Medical News

Tips on how to wear a face mask with hearing aids

Last update on Jun, 18, 2021

Coronavirus affects communication. Many find it difficult to understand their interlocutor. This is due to the masks. They not only attenuate the sound, but also prevent lip reading. Even people who are still able to hear well sometimes have a hard time understanding everything. For people with hearing loss, the challenge is even greater. But with some tricks and tools, a good understanding of conversations is possible even during the mask obligation.

Tips for wearing your hearing aids with a face mask

Wearing a face mask can protect you and your community by creating an additional physical barrier to Covid-19. Behind-the-ear hearing aids can be problematic to wear with the elastic of a face mask, so we propose you some tips for wearing the hearing aids with a face mask:

If possible, try to wear the type of mask that has four strings which can be tied behind the head instead of looping around the ears
If your hair is long and can be pulled back into a bun, wrap the elastic around the bun so that it moves towards the top of the head.
Sew two buttons to a piece of fabric to wear on the back of the head. Wrap the elastic of the vamp around these buttons
Remove the mask slowly at home in an open area so that if the hearing aids fall to the floor they can be found more easily

How can hearing aids help during the pandemic?

Targeted optimization

Hearing aids don't just increase the volume of sounds. They can be set in a very specific way and can compensate for hearing impairment in a targeted manner. For example, if you can still hear the low tones very well but you have difficulty with the high ones, the low tones will not be amplified, the high ones will.

Better understanding of conversations

Hearing aids can distinguish environment noises from spoken language. That is, they can exclude environment noises and focus exclusively on speech, thus making it possible to understand conversations in noisy environments.

Special program for masks

There are hearing aids that come with a special mask program. Amplifon customers who have tried one of these programs have been thrilled.

Communication challenges while wearing a face mask

Ask your interlocutor to raise his voice and articulate the words well to improve understanding.
Make sure there are good lighting conditions and that your interlocutor is facing you.
Ask the interlocutor to write down the important details (for example, instructions from doctors or pharmacists).
Instead of face-to-face meetings, videoconferences are also good, where you don't need to wear a mask and you can therefore read the lips.
Encourage your interlocutors to wear masks with a transparent window that allows lip reading.
If you notice that the advice still does not fully optimize your speech understanding, professional hearing aid advice will help. The right hearing aids contribute significantly to better and easier understanding.
If you bring hearing aids, please inquire at one of our Amplifon branches near you if a special mask program is available for your model.