Your hearing aids are designed to be durable; they need to be hardy enough to sustain daily use for hours at a time, exposed to the elements. Just in our daily life, hearing aids are exposed to moisture, grit, dust and sweat, not to mention simple activities can jostle them around. That said, they’re not indestructible, so in certain conditions, you may need to take extra precautions to make sure your hearing aids stay protected. Windy days are one such condition.
Wind Noise
Have you ever worn your hearing aids on a windy day? Did you experience loud, gusty sounds in your ears? Did you realize you were unknowingly shouting when you spoke to hear yourself over the noise? This unpleasant phenomenon is known as wind noise.
What Causes Wind Noise?
Wind noise happens anytime a microphone is in blustery conditions. Wind, cycling or driving with the window down can all cause wind noise in your hearing aids. You’ve probably seen a similar situation when you try to take a video at the beach or take a call while in the car with the windows down.
Specifically, the sound comes from turbulence generated when fast-moving air hits an obstacle. This creates eddies and swirls of air that constantly hit the microphone, are amplified by your hearing aid, and enter your ear.
Does Wind Noise Affect All Hearing Aids?
Because hearing aid styles come in different shapes and sizes, not all hearing aids will experience wind noise in the same way. Behind-the-ear (BTE) and receiver-in-canal (RIC) hearing aids are particularly susceptible to wind noise because the hearing aid microphone sits exposed to the full force of the wind. In-the-ear (ITE) and completely-in-the-canal (CIC) hearing aids will also struggle with wind noise, but your head and ear can act as windbreaks, decreasing the effect.
How Can I Reduce Wind Noise?
The quickest and easiest way to reduce wind noise is to block wind from reaching your hearing aid microphone. Wear a hood, hat, scarf or earmuffs to insulate your hearing aids and keep the wind out. If you’re worried about condensation building up on these soft materials, consider using hearing aid accessories, such as wind guards and socks.
Dust and Dirt
Gusty days can kick up a lot of dirt in your environment and blow it into your face and ears. While we’re fortunate to not live in a part of the country where dust devils are a regular occurrence, that doesn’t mean that dust isn’t flying around.
What’s the Danger of Dirt?
You may think the biggest danger to airborne dirt and dust is getting it in your eyes and mouth, but don’t discount the havoc it can wreak on your hearing aids. Dirt particles are small, so they can easily get stuck inside vents and ports in your devices and clog them. This can lead to power issues, circuitry malfunctions, distorted sound quality and physical damage to the hearing aid.
How Much Dirt Does It Take to Hurt My Hearing Aids?
The good news is that modern hearing aids are continually improving in durability. As stated above, they need to be durable to get the job done. To discern how hardy your devices are, consult the IP rating of your model. An IP rating will always have two numbers: the first refers to the protection against dust from a scale of 0 to 6, and the second refers to the protection against water on a scale of 0 to 9. Therefore, the best rating possible is IP69.
How Can I Protect Against Dirt and Dust?
Once again, wearing a hat or other covering will help tremendously. Another major way you can prevent damage from dirt on high-wind days is to clean your hearing aids after a day in the wind. A gentle cleaning will remove any dust that landed on your devices throughout the day, and this cleaning ritual gives you an opportunity to inspect the ports and vents for clogs.
Every six months or so, you should also consider getting your hearing aids professionally cleaned and serviced to prevent buildup from moisture or dirt. Contact PDX ENT to schedule a cleaning and repair appointment.
