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Best hearing aid models for long hair

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Hi, I’m here here and new to . I’ve read all the posts I can find about hair, but none quite answer my question. I am having a trial of Phonak Lumitys at the moment. Very early days but they are going well except that my long hair (shoulder length) rubbing on the microphones is super annoying. To the extent that when I smile it sounds like styrofoam rubbing past my ears. I’m wondering if this is specific to this style of HA? I was wondering if something like the Lumity slim or Signia Styletto might have the microphones placed in a less hair exposed spot. It’s very hard to find information about where the microphones are located on various HAs. I will of course talk to the audiologist about it, but I always value real world advice from users! Thanks in advance. CC

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Welcome to the forum, well I’d think the easiest way around this is get a haircut! Any , will give you the same issue, there’s also the style of , but depending on your situation they may not be suitable.

When I first got my hearing aids about a month ago (Phonak Slims) I was really sensitive to the sound of my long hair rustling on the microphones, which seemed so loud. Over this time, I have stopped putting my hair behind my ears - there’s not enough room for hearing aids, glasses and hair - and have got used to the rustling noise to the point where it’s no longer an issue. I have also seen a couple of fixes for the noise on YouTube (possibly Definite Hearing and Dr Cliff ).

Thanks for the replies. I am a female in my 40s, so cutting my hair short enough to keep it away from the isn’t something I’m prepared to consider. I am specifically hoping for any information regarding which models might be less prone to this issue. I know I may get used to it somewhat, but at this point it is actually interfering with the sounds I want to hear. For example, if I turn when someone talks to me, the rustling blocks out some of what they say. As HAs are a big financial investment, I’d really like to investigate options that will work best for me before I commit. I can see that the Lumitys have three microphone holes on the back and on, for example, the Styletto, I see only one (but am only going by pictures). I’m just wondering if this means they’d be a bit less prone to picking up the rustling of hair.

Hearing aid socks or sweat bands might help but I have no experience. I dont have long hair as a male but I had static sounds a few times in the past

Oticon Real’s Wind & Handling Stabilizer addresses this. I’m a guy who gets a haircut every 3 months or so. When I started my Real trial my hair covered my ears, and I didn’t notice any hair noise.

In reply to @user1186

@user1186 said:

cutting my hair short enough to keep it away from the HAs isn’t something I’m prepared to consider.

And it doesn’t help, my crew cut sides create prickly noises when I’m chewing or talking.

I haven’t tried these but looked into jackets, like Gear for Ears and Hearing Aid Sweatband. Maybe someone here has some experience with them.

In reply to @x475aws

Contrary to Oticon’s claims, my experience with the Real’s Wind and Handling Stabilizer is that the “wind” part is fantastic, but the “handling” part was no better whatsoever than my previous OPNs. My Reals are just as sensitive to touch as my OPNs were.

My first hearing aids were in the ear/canal, so this wasn’t a problem at all. However when I switched to my Oticon Moores almost a year ago I did not think I was going to be able to keep them. The noise from my hair drove me insane, and I seriously considered ending my trial early. However I decided to stick it out for 2 weeks, and amazingly I guess my brain got used to the noise and I stopped hearing it! Now, every morning I put in my and walk downstairs. As I walk down the stairs every morning I can hear my hair hitting my HAs and after that I don’t notice it. If I listen for it I can hear it, but it is NOTHING like that first week or so. I know this sounds crazy - I don’t think I would have believed it if someone told me that eventually I would no longer hear it, but thats how it worked for me. To me that is a clear example of how amazing the brain is!

For reference, I am also a woman in my 40s with shoulder length hair :slight_smile:

In reply to @Chirp

You are right. Every time I get a new pair of aids, there is some new annoying sound that I wasnt hearing before, but after a week or so, I dont even hear it anymore. The brain is amazing.

My hair is short, but the portion above my ears does cause this issue anyway. I have hearing aid sweat bands. While they do help this issue, I find that they do block sound a tiny bit. Not an issue for me, I only wear them for yard work and chicken chores.

I found the feedback decreased when we turned down the gain and made the heating aids less “hot.” I’m not cutting my hair either (mid-back)!

You can just keep your hair pulled back away from the hearing aids, you don’t want to lower the sound because then you won’t hear out of your hearing aids. It usually isn’t so bad at all,… Honestly, thats what bothers me the least out of hearing aids… There is so much worse with them

I thought I’d update for anyone else who might be searching for the information I was after when I posted this question. I understand that for some people the sound of hair on the microphones is not a big deal, but for me it absolutely was. This could be because my hearing is good in that particular frequency according to the Audi, or a result of my particular kind of hair or style. On my Phonak Lumity trial I ended up with a bunch of hair bands and clips around the house and was constantly trying to pin my hair away from the aids. There was some improvement as I got used to it but it was really still driving me crazy. I asked the Audi if the Signia 7AX might be better because the microphone is differently located. She didn’t think it would be, but I was keen to try them just in case they were better and also because Signia’s Own Voice Processing appealed to me. I ended up buying the Specsavers branded Signia7AX yesterday (90 day money back guarantee) and I am amazed at how much of a difference there is with the hair sounds. Unless I actually move my hair with my hands right over the aid, I am not noticing hair sounds at all. This is a vast improvement over the Phonak which scraped loudly every time I moved my head or chewed. So if you have shoulder length hair and are struggling with scraping noises, it might be worth giving different brands a try. I can’t give too much more of a review than that at the moment, will be trying them in some challenging situations this week, but so far so good.

This is true: we’ve noticed that that ‘mic scratch’ noises vary a lot by brand. Cases and covers seem to accentuate the problem as they make the sensing surface larger and more porous.

You’ve got a couple of options: get a good barber to do you a decent skin-fade margin over your ears. Or have a look at other brands with better environmental and impact noise management.

My teenage sons might not be so thrilled if their mum turned up with a skin fade margin. :slight_smile:

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