Help for a chronic hearing-aid misplacer

October 7, 2008 2:04 AM

How can i possibly help my stepfather not lose his hearing aid again?

He's pushing 80, still very sharp, but unfortunately a lifelong scatterbrain. His hearing aids are frightfully expensive, only partially paid for by insurance and social security, and he always loses them. They are usually somehow found around the house, but occasionally they disappear, never to be heard from again. Possibly thrown out with the garbage, possibly... Who knows?
This most recent one had his phone number written on it, but that's as far as it went.
The new one is coming soon. How can i help him safeguard it? Current ideas include attaching a chain to it, painting it a fluorescent color and maybe gluing on one of those things that go beep when you whistle... :^)
Anyone have any better ideas?

posted by Silky Slim to grab bag (6 comments total)

I'm also a scatterbrain, and the ONLY thing that helped lessen my issues with losing small things was having a well-defined, safe, easy place to put them AT ALL TIMES. Could you get some pretty, small, stable bowls-- one for each room, or perhaps multiples per room-- put them all within easy arm's reach, and then appoint these designated hearing-aid dropping-off stations? (They'll need to be conveniently located, and to cover all his favorite hangout spots, to overcome the whole "I'll-just-set this-down-on-the-floor-over-here-for-a-second temptation.) That way, when he forgets where he put the thing last, he'll hopefully only have to check in 20 obvious places, not a million obscure ones.

The other alternative is setting up a storage place that moves with him--could you get a little purse or bag, or one of those tubes for carrying sunglasses on the beach, and have him stow the aid there when he's not using it? Catch is, he'd have to remember never to take off the bag.
posted by Bardolph at 4:38 AM on October 7, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Hmm.

Is it one of those tiny in-the-canal devices or a larger thing with an outside around-the-ear hanger?

Does he wear glasses? Could you attach it to his glasses with a tiny chain or wire? Or use a not-so-tiny wire that forms a sort of bracket from glasses to hearing aid? (Of course, losing his glasses might then leave him deaf and blind.)

Could you put an RFID chip on it? And then use a reader to find it in his pocket or chair or wherever it has fallen?

Could you (a bit of a stretch) buy or build a device that detects a lost hearing aid by creating feedback and listening for it? Such a device would probably also be able to detect ant farts, if that's any encouragement.

Does he have particularly hairy ears? If so, could you... no, never mind.
posted by pracowity at 5:52 AM on October 7, 2008

The other alternative is setting up a storage place that moves with him -- could you get a little purse or bag, or one of those tubes for carrying sunglasses on the beach, and have him stow the aid there when he's not using it? Catch is, he'd have to remember never to take off the bag.

For a portable place for depositing the hearing aids, perhaps a cell phone case with a belt clip, if you can find one that can snap closed so that the hearing aids cannot fall out? That at least keeps them on his person whenever he wants to take them out, at the price of potentially losing track of the cell phone case when/if he takes it off. Perhaps then the "designated drop spots" can be used as the place to leave the cell phone case whenever a belt is not around his waist onto which to clip the cell phone case. Or maybe I've just come up with an overcomplicated non-solution. Just throwing it out there.
posted by letourneau at 6:18 AM on October 7, 2008

When/where is he taking them off? I wear two hearing aids, and I only take them off when I sleep and when I shower. Each time, I always put them on my nightstand, which is kept neat so I don't lose them in a pile of papers or other stuff.

If he is taking them off at other times, find out why and where, and designate a nearby spot as the keeping place. Make sure those places are kept free of other clutter.
posted by desjardins at 9:46 AM on October 7, 2008

Is he losing them when he takes them off to sleep? Or does he take them out during the day?
posted by spaceman_spiff at 10:01 AM on October 7, 2008

IANYHIS (IAAHIS - license no longer active - HIS - Hearing Instrument Specialist)

I wear hearing aids myself and I took a hiatus from the IT world severalyears back and became licensed to test and dispense hearing aids in Florida.

The majority of my clients during that time were 65+. Many, regardless of age, are notoriously scatter-brained. Whether it be a $1 ballpoint pen or a $4000 hearing aid, some people just don't keep track of things as well as others (my brother-37) and my 12yr old come to mind).

Follow some or all of these steps and you should be able to prevent the loss or at least reduce the frequency (those things are expensive!!!)

First:
Why is he taking them out frequently? Do they itch, does he have problems with the sound quality? too loud? muffled/echo sounding?

Frequently, hearing aid users blame the hearing aid for things that are natural reactions to a foreign object in one's ear.

If it's itchiness or muffled sounds Check for:
Extremely hairy ears - (Get an ear and nose hair trimmer)
Waxy buildup - have him get an ENT or other qualified professional to check his ears


Take a look at the hearing aid(s) - the main components to look for are the microphone(s) and the mold/tubing (this is where the amplified sound exits the hearing aid) These areas should be free of all debris and buildup (hair/wax/dandruff/etc) His ENT/Audiologist/HIS should have provided a small brush tool and a wire ring or cleaner for exactly this purpose.

If all the above is ok, ask him if he takes them out because things don't sound "right"

In this case, he should see his ENT/Audiologist/HIS for a tuning or checkup of his settings. Most modern digital hearing aids can be tested "in situ" at the office andcan correct specific problems with background noise/whistling/etc right away. Older analog aids may require a little more trial and error and do not offer the same degree of fine tuning.

If one specialist cannot help, he can see someone else. Not everyone in the business, be it a doctor, audiologist, HIS specialist or one of the national "retail" hearing aid places does a great job of programming a hearing aid. Most are good at the physical fitting and prescribing/dispensing the appropriate circuit and style for the user, but fail miserably at programming it for the best comprehension and usability.






Barring all those causes above - if he's just forgetful try the following:

1) Maintain one (1) location for storing the hearing aids at night. Ideally this would be one of the many products to remove moisture from the hearing aids. I won't provide links but there are hundreds of these products on the market and they come in bags, bottles/jars and special heated-air, antibacterial bluelight yada yada type things. If you use this method, they will always be in the same place at night and in the morning.

2) If he takes them out when it's hot or he's sweaty, etc - then try a variation of using those "eyeglass holders" with BTE (Behind the ear) hearing aids they can be looped around the tubing for the mold. For ITE or CIC (In the ear hearing aids) they can be lopped or attached to the "string/fishing line" that protrude from these or you can ask the specialist for alternative connective ideas.

3) Also for sweaty/damp situations - for BTE's they make small fitted rubber covers (essentially hearing aid condoms) that come in a big variety of colors from flesh tones to hot pink and neon blue. For ITE's and CIC's they can make the internal portion of the mold in thsoe colors while still leaving the external flesh colored. (For the more fashion conscious) These make them much easier to spot on a table, floor, behind the nightstand.

4) n-thing the other suggestion for a beeper/whistle finder device. This works better if you can use suggestion 2 and keep them together as well.




Also n-thing a portable carry case. Many clients used to use eyeglass cases, or cellphone clips with covers and velcro. Not to mention the aids usually come with a small padded leather case for this purpose as well.


Hope this helps. Those things are really expensive. Mine are currently a few years old but it's unnerving to think I walk around with 10k in my ears all the time. And people thing I'm affectiung airs when I carry an umbrella and hat all the time. Pshaw.
posted by emjay at 12:30 PM on October 7, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]