tbo

In another thread on a another topic, the discussion wandered around to bicycling with hearing aids.


I thought it might be an interesting discussion on its own. C&V does tends to skew slightly older, so I thought this might be an appropriate venue.

So, like the title says, do you wear your hearing aids while riding?

My answer is Yes.

Though you have to accept that you might lose them if you get knocked off the bike. Need them for car placement.

I have done it out of habit and fear of not doing it. I will try it without and see if I like it or not. -45db to -60db, depending on ear and freq.

Some people complain about sweating into the hearing aids - I just don't sweat that way or maybe just not that much.

Another reason I do it is that I ride for transportation as much as anything else. I am going to need the hearing aids when I get to my intended destination anyway. Putting them in and out while outdoors next to the bike while locking and unlocking adds steps and increases chances of dropping / losing the aids.

sloar 

I don't wear mine, I ride in the country and it's always windy. The wind noise is way to loud while wearing them. I may see one or two cars on my ride, so I usually wear earbuds with music.

Andrew R Stewart 

I don't know about Indiana but here in NY riding with ear buds is considered driving while impaired and is illegal, as it should be as one's ears are a very important component of awareness.


A number of club mates are beginning to have age related hearing losses. A couple use hearing aids even when riding. They say that the more sophisticated ones can be programed to handle different pitches differently. Some have found "Cat Ears" to help with wind noise. these are cloth/fluffy bits that attach to one's helmet straps and reduce the wind noise. Andy.

Velocivixen

One of my older neighbors used to go on walks and he always had Walkman style headphones on. One day I asked him, "Wiley, what are you listening to?" "Nothing" he replied as the headphones weren't attatched to anything. He said that the wind bothers his aides, so he used the light headphones to buffer the wind.

Bianchigirll 

What?

corrado33

I think that's a hard question.

I know many people only have one set of hearing aids (my parents included) and they are extraordinarily careful with them. They were quite expensive they told me. (Yes yes yes they have insurance, but that's not the point.)

You can just tell when someone cares for something dearly when they handed them over to me to replace the batteries and fix one of the battery doors that had had its hinge pulled off. They were extremely careful and made sure to hand them to me over a table so we didn't drop anything.

I personally don't have hearing aids, but can you not turn them down when riding? I suppose that would negate the point of wearing them. I think your best bet would be to use those cat ear things (or similar products) to reduce wind noise.

FBinNY 

I think we need to keep straight regarding the difference between hearing aids, worn to reedy limited hearing, and ear buds worn to mask ambient noise with entertainment.

The decision about wearing a hearing aid should turn on the extent you need it to hear ambient traffic noise. Depending on then type, wind noise might make things worse, so all I suggest is that anyone wearing hearing aids, try with and without and do whatever is best for them.

Earbuds are a different, endlessly debated, issue, and should be kept out of this thread which is about the specific needs of the hearing impaired.

ecnewell 

Yes, but only my C&V hearing aids. The cones catch a lot of wind, but they attach pretty easily to my helmet.

Dfrost 

Yes, I wear my hearing aids on rides. Mine are Phonak, sold by Costco, and have an auto-wind noise reduction feature. I asked to have that feature increased in effect as a separate mode, and couldn't tell the difference from the auto version (easily switched while riding), and the noise reduction is valuable. I feel that they enhance my safety since they offset my high frequency loss. The hearing specialist said I don't need to worry about moisture effects from perspiration or as much rain as I'm willing to endure on a ride. If I was caught in a significant storm, I'd take them out.

My previous hearing aids from ten years ago turned out to be less helpful in any sort of noisy environment including wind and crowd noise, so I stopped using them after a few years. These new Phonaks are just the opposite.

winston63 

I wear mine. I used to have problems with moisture accumulation though, but I bought a set of Ear Gear sleeves from my local audiologist and I found they helped not only with that problem but helped reduce wind noise.

hobbs1951

I have to admit I am surprised to see posts about hearing aids on what is - supposedly - a cycling forum...I didn't come down in the last shower of rain and I have no issues with hearing.

People I see cycling with Ipad headphones or similiar are irresponsible.

Hearing aids, well, I ride sometimes with a few old timers - the oldest is 79 - and they don't have hearing issues.

John.

3speedslow

I have no hearing in my right ear and significant loss in my other. I make do and as others tell me, I miss a lot of traffic and bike noise. For me to have an aid it would have to be surgically implanted. It's called a cochlear implant or some thing like that. Not gonna happen. So no, no hearing aids while I ride or do anything.

DiabloScott

In summary, just to make sure I understand...the problems with wearing hearing aids while riding are:

1. They might fall out
2. The wind noise makes them not work so well
3. Sweat, gross and messy
4. Rain

Anybody have good solutions? The ear-gear things look like they might help... but how about some kind of ear-warmer/head-band kind of thing that's designed specifically for hearing aids and helmets? Thin because you don't really need ear warmers, just enough to keep the aids in and the wind out?

I don't have hearing aids yet, but it's a good possibility someday.

Dfrost 

I have none of those problems after using the current Phonaks for about a year and 2400 miles. And I've never worried about them falling out. But as previously mentioned, I wouldn't wear them (or ride, if it can possibly be avoided) in heavy rain. Light rain is not an issue. BTW, I highly recommend Costco for hearing aids (no financial connection to Costco, except that they get some of my money).

Grand Bois

It seems kind of strange to me that driving with ear buds is illegal in some states, yet driving while completely deaf is legal in all states.

Lascauxcaveman 

Or they just have those earbuds in so they can hear the ringer on their phone. I always have my ear buds in for that purpose (when I'm on call), and never have any music or podcasts going while in the saddle. I have a choice of riding with earbuds or not riding, so you know which one I choose. As far answering the phone, the lead to the right earbud has a conveniently located answer button which lets me take the call even before I've pulled over the the curb. No more distracting than reaching down to the right shifter.

As for wearing my hearing aid (singular, as I am completely deaf on the right side) it just doesn't work for me; too much wind noise even though it's supposedly designed to work agains that. Mine is an over-the-ear kind, since the level of amplification I need is considerable and my ear canal is too small to fit any but the less-power little ones. I have been told to take mine off if I'm going to be sweating, so I do.

The one time I can wear it while riding is on cold days when I've got the balaclava on, that effectively shields it from the wind and then it works pretty well.

Ha! Exactly. And it's probably legal in all states also to drive with that big-bass-pumping stereo cranked up, which effectively makes you deaf to any outside sounds you might need to hear.

non-fixie 

My eyes and ears are my most important safety devices. If I needed a hearing aid or glasses, I'd use them while riding.

Andrew R Stewart 

I'll assume this was said in real naivety. Otherwise it could be construed as being somewhat bigoted.


I suspect the law sees a difference between choice and condition. Andy.

frameteam2003

Yes I wear hearing aids. They will not "Fall out" wind noise is at times a problem on my motorcycle--rarely on my bicycle. If you get the almost top of the line--they now come Bluetooth compatible so you can hear your phone or I-tunes. I wear mine 16 plus hours a day. And no you can not just turn them off they are computer programed to my ears--they stay on till I remove them and pull the battery. they are not just sound amplifiers they signal each other and rearrange sound in "real Time" to give as best as possible hearing.---but real hearing is a blessing--wish I had it.

winston63 

Falling out isn't a risk for me at all. Wind noise can be, but some hearing aids have a wind noise-reducing program setting which can help though I've not found one that's perfect. The sweat & rain were issues for me but the ear gear sleeves really helped with both.

And I periodically wash the sleeves if I notice them getting messy looking. They clean up pretty easily and dry over night, so it's an easy fix.

Even though there are a few issues, I'm a far safer rider wearing my hearing aids than not.

Grand Bois

Assume whatever you wish.

tbo

For those who may not know, hearing aids can be very expensive and harder to replace than a set of glasses. For instance, my hearing aids cost ten times as much (~$5000) as any pair of glasses I have ever owned.

The risk and expense of loss is much higher. Therefore, one may choose to treat them a little differently than just another pair of glasses or contacts.

Poguemahone

I am unilaterally deaf, partially deaf in the remaining ear, and have been since at least first grade (my first grade teacher noticed it on my first day of school. It is apparent under certain conditions and not so much others). Never worn a hearing aid, though, either on or off the bike.


I'd add, having been educated at one point in an all deaf classroom-- I had the best hearing in the group by a looooooong shot-- that deaf people pick up on more and different visual clues then hearing people do. Which explains why they get to drive, and why you can't with ear buds.

sloar 

My hearing loss is service related, I wear what the VA gives me. They are still very nice and expensive, but the ''speaker'' is over the ear. So wind noise is a huge factor. But it helps that riding in rural farm country there is little to no traffic for an entire ride. I normally ride on the left side of the road so no one sneaks up on me. Being flat I can see a car coming a mile away, so that gives me plenty of time to look behind me and switch sides. Its worked for 30 years.

Fett2oo5

If you can't see without your hearing aids, then you definitely need to use them while riding.