Waterproof Hearing Aids

[bendyone]

Apart from the Siemans one ( expensive) is there anyone who has one, I understand there is a Rion model HB54 available but not in the UK, They have an agent in Switzerland but unable to find them.
Anyone live in Switzerland?

 

[jamesjermain]

Apart from the Siemans one ( expensive) is there anyone who has one, I understand there is a Rion model HB54 available but not in the UK, They have an agent in Switzerland but unable to find them.
Anyone live in Switzerland?

Ifr you find a good one could you pass the information on to ald whose hearing, when on teh foredeck in half a gale, a a tad less that perfect.

 

[Wandering Star]

Apart from the Siemans one ( expensive) is there anyone who has one, I understand there is a Rion model HB54 available but not in the UK, They have an agent in Switzerland but unable to find them.
Anyone live in Switzerland?

How waterproof do you need it to be? If you need submersible then it wouldn't work but if you just want storm/spray proof then you can use a cut down condom as a sheath (well, what else)!

Cheers, Brian

 

[bendyone]

It's for No 1 son so he can swim with it. The Rion one is waterproof to 1m for 10 minutes.

 

[Gothik29]

I wear hearing aids, but wouldn't ever dream of wearing them when swimming even if they are waterproof in case I lost them. I've dropped them too many times when changing clothes, so wouldn't trust myself in the water. PM me if you want to discuss.

 

[Wandering Star]

I wear hearing aids, but wouldn't ever dream of wearing them when swimming even if they are waterproof in case I lost them. I've dropped them too many times when changing clothes, so wouldn't trust myself in the water. PM me if you want to discuss.

I have implants and the bits which look like hearing aids are actually speech processors. They cost £4k each, I lost one when I was moving along the side deck to do something or other and the genoa sheet clipped my ear and flicked the processor overboard. I went without for a year and a half rather than admit to my team I'd lost the thing. About July last year I plucked up the courage and admitted the loss.

They slapped my wrist (not too hard) and provided a replacement which lasted until the Southampton boatshow! Walking along the pontoons and there was a sudden downpour, in the clamour to raise umbrellas and pull on cagoules, someone clipped my ear and the new processor, only 2 months old, fell off and slid through the gap in the pontoon slats! Watching it disappear into the murky water was depressing, believe me!

I haven't plucked up the courage to tell my team yet and I really miss it! I agree, I wouldn't swim whilst wearing one, the potential for losing it is just too great, it's not just the getting wet!

Cheers, Brian.

 

[Bosun Higgs]

Ifr you find a good one could you pass the information on to ald whose hearing, when on teh foredeck in half a gale, a a tad less that perfect.

I would have thought that not being able to hear the wind howling would have been a real advantage. Its the noise that frightens me more than anything else.

 

[captainhaddock]

Seahear.co.uk

I wear hearing aids "full time", but I take them off and put them in a bag as soon as I go on board, so I would be very interested in waterproof hearing aids - provided that they performed well.

I keep meaning to experiment with water proof covers for hearing aids. There are descriptions of covers available (and other equipment for hearing impaired sailors) here at www.seahear.co.uk/page8.php This is a really useful site for all sorts of equipment reviews for anyone with hearing problems.

 

[Wandering Star]

Martin, thanks for posting the link, I hadn't seen that site before and the ongoing links to the corded covers sold through Connevans, was very useful, exactly what I need.

Cheers, Brian.

 

[Bosun Higgs]

I keep meaning to experiment with water proof covers for hearing aids.

A small placcy bag ( or even cling film) over each ear?

 

[Seajet]

I'd think 'BTE' - behind the ear - aids have a much better chance of survival and not being lost / dropped than ITE in the ear, as long as discretion is not top priority.

BTE actually give a lot better results.

I worked in QA & programming on various aids for a few years, I can tell you it's a grot business !

It may interest some to know that an aid costing the user £4k actually costs the dispenser around £40; yes, a 1000% mark-up !

An aid lasting more than 18 months was considered exceptional...

 

[BobPrell]

I would have thought that not being able to hear the wind howling would have been a real advantage. Its the noise that frightens me more than anything else.

Please allow a little lecture from a person with impaired hearing all my adult life.

Hearing loss does not work like that mostly. If a person is profoundly deaf, they may not be able to hear anything at all, but this is not often the case. Most deaf sailors will hear the wind with as much fright as anyone else.

Mostly they will lose hearing in some frequency bands only. This affects their ability to discriminate between different sounds, especially voices, when there is background noise, like wind, engines running, party music and so on.

I observe that when wind at sea gets above a certain speed and starts howling in the rigging, nobody can understand spoken voices very well. paradoxically, I can deal with this better than most because I have to do it all the time and I have developed certain strategies.

 

[Seajet]

BobPrell,

I can easily imagine that.

As the square rig training ship Royalist has been mentioned recently, I remember she has / had a loudspeaker near the foredeck to allow communication with the crew there; even on my 22' boat I've sometimes needed that !

Of course there is the example that the medieval 'larboard' ( port ) was ditched, as in a wind one couldn't tell if the person had said 'larboard' or 'starboard' which must have led to some interesting moments...

 

[Bosun Higgs]

Please allow a little lecture from a person with impaired hearing all my adult life.

Hearing loss does not work like that mostly. If a person is profoundly deaf, they may not be able to hear anything at all, but this is not often the case. Most deaf sailors will hear the wind with as much fright as anyone else.

Mostly they will lose hearing in some frequency bands only. This affects their ability to discriminate between different sounds, especially voices, when there is background noise, like wind, engines running, party music and so on.

I observe that when wind at sea gets above a certain speed and starts howling in the rigging, nobody can understand spoken voices very well. paradoxically, I can deal with this better than most because I have to do it all the time and I have developed certain strategies.

Interesting post but if difficulty in hearing speech with background music is a sign of deafness, then I'm going deaf! At club discos and when its very windy under sail, I use my motorbike made to measure earplugs. Often thought that it I were ever filthy rich, one things I would have in my house is a soundproofed room - I hate the noise pollution we cannot get away from.

 

[Seajet]

Bosun,

where I used to work at Dunsfold, where the Harriers & Hawks were developed, the chap in charge of pilots' safety eqiuipment had made a wall display of the many things in the Personal Survival Pack.

This included 2 small yellow discs; a lot of visitors assumed these were 'suicide pills'...they were ear defenders !

I get the same trouble in busy pubs etc, can't hear a thing if there's loud background noise.

 

[BobPrell]

Interesting post but if difficulty in hearing speech with background music is a sign of deafness, then I'm going deaf! At club discos and when its very windy under sail, I use my motorbike made to measure earplugs. Often thought that it I were ever filthy rich, one things I would have in my house is a soundproofed room - I hate the noise pollution we cannot get away from.

You may well be. Statistically, beyond a certain age it's very likely.

If you are curious, there are freebie hearing tests available.

If they recommend hearing aids, you don't have to get them.

You probably have coping strategies that you are not completely aware of.

 

[callivari1224]

Hi, I want to know about how much a hearing aid doctor earns annually. I am thinking about becoming an audiologist as suggest by my friends. I heard that ENT specialist doesn’t have to do stressful work, they have normal timing and love their profession. Any suggestion on this.

 

[laurenvander82]

Hello, there!! My grandfather is suffering from hearing loss and we have bought her a pair of hearing aids but the problem is she has problem in listening t.v. sound. I tried to search for available technology which makes it easier to listen t.v. sounds by infrared technology. Any advice here.