I Velcro my BTE HAs to my eyeglasses

Hearing Aids
#1

I thought I’d pass this along in case it would be of use to anyone else.

For years I’ve been wearing Bernfon Veras 9CP BTEs. I also wear eyeglasses with wire frames and ear pieces. There was always some competition going on between my eyeglasses’ ear pieces and my BTEs for position on the top of my ears. All this infighting was uncomfortable. Occasionally it would cause the plastic tubing to pull out of a HA socket, and then my HA was just momentarily balanced on top of my ear, whistling, and sometimes falling off. Not good.

So I Velcroed my HAs to the inside of my glasses’ ear pieces. Now they don’t move around. Much more comfortable. And if the tubing were to fall off (which never happens anymore) the HAs won’t fall off my ear. I already had a strap around the back of my head keeping my eyeglasses on my head, so the whole thing is one, solid unit now. Nothing ever changes position when I turn my head, bend over, put on a hat. Perfect.

You think it would look geeky? I dunno. I’m l-o-n-g past caring about any of that nonsense. I’m into comfort and functionality. Anyway, this has been working great for me for over a year now, and I certainly won’t be going back.

#2

That’s good! Got a picture?

#3

Okay, Naida. I’ve now attached a photo, below.

It’s really easy to do. I just fold a 30mm length of adhesive-backed Velcro (the loop side) around each earpiece, right where I want the HAs to be. (Just judge the location by feel when you’re wearing both your glasses and your HAs) Then put a small piece of adhesive-backed Velcro (the hook side) on the outside of each HA. Then press the outside of each aid against the inside of each Velcro piece. Then trim off any excess Velcro from the loop-side piece, and that’s it for the HAs.

I use short length of clear plastic tubing from my local hardware store for the strap around the back of my head–the smallest diameter of tubing that I can force onto the tips of my ear pieces. The stiffness of the tubing prevents the earpieces from folding, they stay fully open and apart all the time. That’s fine for me because I don’t ever take my glasses off during the day except to clean them. I find them more comfortable that way, and I never have the earpieces flop shut when I take them off at night.

You’ll probably come up with your own variation of this. Hope this, or something like it, works for you.

#4

I love the idea and think it is just the perfect amount of geekiness.
It reminds me that I would always say turn on the lights I can’t hear a thing. I guess I was lip reading before I knew I even had a problem.
Good job!

#5

I didn’t mention that I have to redo this about every three or four months because for some reason the adhesive on the Velcro begins getting soft and starts sliding around. But by now I’ve got removing the old, wiping with alcohol, and redoing the velcro down to well under ten minutes, so that’s not really a problem.

#6

The adhesive is softening over time for several reasons: the heat from your body, the oils from your body and hair and probably the chemicals out gassing from the HA case.

#7

Does anybody have HA’s built into the glasses any more? I thought Widex might have them. I thought that was neat when I was a kid. :wink: There might be some bone conduction HA’s that might do it, too.

I have beads on my tubes. :cool: I don’t go for geek, myself.

#8

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Here’s one I found from 2006 ad.

#9

Just google spectacle hearing aids and you will see what is available.

#10

That’s what my home-made rig looks like, too, except for my tubing strap around back.

#11

That looks cool, weigel. :cool:

#12

Varibel, a Philips company in Holland, is selling glasses with 4 mics on each temple. I went to Amsterdam to try them. Promising for the future, but not yet dialed in in my opinion. still, think of the sound field you might make with 8 mics, 4 on each side of the head bone.

Maybe in a few years?

Funny to see the very old idea coming back.

good luck, fight on! elijah

#13

4 mics on each temple.
That would be POWERFUL for sound location!!! :stuck_out_tongue: