Do people notice your hearing aids?

Being 16 and dealing with hearing loss, I’m about to get the Phonak Lumity 90s. I’m curious, do people tend to notice your hearing aids, especially with this model?

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Hi there,

You will notice them (being paranoid) more than anyone else. Bar you get colored molds, they will
go almost completely unnoticed.

After a week or two; you won’t even notice you have them and the benefit will be so big.

I was also reluctant at the start. Now I’m so used to the difference in hearing, benefit I get in busier noises etc that it’s almost impossible to go back.

Give it some time, but I feel you will not look back once you give them a fair trial.

All the best and welcome!!!

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I find the answer to be (surprisingly) no, never.

I’m an industrial trainer and work with a different group of people almost every week. The environment I work in is pretty noisy, so I always tell people that I am deaf and point out my hearing aids as part of my introduction. They are almost universally surprised.

I have found that as a hearing aid wearer, I look for them on other people, but people who don’t wear them don’t seem to spend a ton of time looking at other people’s ears.

If you are concerned about feeling embarrassment because of your hearing loss, I can only suggest to try to get past it somehow. It doesn’t reduce your value as a human being, any more than wearing glasses does. It’s just part of what makes you, you.

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Lots more discrete than earbuds and no teacher can request that you take them out in class! You will love the bluetooth connection to your cellphone if you are allowed to have a cellphone in school, so don’t go bragging about it to everyone about it.

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I have had very similar Phonak Audeo paradise hearing aids for almost two and a half years. People generally don’t notice until I point to them. And I’m bald, so there’s no hair hiding them. I’m sure a few people notice and don’t say anything. But generally I don’t think many people notice or care.

WH

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I think you’ll be surprised how few people notice. Generally it’s other wearers of hearing aids who notice. My 2nd pair and my very favorites were bright red and even with short hair no one noticed until I would point out my very cool aids. Good luck.

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No. I was surprised by how tiny they were. Everyone always seemed surprised when I mentioned it. If you’re worried about it, they’re invisible under long-ish hair. If you use shorter receiver wires (really more of a personal/fit preference), they’ll only be on the top half of your ear. Even some traditionally male short hairstyles would cover them.

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I worked with a group of people and one day, about 6 months since i got hearing aids, i was trying to find the best ringtone for me, had this conversation with a friend, and remember we work together every day.

Him: what are you doing?

Me: trying to find a ringtone i can hear.

Him: you have trouble hearing?

Me: yes, thats why i wear hearing aids.

Him: you wear hearing aids?

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I have Lumity and nobody notices these. But, after you have a few adjustments, if you want to make them even less visible, there is a company called Vanish that sells a dye kit so you can make the wire not shiny and your exact complexion. Google something like Vanish Hearing Aid kit.

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This is it.

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Hi, I have a cochlear implant which is considerably bigger than hearing aid. No one has ever commented about my CI being visible to them. Then I don’t really care if they do comment, I’m just extremely grateful to be able to hear fairly clearly.

But then your only 16 and I can understand your concerns. Is it possible for you to grow your hair so that it covers your ears? This is just a thought I had which would be the simplest answer for you.
Good luck to you.

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Hi,

I think over time you just get used to having hearing aids on your ears and they become part of you. Many people will notice, and some may even ask you questions about them but you’ll get more confident in time.

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I’m not a teenager anymore but still young.

These are mine.

Still no one notices them.

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Talking with my AuD many of the younger folks get the pure white so everyone thinks they have cool Apple tech.

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Outside of one person who wore hearing aids and asked how I liked mine, they haven’t said anything if they noticed.

With so many folks wearing listening devices in their ears, is really any big deal any more.

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No one ever commented on my bright red ones, either!

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I recently had a lady who I have know for over 10 years talking about the trouble she was having with her new aids. When she looked me at and said oh I see you wear aids also.

I see and talk to her almost every week.

I also would ask what difference does it make if someone see’s them and comments about them at the very least they would be aware I have hearing issues and take that into consideration when talking to me. Just my 2 cents worth.

Besides many people walk around with much larger white plugs hanging out of their ears. And no one things anything about it.

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People will most likely find you have them after it looks like you’re talking to yourself when you take a phone call as it does not look like you have earbuds in your ears. That’s how my family found out I had them. They were wondering why I was having a conversation with myself.

I have the same model you’re getting. I have short hair but the color of them blends really well and makes them disappear. If I didn’t go for the matching hair color I would have gotten silver or black to make them look more like some sort of earbuds.

Those that do notice them don’t really care.

Good luck with them and don’t worry too much about it.

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even so, you dont care! just be your self!

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Something I have noticed with CI processors is the off the ear Kanso2 processors are noticed by most people. I catch them staring, especially kids. They are grey about the color of my hair what’s left of it.

When I wear the on the ear Nucleus 7 processors not many people notice them.

When people do ask they are usually amazed at how well I hear with them knowing I am deaf without them. These people usually want to talk about them.