Hearing Aids With Glasses and Face Masks: How Not to Lose Them

Crowded ears

Behind-the-ear and receiver-in-canal hearing aids sit in the same narrow space as the arms of your glasses and the loops of a face mask. Most of the time this works fine. The problems come when you take something off quickly: the hearing aid comes off with it, often without you noticing.

The tips below come from guidance published by NHS hospitals in the UK, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and Oticon. Much of it was written during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it still applies whenever you wear a mask, for example in a clinic or hospital.

Glasses and hearing aids

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust gives two useful tips:

• Clear the ears before a mask goes on. Keep your ears as clear as possible by tying back long hair and removing glasses before putting a mask on.
• Take glasses off upwards. When wearing hearing aids, glasses and a mask, remove the glasses upwards instead of forwards, slowly and while standing still.

If glasses and hearing aids feel uncomfortable together, or the glasses push a hearing aid out of place, mention it at a follow-up appointment. The fit of the hearing aid or the earpiece can sometimes be adjusted. See follow-up and adjustments.

Face masks and hearing aids

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust warns that hearing aids can easily get caught on the ear loops of face coverings and fall off your ears. Chelsea and Westminster suggests:

• Choose ties, not loops. Use a mask with four strings that tie behind the head rather than the type with ear loops.
• Loop outside the hearing aid. If you use an ear-loop mask, make sure the loop sits on the outside of the hearing aids, so it holds them against the head.
• Use an extender. Attach the mask with button extensions or a mask extender instead of your ears. ASHA gives the same tip: use a button extender so the mask attaches behind your head.
• Never just pull the mask off. Hold the hearing aid with one hand while removing the mask with the other.
• Remove it over something soft. If possible, take the mask off at home over a table covered with a towel, so a falling hearing aid lands softly and is easy to see.
• Check before you leave. Before leaving a place, check that your hearing aids are still in your ears.
• Check the mask before washing or throwing it away. Make sure your hearing aids are not tangled in the straps.

ASHA also advises removing your mask in a safe place and then checking your device to make sure it is working.

Masks and understanding speech

Masks also make conversations harder. ASHA notes that masks take away a person's ability to read lips and see facial expressions, and suggests considering a mask with a clear panel over the mouth. A poster from Oticon UK advises facing each other and speaking slowly, clearly and at a normal volume.

If you do lose one

Retrace your steps straight away: the car, the coat pocket, the mask you just threw away. For a full search plan, see lost a hearing aid? what to do next. If your hearing aids connect to a phone app, the app may help you locate them.

A habit for parents and carers

For an older parent, the simplest rule is to check both ears every time glasses or a mask come off. Carers and family can make it part of the routine. See helping an elderly parent with hearing aids in Israel. You can call G-Sound in English. G-Sound offers Philips and Oticon hearing aids.