell ITE hearing aids that are closer to 3/4 shell hearing aids and they stand out more than any MiniRite hearing aids. I do not care about anyone seeing my hearing aids. I wear ITE aids just because they are more comfortable too me, and I have had far less issues with ITE hearing aids failing than the MiniRite aids that I once wore.
I would wear over the ear headphones if it would improve my speech comprehension. sigh
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THIS!!! Absolutely Agree
I agree Phobos. Where I live in downtown Toronto, in the last year, it’s very common for people to be wearing wireless earbuds. They are incredibly noticeable compared to hearing aids, and no one tries to hide them.
If someone were to see your hearing aids they’d probably be jealous due to how small they are.
In the past hearing accessories were associated with “old age”. Now they’re being associated with the “young hip crowd”. Something to think about…
The normalization of “ear gear” is fast approaching, I believe. Similar to glasses. Nobody cares. You shouldn’t either.