Nolan loves playing soccer. I love that he loves playing soccer. Playing soccer in the humidity? Not so much.
Playing soccer in high humidity with coaches who have squirt bottles to cool off little ones? I like those games even less.
Nolan had a soccer game on Wednesday (in 96 degree heat and 90% humidity), and was drenched with sweat. The coaches brought out spray bottles to help cool the kids down - we started yelling: "NOT THE HEARING AIDS!" from the sidelines. We should have taken his ears off. There was really no way to avoid the mist from the squirt bottles or the sweat from the game. There was just too much water.
Both hearing aids died, and a trip through the Dry and Store revived his right hearing aid. The left one hasn't fared so well. Sometimes I do get a faint squeal, but it always dies a few minutes later. I have to call Nolan's audiologist later today.
In the meantime, we broke out his old Ear Gear, and it finally fits. It used to be too bulky for his little ears, but it fits now. The extra cord to the missing aid is just tucked into his shirt, and the Ear Gear on the other side can protect the right aid from any more moisture damage.
Dear hearing aid companies: please make waterproof hearing aids for kids with mod-severe losses.* Soon.
*Yes, there is the Siemen's Aquaris, which is awesome, but it is only for mild/moderate losses. Sigh...
13 comments:
Oh no!!! Waterproof HA's are a huge need, I agree!
Julie
Oh no! K doesn't hear anything with her left ear and manages pretty well. My best advice for being one-eared is to stay on his right side in noisy environments (restaurants, movies, ect).
Have you guys tried the Phonak Naidas yet? they are water resistant. I was thrown in the pool, my head got soaking wet, and they were absolutely fine after I changed the filters... Its something to look into.
Nolan can't hear in noisy environments at all with only one aid in - he's moderately severe in both ears, so even his "good" ear is only really aided to a mild loss - an hearing with only one hearing aid is pretty cruddy. He does OK in quiet, but still asks "What?" a lot. Sigh...Sayno2hate- we're looking at the Naidas for his next set. I love Phonak (his current aids are crummy Unitrons).
I love the fact that the Nios Micros and Naidas are water resistant. I have a feeling that 2013 and 2014 are going to bring out a whole new slate of water PROOF hearing aids, which would be TOTALLY awesome!
We have Naidas on Liam. They aren't as water resistant as we'd like them to be. Someone just posted on my blog about gear for ears at gearforears.com and they are actually meant to protect from sweat and some water. They look promising for Nolan's use.
Naida is supposed to be water proof...so we have those but we are too scared to try that bit..lol. We still try and stay away from water as much as we can.Its tough having hearing aids, miss out a bit of fun.
I've heard that the Naidas are "water resistant" but not really water proof. The Spice H2O are rated the same as Siemen's Aquaris, but they don't go so far as to say "waterproof," which makes me leery about Siemen's claims (which can be worn in the water, but no diving and they can't go deeper than 3 feet - and can only be around water for 30 minutes). Better than nothing, I suppose, but they really need to make waterproof aids!
Aimee - we did finally stick his Ear Gear back on his aids. It is helping with the sweat situation, at least. The ear gear used to be too bulky for his little ears, but it finally fits!
Julia has Phonak Naidas now. We're still really careful with them. Who are we to test exactly what "water resistant" actually means?
yes, the Naidas are water resistant only... not water proof. I have serious doubts about any aid that says they are water proof... because they are electronics. I have a water resistant camera, and I wouldn't ever say it was water proof. Like I said earlier, I got thrown into a pool with my Naidas and they were fine, a filter change was needed, but I'm sure it was needed anyways. I've done karate with them, I've gone to the beach, even put my head under the water in them... I think they are great for a kid... If my hearing hadn't declined so much that even with them I am profoundly deaf, I would be still wearing them.
The Phonak H2Os aids do actually have the same water resistant/proof rating as the Siemens Aquaris. They say they are suitable for temporary immersion but not suitable to wear when you are under the water for long periods of time.
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