I have moderate hearing loss and wear hearing aids (which work fairly well). My issue is I enjoy a lot of sporting events and sweat a lot. This causes me to participate without the hearing aids. This means I miss most of the conversation and either ask them to repeat or I just nod and smile. I know there are no waterproof hearing aids but is there anything like a head set or ear phone that is connected to a microphone that will amplify the sound and is waterproof? I know I can’t be the only person with this issue.
The Phonak Life is waterproof. Most recent hearing aids are water resistant and can handle a quick splash in the shower or a sweaty workout. But I’d keep hearing aids in a dryer at night.
I have the Oticon hearing aids that are rated at IP68. I also play tennis and I sweat a lot as well. Initially I wear my aids because I thought that if they’re rated at IP68, they should be able to withstand the sweat. But I was wrong, after a few months, eventually at one point, I get the dreaded warning chime that my need service, specifically for a microphone issue.
Even though the opening for the mics are designed to face downward to keep water from travelling up into the mics, that still didn’t work. I can see if salty sweat gets into the mic opening, when it’s dried out, a layer of salt from the sweat can form and prevents the mics from operating at their best. So sweat may not damage the mics, but their dried up deposits can sure cover up the mics. That’s the one weak point there. Being water proof tested in clean water is OK because the clean water will dry out to nothing. But salt water leaves a deposit.
Many other Oticon users who sweat a lot seem to run into this same issue as well. I can’t speak for other brands.
Because I only play with my wife now and not in a social setting with many other people, I don’t need to wear HAs anymore when I play. But if I do play socially, I will for sure wear the HAs, and if they’re still under warranty, I’d just keep using them to see if they will go bad or not, assuming that at the end of the 3 year warranty, I would send them in for a warranty replacement anyway.
But you can try the myriad of HA sweat sock/band options sold on Amazon and read the reviews there to see of those things would help or not.
Phonak’s life would probably be your best option but if it doesn’t suit your hearing needs then most devices now are rated ip68. This means they’ve survived 30mins underwater at 1.5m. However, it’s test conditions it’s pure water and as @Volusiano reports you can soon see devices fail with moisture and sweat. Best option is to go for a rechargeable as the battery is sealed in, offering more protection to the device than a battery door. Also get yourself a decent UV dryer to run them through at night to keep on top of any moisture.
I’ve seen good results with ‘Ear Gear’ covers if there’s a need for further protection from moisture.
I play competitive tennis every week. Very simple solution - I wear a thick Nike head band, making sure I put the band on the inside of my hearing aids. It absorbs the sweat pretty well. Unsure if that will work if you have a lot more hair than I have - as mine is thinning.
Otherwise, the Phonak Audeo Life Lumity might be worth looking it - the claims are that it is waterproof. Even if it doesn’t meet those claims fully, it should still be able to cope with sweat.
Personally I take off my new Phonaks when engaging in anything sweaty- these thingies are just too expensive for me to take chances. This policy also kept (keeps) my old Starkeys in shape since over 15 years now. My hearing is probably worse than yours, and when playing tennis, yelling scores works fine, supplemented with curses and obscene gestures when required.
Geneva, Switzerland