Learning how to wear your hearing aid in a way that’s comfortable and works for you, is key. Here are some tips to help you keep your BAHA hearing aid in place.
Getting Used to Wearing a BAHA
It can take time to get used to your new BAHA device. Toddlers and young children may initially pull on their BAHA headband or knock the processor off either deliberately or by accident. Very young babies who spend a lot of time lying down, crawling or rolling around can also find that their BAHA comes off more easily. This is all completely normal, and it’s fine for children to take time to get used to their new hearing aid. Some will begin by only wearing their BAHA headband for a few minutes at a time, building up gradually as they get used to it. Even for older children and adults, there can be an adjustment period, particularly if they haven’t worn a hearing aid before.
Encourage babies, toddlers and young children to wear their BAHA when they’re upright and engaged in other activities, for example, when in a pushchair or sat up playing. Ensuring their BAHA headband fits well and is soft and comfortable will also help the adjustment period as no one wants to wear something that keeps slipping down or bothering them!
Allowing your child to customise their BAHA headband and choose fabrics, colours and themes they love will also make it more appealing and fun to wear. The same applies to adults too – it isn’t just kids who like to express their personality or coordinate their outfits with their BAHA headband!
How to Position Your Hearing Aid
Knowing how best to position your BAHA device can help to keep it securely in place. Bone-anchored hearing aids are designed to be worn directly behind the ear on the occipital bone. However, bone conduction technology means that sound vibrations will be amplified anywhere on the skull. This means that while the sound quality will likely be better for most adults when wearing a BAHA directly behind the ear, for many, a bone-anchored hearing aid will still help if it’s placed elsewhere on the head, for example on the forehead or in front of the ear.
Special Considerations For Babies and Young Children
For babies who can’t yet sit up, wearing their BAHA on their forehead can help prevent feedback issues that can be caused by wearing their hearing aid when lying down. Babies and young children can also develop indentation marks from the processor due to having softer skull bones and although these aren’t harmful in any way, moving the processor into different positions can help reduce this.
Additionally, for young children who have bilateral microtia or atresia who wear two BAHA devices, if one device is damaged, then wearing one processor on their forehead can improve their hearing while waiting for their second hearing aid to be repaired or replaced.
Safety Lines For Your BAHA
A BAHA device has a safety line attached to the processor that can then be connected to something else – for example, the collar of your clothing, to prevent the processor from falling if it comes loose or is knocked. This can help prevent your BAHA processor from getting lost or damaged. Some people find that a safety line gets in the way and babies or toddlers may find it distracted or too tempting to pull on! However, for many BAHA wearers, a safety line can help protect their hearing aid when they’re doing more energetic activities, when their device might be more likely to come loose, for example, when playing sports or riding on a rollercoaster!
Get In Touch
If you have any questions about BAHA headbands or accessories, please get in touch and we’ll do our best to help. We’re also more than happy to advise you on our various product designs and their functions to ensure they’re right for you. You can send us a message, call us on 07432 620644 or contact us by email at sales@bahaaccessoriesuk.com.