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.
87 K75S, bought new, now sold
07 K1200GT Bought new, now traded in
13 C650GT
MOA 44606
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.
Steve Ayers
# 146297
1995 R1100R
NRA Life Member
I take out my aids, and put in container. I once on a rainy weekend ride lost a hear aidafter 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.
Tom
'84 R100RT '04 CLC
BMWBeer Motorcycles Women
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.
George
K1200RS, K1200LT, R80RT, R100R, R75/5
+1Originally Posted by gilly
Martin. BMW MOA Ambassador.17748
BMW MOA Charter, Life member.
Valley BMW Riders. British Columbia.
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.
87 K75S, bought new, now sold
07 K1200GT Bought new, now traded in
13 C650GT
MOA 44606
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.
I'm waiting on my HA audiologist to send me MY!!!!!!!!!!! hearing profile(it has hardly changed since Army one I've got from 1969!) so I can include it with my HA's to send in for repair & re-program. They want a privacy form completed & returned before they'll mail it! When I call Humana(my Medicare provider) all they ask is my member number & we can talk about everything! This privacy thing is haywire!!! Seems the bad guys can get my info & I cannot? I called one of the two KY state retirement systems with a question couple years ago & they said I had to come in person or fill out a request 1st. I said , so you are willing to send me money but not change the mistake on my info w/o that crap,wow, whats next? Here I am on a 1st name basis with the audiologist & the receptionist(ENT office) needs more paperwork? Good thing I can hear something while I wait? Sleep doc told me to make sure I continue toward a machine that will be compatible & provide sleep apnea help. I get home & tell wife that he warned me it was going to be the big one Elizabeth ,ala, Fred Sanford if I don't get a machine that works soon. She says they must not be too worried about me dying as it took 3 months to get in to see the guy. So much for dying peacefully huh?
End of rant!
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