I lost my hearing aids. What should I do?
- Koorosh Nejad
- Jul 19
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 22
You promised yourself to take good care of your new hearing aids. But you lost them.
How can I avoid losing my hearing aids?
You cannot eliminate the chance of losing your hearing aids, but you can reduce the chance of losing them. Here is my best advice on how to avoid losing hearing aids from my own experience and the best practices I learned from my patients:
Fitting - Please make sure that the hearing aids are fitted with the right dome. The aids are light, and the only anchoring is the little dome that goes in your ear canal and hopefully stays in. The domes come in different sizes and shapes. Speak to your audiologist if you feel the domes of the hearing aids slide out of the ear when you talk or chew food. This advice is also valid for the easy-fit CIC hearing aids such as Signia Silk IX CIC and Rexton Reach inoX CIC.
Receiver length - Linked to the item one above, a receiver with a short wire can pull the receiver unit out of the ear canal. Again, this is an issue that you audiologist, can fix pretty quickly.
Use retainer wires - A retainer wire can be placed on the receivers of your RIC hearing aids, which helps keep the receivers in the ear canal. In my opinion, based on the shape of the ear canal, this technique may or may not satisfy you, but it is worth a try.
Micromould - The entrance of the ear canal is conic shape, but in some patients, the slope of the conic part is too severe. This makes keeping the receiver dome in the ear canal very difficult. Such patients have to replace the receiver in the canal every 5-10 minutes. For this type of ear canal fitting, the hearing aids with micromould are the best solution. Micromoulds can be used by a wide range of patients
Find my hearing aids - At the end of every fitting appointment, I help set up the hearing aid app on the patient's mobile phone. Most of the hearing aid apps have a feature that shows the location of your hearing aids on a map, so in the event of one or both being dropped or left behind, you can walk back and locate them. Please make sure that the Location is set to Always in the settings of your hearing aid app. This feature can locate your hearing aids if you lose them within a radius of 10-15 meters, which is usually the range of a Bluetooth signal. Please check and make sure that this feature works fine on your mobile phone, especially if you got a new mobile phone andare not sure if this is activated or working fine on your new mobile phone.
Your number - Leave a small sticker on the hearing aid with your phone number on it, so if it is lost, the finder can contact you. Call it old-fashioned, but it is very effective. I learned it from one of my patients.
Insurance - Ok, this one doesn't help avoid losing your hearing aids, but it helps to recover the cost and obtain a new pair. I strongly suggest considering an insurance policy for your hearing aids. Please find more information about hearing aid insurance here.
Have a spare set - In the UK, a lot of people keep their free NHS pair as a backup. You can call your older ones your backup or spare set. Also, it is wise to wear your backup set for cycling, seaside trip, etc., where you might be in action and at higher risk of losing your hearing aids. I fully appreciate that this is not a fun suggestion, as they probably do not sound the same as your main pair, but hey, here is the compromise.
Does the Find My Hearing Aids feature work even if the aids are out of battery?
Yes, the Find My Hearing Aid feature on many of the premium hearing aids works in a way that the aids are in constant communication with your mobile app. When the mobile app notices that the communication is weak or lost, it marks the GPS coordinates of that location. You can come back next week, and the location of the last connection with the aids has not changed, and the aids should still be there unless someone removes them.
I lost my hearing aids. What can I do now?
Suggest staying calm. Feeling stressed and in panic does not help you find them.
Use the Find my Hearing Aids feature on your hearing aid mobile app if they are RIC or BTE and your mobile app has such a feature. When you locate them on the app, walk towards them and look on the floor or ground to see if you can locate them.
If you couldn't locate them through your hearing aid mobile app, make a list of all places that you visit today or since you know you had them on. Go back to those places and speak to the staff and explain the size and colour of the aids you lost. Suggest leaving your contact details so that if they or someone else finds them can contact you.
After a couple of weeks of searching, and if you are certain that they are lost, inform your insurance company of the loss of your hearing aids. Have your receipt of purchase and the serial numbers handy.
Can I page or Ping my lost hearing aids?
There is no such system to page or ping your hearing aids so they can make a noise, and you can locate them. The only feature that I can say is a bit close to this is the Test Mode of Starkey hearing aids. There is a Test-Mode in Starkey Edge, Starkey Genesia and Evolve that allows the user to test the receivers of the hearing aid. For your safety, you should remove them from your ears and put them one foot apart before you activate the Test Mode on the Starkey App. The aids play a loud sound for about 10 seconds, which is quite audible. This may be a little help if you lost your Starkey hearing aids in a busy room, e.g. while travelling, and you know that they are in the room but you cannot locate them.
What do I need to claim the damages for my lost hearing aids from my insurance?
You'll need a copy of your receipt of purchase with the serial numbers of the lost hearing aids.
Questions?
Do you have a concern about losing your hearing aids, or need consultation about the models of hearing aids with the Find My Hearing Aids feature? Please do not hesitate to contact us for a free over-the-phone or Zoom meeting consultation.
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