Soft shell hearing aid for athletes?
Does anyone know if it is possible to get a soft-shelled ITE, ITC or CIC hearing aid? A shell made from silicone or something similar?
The question comes from Paul Murata, an athletic trainer and the University of Virginia. One of his basketball players wears in the canal hearing aids and occasionally gets hit on or around the ears during games, causing pain and sometimes even bleeding in the ear canal.
If a soft-shell in the ear aid is not possible, is there an open fit model that would stay behind the ear during a game of basketball and be strong enough to resist getting hit?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Been there, done that, not worth to wear hearing aid to play. Too many fans screaming and you won’t understand what being said. So, use your eyes to play. 99 percents when a person scream for attendion on left back side of court, hearing aid user may hear something but don’t know where the sound come from. No point to wear hearing aid. However if you must wear then softshell will do but will not protection 100 percent. I do wear 2 hearing aids (BTE) with softshell, not really protection, sometime to hit my ear and hurt. That’s physical abuse, That’s part of the game. Better to put hearing aid away, ya know, cost lotta money. Insurance won’t cover hearing aids if damage.
I kind of agree SRW. Howvever, how would you understand a coach’s instruction either on the floor or during a 30 second timeout in a close game. DI sports are demanding, expectations are high and playing down low is very physical. There has got to be a better solution for a moderate to high level basketball player other than “wear them deal with possible injuries or don’t hear”. I realize that injuries are part of sport but, when a corrective type of device is the cause of an injury then I think that’s a issue. It’s like eye wear. Goggles can cause further injury to the face if someone were to be hit on them but the option for that person would be to wear contacts. What’s the other safe option for someone that must wear hearing aids?
Just wondering.
BTE aids offer the option of soft(er) silicone ear molds that reduce the chance of injury to the ear canal. That still leaves the aid body behind the ear, but it seems a better choice than ITX.
David
The hardcases are made to protect the inside working mechanism of the hearing aids. So basically for an athlete the hardcases would be better. I understand the idea of a softcase but thats not going to provide much protection to the working mechanism of the hearing aid.
Soft cases would allow the internal parts to be easily squashed. However I have heard they make hearing aids that are more water/sweat resistant. That might be a better option.
Otherwise, take it off….
Oh, those who wears hearing aid in hearing sports around america, there is no rules that you can not wear hearing aid in sports but if you happen to be member of USA Deaf Olympic teams (any sports) you can not wear hearing aid at all. CISS not allow Deaf person wear hearing aid at Deaflympics at all. Better get used without hearing aids.
I am most definitely not an athlete but I, unfortunately perspire heavily. I would STRONGLY recommend against using a BTE device. While I prefer the sound quality of the BTE, they are useless when they get
wet in the least. There are supposed to be plastic covers that can be used, but I haven’t tried them. I would love to hear someones positive experiences with the covers – either from an athlete (who I assume sweats a lot) OR a fellow heavy perspirer.
My in the ear model, though much less comfortable than my BTE doesn’t suffer from the same problems with perspiration. I saw an ITE silicone model once, but was told there were manufacturing problems. If, it does exist, I think that would be the best.
depending on the shape of your ears and hearing loss … it maybe worthwhile looking into lyrichearing.com. It’s “invisble” and can be worn up to 120 days. I’m not a candidate because my ear canal is too shallow.
Best Wishes.
General hearing offers a solid silicone soft hearing aid.
yes u can have a soft CIC.
it was tested at our Hearing aid center.
feel free to contact me at : rashehab@hotmail.com
My son is in the same situation. He is playing JrH basketball and is HH and was recommended to wear BTE but doesn’t want to for cosmetic reasons. He wears a half concha aid but also gets hit in the ear and it will bleed. We are considering a smaller canal aid with silicone cover or CIC depending on what his audiologist recommends.
I’ve been wearing the Lyric hearing aids for about 6 months now. I shower with them, I lift weights almost daily with them, and a few days ago I even boxed a few rounds then wrestled with them! They work awesome for me but they are a bit pricey at $4000/year. I need to visit my audiologist once a month. My right ear is on a monthly exchange and my left is about every 2 months.
Great suggestion about the Lyric. I don’t fit them myself, but have some colleagues who say they are pretty good if you qualify. But then, as PP pointed out, there’s the cost. One option I haven’t seen mentioned would be a Receiver in the Canal (RIC) aid (smaller than BTE, but it sits behind the ear, and a wire with a dome or a custom mold in the ear). Starkey’s are pretty darn moisture-resistant (I saw a rep throw one in a glass of water & it still worked two hours later). The aid could become damaged if hit hard while playing, and could even potentially come out of the ear, but would probably be better than an ITE/CIC. I’d even consider doing this & wearing a sweat band over the aid to protect it.
I have to wear a Helmet to do Kendo, is there any one that is mildly deaf that has the same problem as me.
Wearing hearing aids gets vacume/whistle sound when wearing helmet, so have to remove aids.
Any help folks.