New Cooling Materials Making Hearing Aids More Comfortable

You don’t really find out how comfortable a pair of hearing aids is during the fitting. That happens after a few hours outside.

A walk along the St. Pete Pier, running errands or any afternoon in the heat and humidity tells you much more than an office visit.

By the time you’re back in the car with the windows fogging up, anything sitting in or behind your ear has been exposed to hours of heat, sweat and humidity. Many people expect sound quality to be the biggest difference between one pair and another.

Comfort often turns into the bigger conversation after you’ve lived with it for a while. Newer materials are changing that experience by handling heat and moisture differently from older designs.

Why Comfort Is Important When Wearing Hearing Aids

A hearing aid doesn’t spend the day in one position. It moves with you while you talk, smile, eat, wear glasses, answer the phone and turn your head.

That’s why comfort isn’t decided during the first few minutes you wear it. It comes from how the fit holds up through ordinary movements that happen without you even thinking about them.

Comfort influences how naturally hearing aids become part of your routine. The less attention you give to how they feel, the more attention you give to the people around you and the conversations you’re having.

That’s why hearing specialists spend as much time asking about comfort as they do about sound quality. Both are part of wearing devices from morning until evening.

Common Reasons Hearing Aids Can Cause Discomfort

Discomfort doesn’t always come from the same source. Several different factors can change how hearing aids feel from one day to the next, including:

• • An earmold or dome that no longer fits as well as it should.
  • Glasses rest against the same area behind the ear.
  • Moisture or sweat collects around the ear during warm weather.
  • Earwax changes the way a hearing aid sits in the ear.
  • Skin irritation from soaps, hair products or other substances that come in contact with the ear.

How Humidity Changes the Skin Around Your Ear

Moisture builds up easily around the ear than it does in many other parts of the body. By the end of the day, the skin may feel very different than it did when you first put your hearing aids on.

Humidity changes that even more. Sweat evaporates more slowly, so dampness stays against the skin for longer.

Natural folds behind the ear and around the ear canal hold moisture after other areas have started to dry. Hours later, the skin has been exposed to heat and moisture much longer than most people realize.

Materials Traditionally Used in Hearing Aids

Most traditional models use hard acrylic or plastic for the outer shell. That shell holds the microphones, receiver and other electronic components.

Earmolds and domes are often made from silicone because they flex more easily than the outer casing. More than one material is usually used in the same device, so the portion resting behind your ear may feel different from the part that sits inside the ear canal.

Challenges with Older Materials in Controlling Heat and Moisture

Many older designs were built with hard acrylic or plastic shells that placed the focus on protecting the electronics inside.

Those materials don’t transfer heat away from the ear very quickly, and they don’t absorb moisture from the skin. As warmth builds during the day, both remain on the surface until the surrounding air or a dry cloth removes them.

The outer shell also stays the same whether the weather is cool or humid. Moisture remains on the surface instead of moving through it, leaving the area between the ear and the casing feeling different after several hours of wear.

That’s one reason newer materials have become an area of interest as manufacturers continue looking for different ways to improve long-term comfort.

New Cooling Materials Designed for Comfort in Hearing Aids

New materials are changing the way hearing aids feel during long hours of wear. Some move heat away from the skin more efficiently, while others allow moisture to spread across the surface instead of collecting in one area.

The result is less warmth building up where the hearing aid rests against your ear. Some designs also use moisture-wicking coverings or breathable components in areas that come into contact with the skin.

Instead of holding sweat against the ear, these materials move it away from the surface so it can dry more quickly. That changes how the hearing aids feel after several hours, especially in warm, humid weather.

Testing and Certification of Cooling Materials

New options aren’t added to hearing aids without extensive testing. Before a new shell, coating or skin-contact surface reaches production, it is checked under repeated exposure to moisture, body oils, cleaning products and temperature changes.

It is also tested after being worn, cleaned and handled many times to see whether its shape and surface stay the same through regular use.

How Cooling Materials Help Prevent Heat Buildup in Hearing Aids

Your body is always giving off heat, even when you’re sitting still. Once something rests against your ear for several hours, that warmth has fewer places to escape.

Some of the newer shell materials are made to move heat across the surface instead of letting it stay concentrated where the hearing aid touches your skin.

Moisture changes that process, too. A damp surface holds warmth differently than a dry one.

Some newer coverings spread perspiration into a thinner layer instead of allowing it to collect in one place. As that moisture evaporates, less heat stays trapped between your ear and the outer shell.

Advantages of Cooling Materials for Sensitive Skin

Not every ear reacts the same after several hours of heat and humidity. Small changes in the surface resting against your skin become obvious once moisture starts to build.

Cooling materials are intended to address conditions like these in several ways:

• • Moving heat away from the area where the hearing aid touches your ear.
  • Spreading perspiration across the surface instead of letting it collect in one spot.
  • Leaving less moisture trapped between the shell and your skin.
  • Keeping the contact surface drier during long periods of wear.
  • Reducing the amount of friction created by damp skin.
  • Providing a more comfortable surface for people whose skin becomes irritated more easily.

Tips for Selecting Comfortable Hearing Aids with Cooling Features

Ask where those features are located and which parts of your devices use them. That makes it much easier to compare one model with another.

Your daily routine should be part of the conversation, too. Someone who spends hours outdoors in heat and humidity might be different from someone in an office who spends most of the day inside.

The shape of the shell, the type of earmold or dome and the cooling features themselves all influence how the hearing aids feel after several hours of wear.

Caring for and Maintaining Hearing Aids Made with Cooling Materials

Not every cleaning product belongs on a hearing aid with specialty coatings or skin-contact finishes. Some sprays and alcohol-based wipes can wear away the outer surface even though the electronics inside are unaffected.

Following the care instructions for your specific model protects the finish as well as the parts inside. Lotions, sunscreen, hair products and skin oils all come into contact with the outer shell during normal wear.

That’s one reason hearing specialists recommend specific cleaning products instead of the same cleaner for every model. Taking a quick look at the surface while you clean it can also reveal peeling, cracks or worn spots before they become larger areas.

Questions to Discuss with Your Hearing Specialist About Comfort Technologies

Comfort comes from a combination of design, fit and the way the hearing aid sits against your ear. These questions can help you compare the options you’re considering:

• Which comfort technologies are included in this model, and where are they located?
• How do the shell and skin-contact surfaces differ from others?
• Are cooling features built into the shell or added as a surface coating?
• Which options are available for people who wear glasses throughout the day?
• How should these surfaces be cleaned to avoid damaging the finish?
• Which models are intended for warm, humid climates or extended daily wear?

Finding the Right Hearing Aid

A few hours of wear answer questions that never come up during a fitting. You learn which designs feel the same at the end of the day as they did at the beginning and which ones fit comfortably through the places and routines that fill your week.

That’s the kind of experience that stays with you long after you’ve stopped thinking about product names or feature lists. We have those conversations with you at Bay Area Hearing Care Professionals in St. Petersburg, FL.

Comparing different shell designs, cooling technologies and comfort options is just as much a part of the process as talking about sound quality. If you’d like to explore those options for yourself, give us a call at (727) 202-4330.