Poll: Do You Turn Off Your Hearing Aid or CI in the Bathroom?
Friday August 22, 2008
| I thought I was the only one who did it, but this past week I read in a comment on a mommyblog about a child with a cochlear implant turning off his CI when he went to the bathroom. That's one advantage of being deaf - you do not have to hear the sounds you do not want to hear. I wonder how common this "turning off" behavior is in the deaf and hard of hearing community? Here is a new poll. |
Comments
My 10 year old does not like the sound of the toilet flushing. She has routinely removed her coil while in the bathroom since she was little.
IT was a blessing in diguised when I was able to turn off my hearing aids when my son was colic and there wasn’t much I could do for him after changing his diaper, fed him, hold him for hours. His endless crying was nervewracking, by turning off my aids made it a little bearable. It had saved my sanity.
Also, when I have a headache/migraines coming on, it is so nice to tune out noises. I’ve had people say how lucky I am to tune out noises when I want to, this is when I’m glad I can!
Before my CI I never wore my hearing aid while mowing the lawns. I hated that roaring noise and it didn’t help me cut the grass. In the house also I didn’t have to listen to the vacuum cleaner roar. But unlike a lawn mower you can’t tell if a vacuum cleaner is on… and I can’t tell you the number of times I vacuumed the house with the vacuum cleaner OFF! I did it the other day. I was tired and turned off my processor only to have the cord pull out and I didn’t realise so was continuing to vacuum wondering why the dirt wasn’t being sucked up!!
I always turn my hearing aid off when going to bath or shower. But not because of unpleasant sounds (I even like them), I just don’t want my hearing aid get wet. It isn’t waterproof
When I am in the subway, I never turn it off. Never.
The issue is that any audiologist will tell you NOT to turn off your device because that is the only way to acclimatize to the hearing world. Especially for new cochlear implant users. Many have never heard certain sounds before so many new sounds are quite weird. But if you persevere and leave your device on, you’ll get accustomed to hearing things in a “normal” way. After all, what else is the purpose of having a hearing device?
Having not worn hearing aids for 35 years, I recently bought one. (It will be a LOOONG time b/f I can afford the 2nd ear!) I find that I cannot wear it when driving on highways as the noise hurts. Also, by the end of a day, I feel as if I have shards of ice in my ear from all the noise. I am finding myself finding excuses NOT to wear my aid! Any advice?
I turn my aids off when there is just too much noise around me. I work in a busy area, lots of people walking by my office talking, co-workers, etc. It’s a blessing from a curse. I can focus more on what I’m doing. Since my phone is strobed, I can turn them back on when the phones ring or when someone comes in my office (luckily I face the door.) And when I get home – there are times I turn them off. I denied having hearing issues for years and got used to not hearing certain things… it’s okay with me.
I kind of come from a variety of “pro and con” of the aids….this could get long….and I hope you all wont mind. It was nice when I was a kid (am 50)to be able to at least talk to my siblings and parents since there were really no kind of manual language on their parts. It sort of made it mroe convenience for THEM and not me….in other words, if for whatever reasons I didnt have any kind of hearing assistance devices, NO ONE talked to me. I always believed in choices, so I gave my 3 daughters and husband (ALL are hearing) a choice to “talk” to me (manually) or I will submit to their (and putting this comment, humorly) “laziness”. I figured I would give the hearing world 50 years of my life. After that, sorry, you missed the boat. I have Ushers Syndrome. My hearing has deteroriate rapidly while my sight has worsten at a slow pace. I have 2 older brothers who also have US..but that is another story. I LOVE music….all these years I have deprived myself of it without standing right by the system. When IPods came around, I snagged one. I wear that MORE than I wear my hearing aids. I am trying to “force” those who are in my life constantly to use manual language. I will still use my voice if it makes it easier for them, but I want THEM to sign their messages to me. I think its fair….but thats me. Thanks for your patience.
My 6 year old son pulls off his CI when he flushes the toilet only, he will put it back on as soon as he sees the water come back up. He also take it off when his 2 yr old brother is crying!
Ivy, you might be trying to get used to your aid too fast! I have worn them for like 53 years and you need to start slow, like an hour a day and build up. Turn it way down in noisy situations. Take it off and leave it off at home to “rest” your ear, also to air it out. If I don’t do that I get ear infections.
Vaccuum cleaner is way the loudest. I turn my CI off when I vaccuum. The toilets in the hospitals and dr offices are very loud than the ones in my home. So I just lift the earpiece off for few seconds while the toilet is flushed then put the earpiece back on.
I mostly take out my “ears” when I am showering or at night when I sleep. HOWEVER, I am finding a lot of times lately that I take them off or turn them off more than I ever used to. At work, people talking loud or I can’t concentrate I take them off and put up my “I can’t hear you sign”. Also if I am on the phone, I turn one off or take it off. I don’t like the flushing of public toilets (loud) or sometimes in certain buildings I pick up a weird interfearance that feels like my “ears” are going to short out. It used to be that I would NEVER take them off, but maybe turn them down. Maybe it’s because these ones (I’ve had for 3 years) are digital??
I used to keep on my hearing aids even in a noise lunch break at a hearing school (I’m hard of hearing). When my mom turned on the vacuum cleaner I used to close my bedroom door, but never shut the hearing aids off. As I got older and got to do my own vacuum cleaning, I shut them off. I take them off if I start to sweat when cleaning. When my parents used to take me to parties, sometimes I had to shut them. Sometimes I try to keep them on at concerts, but when I take them off the sounds is less tiring. This way I may not hear the signer, but I can hear the drums very well hehe. Concerts and music events drain batteries. I sometimes find myself watching TV without the hearing aids on, as it is less expensive than keep buying new batteries. As for the bathroom, I’m always touching my ears because I’m always scared to get into the shower with them on
It happened to me as a child… and putting them on and off, more once they fell on the toilet 
I also thought that a ghostly hand was coming out of the toilet to catch me hehehe. As an adult, I don’t ever put my hearing aids near liquid sources.
my mom accidentaly dropped her hearing aid in her tea! These are the analog hearing aids, they do not work now. Did this ever happen to any one, if so did you get them to work? thanks