You’re never too old for a snowball fight. Whether you like to gather up the snow yourself or use a snowball maker, tossing snowballs at your friends and family in Carondelet Park is a time-honored winter tradition. If you’re among the 20% of people with hearing loss, you might wonder how well your hearing aids will fare when you’re dodging a particularly large, expertly thrown snowball.
Let’s take a look at three possible hearing aid hazards in a snowball fight, and how you can protect against them.
Lost Hearing Aids
Fluffy snow makes the perfect snowball. But fluffy snow also has a knack for hiding our treasured valuables, from a single lost mitten to our two helpful hearing aids. If you’re going out for a snowball fight, secure your hearing aids to your ears with a headband. Not only will the band keep you warm, but it’ll hold your devices in place in the event that a snowball makes its way to your ears.
Cracked or Bent Hearing Aids
Hearing aids are designed to last, but they’re still delicate electronic devices that require careful handling. If you’re hit in the head with an errant snowball, pause the game for a moment to check your device. If it appears cracked or bent, it’s best to remove it for the remainder of the fight and schedule an appointment for a repair.
Wet Hearing Aids
Getting covered head-to-toe with snow is one of the best parts of a snowball fight, and the chilliest. Unfortunately, that snow can melt and expose your hearing aids to moisture. While most modern hearing aids are water-resistant or waterproof, up to a certain depth, it’s best to dry them off quickly. Once you go inside, remove your devices, wipe off any snow and place them in a specialty desiccating jar or electric dryer. Hearing aid-specific dryers like these will pull the moisture from your devices without damaging the internal components.
If you notice any distortion, like muffled sound or whistling, in your hearing aids after a snowball fight, contact Center for Hearing & Speech today to schedule a service and repair. We’ll get your hearing aids back to work so you can enjoy all the laughter and victory cheers that snowball fights bring this year.
