7th April 2020: Hearing New Zealand wishes to alert people who wear hearing aids that adding a protective face mask is not as easy as
it sounds.
President Tony Rush explains “The loops on the face mask are secured around the ears. The typical hearing aids are also
looped around and then into the ears. When taking the masks off or even adjusting them, it is all too easy to tear a
hearing aid off the ear at the same time. We have already heard of instances of this occurring from one our member
branches in Ashburton.”
“You may not be aware this has happened so the aid can fall to the ground and be trodden on or lost. That’s an expensive
loss. More importantly audiologists are not considered an essential service so it may be weeks before the lost hearing
aid can be replaced or fixed. Living with degraded hearing can impact not just on quality of life but functionality.”
“If you can’t hear properly you can’t play a full part in the community, whether as an essential worker or in lockdown”,
Rush adds.