Wearing a bone-anchored hearing aid doesn’t have to mean missing out on the things you enjoy. If you love sport, you’ll be pleased to know that you can still play all your favourite sports while wearing your BAHA. In this blog, we’ll explain what you need to know about hearing aid headbands for sports.
Can I Wear My BAHA When Playing Sports?
BAHA headbands are designed to be comfortable and secure no matter what activities you plan to take part in. Both children and adults can wear their BAHA headband when playing all types of sport, from football and tennis to running and horse riding.
BAHA headbands are made using fold-over elastic (FOE) and feature non-slip silicone elastic on the inside of the headband, which helps keep your headband securely in place. Our new wider BAHA headbands are made from a combination of fabric and FOE for the same secure fit. BAHA headbands also have a metal slider that allows the headband size to be adjusted for the perfect fit.
Another feature that will help keep your BAHA headband secure when you’re taking part in sports is a safety line.
What Are BAHA Safety Lines?
A BAHA safety line can be attached to your BAHA processor to help keep it in place. This is then connected to something else – for example, your shirt collar, to stop the processor from falling if it comes loose or is accidentally knocked.
This helps to prevent damage to your BAHA processor and stops it from getting lost during vigorous activities like sports. A BAHA safety line is a great way to protect your hearing aid when you’re taking part in activities where your hearing device might be more likely to come loose, for example, when playing football or riding a bike.
A safety line anchor is the thing that you attach your BAHA’s safety line to, and which prevents the processor from falling to the floor if it comes off. Here at BAHA Accessories, a built-in safety line anchor comes as standard with all of our full headbands. This means that you can clip your BAHA safety line straight onto your headband to keep your BAHA processor secure without the need for any additional clips or accessories to keep things simple.
What About Contact Sports?
When it comes to contact sports, such as rugby or martial arts, it’s advisable to take your BAHA headband off before taking part in case of an impact that could damage your BAHA processor.
If you have a bone anchored hearing aid that has been surgically implanted (i.e. isn’t worn on a headband) you should remove the external processor and cover your abutment with a helmet to protect it during contact sports.
Can I Swim With a Bone Anchored Hearing Aid?
Yes, you can swim and take part in water sports if you have a bone-anchored hearing aid, however, you will need to remove your BAHA headband before entering the water. BAHA headbands can get wet but the BAHA processor is an electrical piece of equipment so exposure to moisture from a swimming pool or the sea can cause significant damage.
If you have a BAHA implant, you will also need to remove your processor before swimming, in the same way, that anyone wearing a traditional hearing aid would need to. You can get a small protective cap to cover your implant when swimming or taking part in water sports such as surfing, but this is optional. If you have a surgically-implanted BAHA, you should check with your audiology team before taking part in certain water sports, such as diving from heights or scuba diving.
Bear in mind that as you need to remove your BAHA processor before entering the water, you won’t benefit from the improvement to your hearing whilst swimming.
Get In Touch
If you’ve been looking for hearing aid headbands for sports, we hope this blog has helped. To find out more about bone-anchored hearing aids and BAHA headbands, please visit our blog. If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us and we’ll do our best to help.
We’re also happy to talk you through our various products and designs and their different functions to make sure that they’re the right choice for you. Get in touch by telephone on 07432 620644 or you can email sales@bahaaccessoriesuk.com. You can also contact us online. We look forward to hearing from you!