When I first started wearing a hearing aids, I was forever losing them but now they have a home and it’s no longer an issue.
The first hearing aid I had was an in-the-ear kind from the NHS. It wasn’t comfortable and it was set too loud and so I used to take it to work with me and only wear it when I was in a meeting. Consequently, it lived its life mainly in pockets and I spent most mornings trying to retrace my steps to see where it had ended up in order to stuff it in the pocket of that day’s outfit for emergency use only. I then learnt to lipread and abandoned the aid altogether.
When I later needed an aid in my other ear, I purchased some behind the ear aids with receiver in the ear and open fit domes. I mainly managed with just the one aid and so one lived in my ear and the other lived a varied life in pockets, handbags and in its case in various locations in my house. This pair had a remote control, which led a nomadic lifestyle; living in jackets, coats, jeans, handbags, on tables – anywhere its fancy took it. The aid I used to use had a single place I’d put it every night – a little ceramic bowl on my dressing table – but the other aid and remote could end up anywhere.
Almost every exit of the house started with, “Where’s my remote? Where’s my other aid?” and a frantic search. I needed to get more organised. I started to leave the remote on the coffee table every evening and so I knew where to locate it each morning and this worked – mostly.
When I suffered sudden sensorineural hearing loss in my ‘good ear’, I was months without any aids and had to go everywhere with a blue Sonido listening device which is the size of a telephone handset and not easy to lose.
And then I discovered Bi CROS aids for single-sided deafness. Once I got them, I never wanted to take them off. Now, I put them on when I get dressed and wear them right up until bedtime, when they go into a pretty little bowl on my dressing table. My husband bought me a Moorcroft bowl one birthday especially for this purpose.
I used to put them in a different bowl by the side of the bed but I lived in fear of accidentally knocking my glass of water on them (I always have a glass by the bedside) and so I relocated their overnight accommodation to somewhere safer.
My new remote control tends to live on a side table in the lounge when I’m at home but when I’m out and about, it can suffer the fate of moving from pocket to bag to coat and ‘get lost’ in the process. I still end up searching for it and am often convinced I’ve left it in a meeting room or dropped it on a train, only to discover it in an inside pocket of a handbag or in the pocket of a jacket I’d forgotten I’d worn.
Knowing where my hearing aids are is no longer an issue. Occasionally, I might have a snooze on the sofa and pop my hearing aids on a side table but otherwise they live right where they should be: behind my ears!
Where do you keep your hearing aids when you’re not wearing them? We’d love to see. Post your pictures on the Phonak Facebook page.
At the beginning of my hearing aid wearer career, I religiously kept them in their drying box. As you can imagine I quickly got tired of carrying to box around with me. It was a bit big and noisy. And sometimes I forgot to bring it with me, ended up removing my hearing aids, and well, stuck them in my handbag.
Experience taught me that some places were not great: the bottom of my handbag with all the rest of my mess, pockets (and after reading Christina’s wash of shame story I see I was right about that), and various surfaces and counter-tops in my flat. Like you, I kept forgetting where I’d put them. And I was also worried about one of the cats chewing on them (they’re not kittens anymore by far, but you never know with those felines).
When on the road, I ended up accepting that one of the little zip pockets in my handbag would be ok. Or a clean jacket pocket with a zip (when skiing or trekking). Or some kind of small bag pocket with a zip. You get the operative word: zip.
Home was another story. I did realise, however, that there were a few common places where I’d take my hearing aids off: on the couch (to watch TV), in the bathroom (when removing jewellery before the night), on my bedside table (ditto).
At one point I had solved my problem with jewellery lying all over the place by placing a series of “jewellery bowls” in strategic spots. I quickly ended up using them for my hearing aids too. I also have a tiny “hearing aid drawer” in which I keep my batteries and where I have a special spot for my hearing aids. But I’m afraid they’re not often there!
With the current situation there is a limited number of places for me to search, so it’s not too bad. Also, I’m removing my hearing aids less and less…
(Note to self: write a post about those darn batteries…)