Given that hearing aids are electronic devices with advanced technology, is there anything special you need to be aware of when traveling with them? What about going through security at the airport? Ahead of the upcoming holiday season, Dr. Sara Hanley, Au.D. shares some helpful tips about traveling with hearing aids.
I’m Dr. Sara Hanley at Bloomington-Normal Audiology, and welcome to I Hear You, where the audiologists at BNA answer your hearing-related questions. Henry in Normal asks, “How should I travel with my hearing aids?” Great question. So, traveling with your hearing aids should be a pretty simple process. When you’re traveling with your hearing aids, the first thing I would think about is what supplies you may need to work with your hearing aids on a regular basis. How do your hearing aids obtain power? Are they rechargeable? I would make sure to bring the charger with you. If they use disposable batteries, you’ll want to bring some of your batteries. If your hearing aids use domes or wax guards, I’d bring a small supply of those just in case you need to clean them while you’re away. But another popular question we get about travel is, is there anything specific I need to do if I’m going through security at the airport. And the answer is no. You don’t need to tell anyone you’re wearing hearing aids. You don’t need to take them out. You can just go through security like you normally would. And on the plane, it’s fine to wear the hearing aids if you would like to. I would probably bring a case if you want to take the hearing aids out, so you have something to put them in. Just in case you decide the plane noise or some of the other passengers are a little bit loud, you can take the devices off and keep them safe there. So really for traveling, it’s pretty easy. Just use them the way you typically would on a day to day basis. If something happens to your hearing aids, or you have a problem with them while you’re traveling, I would give our office, or whatever audiology office you go to, a call and they should be able to find another audiologist in your area that you could get the contact information for so you could go in there and have your devices looked at while you’re away. Hope that helps! If you have more questions, let us know. I’m Dr. Sara Hanley at Bloomington-Normal Audiology, and we’re ‘hear’ for you.