Printable View
OK, there are a couple threads about glasses & helmets. Anyone else out there wear hearing aids? Any issues with them & your helmet? Mainly feedback problems? I have a pair of Phonaks and I have a very mild feedback inside the helmet. Not a big problem since I can't hear it over the bike & wind noise but I was thinking of consulting my audiologist to see if she could tweak them to not feed back in one of the programs.
I don't have any issues with glasses & helmet (HJC CL-Max II modular).
Wouldn't that be counterintuitive? One woud think you'd remove hearing aids while riding and switch to ear plugs instead.
If you have a helmet system for hearing your radio of communication system then I could see wearing hearing aids. I take mine out and put them in their carrier.
I take out my aids, and put in container. I once on a rainy weekend ride lost a hear aid :bangheadafter I went into a restaurant and then forgot to take them off. It was a long wet ride, I showered at Motel, and then went out to eat. I put aids in to hear server but when I got out I was tired, 2 days of rain (500 miles).
Next morning I came out to bike, there was one aid, other? I was lucky they were new and only cost me $250 to get them replaced. I now make sure they are off, in the case, and in the case. Plugs then go in my ears.
I am sure with all the Ipods, smart phone, etc. hearing aids will become a device many more people will be wearing them. I just hope cost comes down of aids, these seem to be one of the electronic items that do not come down in price.
When I first got them I tried wearing the hearing aids on the bike, just to see the effect. The noise level was unbelievable! I take my hearing aids out and use speaker earplugs plugged into an Autocom when I ride. I prefer to save the hearing I have left.
The only time I wear my hearing aids on the bike is for a very short ride...and they are turned off when doing this. I NEVER ride with the aids turned on.
For anything longer than a couple miles, I remove the aids and wear ear plugs. The wind noise on my RS is terrific. It was not as bad on the LT and R bikes, but I still wore ear plugs.:wave
[quote=gilly;788279]wouldn't that be counterintuitive? One woud think you'd remove hearing aids while riding and switch to ear plugs instead.[/quote]
+1
I have no hearing in my right ear. I have about 15% hearing in my left ear and with a hearing aid in that ear, I manage to get by fairly well.
When I ride the bike, the hearing aid is left in but turned down, I want to be able to hear something.
As much as I have come to enjoy being able to turn off what is a very noisy world, I
do not feel comfortable having silence on a motorcycle.
Whether it may be change in the sound of something on the bike or a siren or horn, I want to be able to hear it.
The only problem I have with a hearing aid is getting the helmet off without sometimes pulling the aid off with it, getting the helmet on is not a problem.
Interesting...I'm surprised that so many take out their hearing aids. I would no more ride or drive without them than I would without my glasses. I don't have an issue with the noise...quite the opposite since the HAs have pretty good noise reduction. They act kind of like smart ear plugs. Then again, I don't do a lot of high speed riding so might not run into the same noise level. I suppose it also depends on the severity of your hearing loss...I'm quite deaf without them so probably wouldn't hear horns or siren or bad noises from the bike. I wear behind-the-ear models and the main issue I have is that the helmet presses my ears against the HA body and that can be painful after a while.
I am down about 30% in both ears, still able to pass a DOT physical (I'm a CDL driver) without aids as of right now, or last year anyways. One of these years it will be time. As my loss is given to years of loud activities w/o hearing protection, my doc did at one time (and this has been awhile ago, things may have changed in the last 20 yrs or so) recommended against HA's. It will just amplify sound and increase the degrading of my hearing. Prtecting what I have is the name of the game for me right now.
MARKAZ; If your helmet is pushing on your hearing aid, The problem is most likely
your helmet. I wear a Shoei Mulitec modular which has openings large enough that
my ears even with the aid, fit into them.
There is no pressure on the aids.
I have never had speakers in a helmet, but I am going to guess that helmets that are designed to have a commuication system built into it would have larger openings
for the installation of speakers.
You may be able to trim a little off of where there is pressure on the aid.
My Neotec also has room in the pads for speakers and etc....
I have an HJC CL-Max II that is bluetooth ready but I don't have bluetooth in it. It has space around the ears for speakers. The space give the HAs more clearance and helps reduce the feedback. I only noticed the pressure on the aid the other day, I hadn't had any problem before so maybe the aid shifted a little. I tried on a bunch of helmets including Shoei before I decided on the HJC. It fits well & I can get it on & off easily with both glasses & HA (price was a factor also). It's been fine until the other day. I haven't been riding much lately...just too hot for me...I'll pay closer attention next time & be sure everything's in place.
Hearing aid technology has improved a lot over the past few years. The feedback suppression, noise reduction, compression, etc. are vastly improved from the last pair I got about five years ago. They're pretty pricey, tho...
When I first bought my Mulitec, size Large, it fit perfect without the aid but was a little tight with the one aid in. I began to wish that I had bought an X-Large.
I got a pair of the snap-in pads that come with the X-Large which are just a little thinner. I put just the one X-Large pad in on the side where I have the aid, it made a difference.
After using the helmet for about a month, the pads broke in and I was able to go back to the size large pad on the aid side.
[QUOTE=MARKAZ;788444]Interesting...I'm surprised that so many take out their hearing aids. I would no more ride or drive without them than I would without my glasses. I don't have an issue with the noise...quite the opposite since the HAs have pretty good noise reduction. They act kind of like smart ear plugs. Then again, I don't do a lot of high speed riding so might not run into the same noise level. I suppose it also depends on the severity of your hearing loss...I'm quite deaf without them so probably wouldn't hear horns or siren or bad noises from the bike. I wear behind-the-ear models and the main issue I have is that the helmet presses my ears against the HA body and that can be painful after a while.[/QUOTE]
Helmet manufacturers attempt to make a helmet quieter by adding foam padding to isolate your ear from wind noise. If this padding causes your ear to deflect it can "rock" the earplug (or hearing aid) and cause a pressure point where the plug extends into the ear canal. This is easily remedied by pulling down the helmet liner and removing some of the foam rubber padding from around the ear area.