Hearing Aids and Glasses: How to Keep the Aid in Place

Hearing aids and glasses can share the space behind your ear without a fight. The order you put them on, the way you take the glasses off, the shape of the temple arm, and a small pad on the hearing aid housing each take away one of the reasons the aid comes loose. This guide covers all four.

If you wear a behind-the-ear (BTE) or receiver-in-canal (RIC) hearing aid and glasses, you know the moment. You reach up to take off your readers, the temple arm hooks the aid, and the aid swings out and hangs by its wire. Do that twenty times a day and you start checking the aid every few minutes. One longtime wearer described the space behind his ear with glasses, a hearing aid, and a mask as “awfully crowded back there.” He was not wrong.

Why do glasses knock hearing aids loose?

Glasses knock hearing aids loose because the temple arm and the hearing aid housing occupy the same narrow shelf at the top of the ear. When the arm slides on or off, it drags across the housing. The aid has nothing holding it to the skin, so it moves with the arm, and the receiver wire or tube is all that keeps it from falling.

The problem is worse with thick temple arms, wraparound sports frames, and any glasses that come on and off many times a day, which is why reading glasses and sunglasses cause more trouble than a single pair worn all day. Masks add a third item to the same shelf. Hair under the arm makes everything slide.

Which goes on first, hearing aids or glasses?

Hearing aids go on first, then glasses. With the aid seated against the head and the temple arm resting on top of it, the arm holds the aid down instead of levering it up. Taking things off runs in reverse: glasses first, then the aids.

This one change removes the most common cause, and it costs nothing. The hard part is remembering it when you grab your readers from the nightstand. Keep the glasses on the far side of the room from where you keep the aids for the first week and the habit tends to stick.

How do you take glasses off without dragging the hearing aid?

Take glasses off with both hands, lift the temple arms slightly away from the head, and pull the frames straight forward. The arm then passes over the hearing aid without touching it. One-handed removal to the side is what catches the housing, and it is the way most people have taken their glasses off all their lives.

1. Put both hands on the frames, one on each temple arm, near the hinge.
2. Lift the arms a quarter inch away from your head so they clear the hearing aid.
3. Pull the glasses straight forward, off the nose.
4. If the aid moved anyway, press the housing back against your head with one finger before you do anything else. A short, sharp tug on the wire is what pulls a dome out.

Putting glasses on works the same way: both hands, arms held slightly wide, slide them back over the top of the aid, then let the arms rest.

Do thinner temple arms help?

Thinner, straighter temple arms help, because they take up less of the shelf behind the ear and have less surface to catch the aid. Thick acetate arms, arms that curve sharply down behind the ear, and wraparound sports frames cause the most trouble. An optician can adjust the temple tips so they rest above or beside the aid instead of on it.

If you are picking new frames, bring your hearing aids to the fitting and ask the optician to adjust the arms with the aids in place. For readers, the lightweight metal or thin plastic styles with straight arms cause the fewest problems.

What if the hearing aid still moves?

If the aid still moves after you change the order, the removal, and the frames, add something that holds the housing against the skin. A soft adhesive pad on the housing does this without a cord or clip. Sleeves and headbands also work but cover the microphone and add heat. A clip or lanyard catches the aid after it falls, which is a different job.

Our comparison of hearing aid retention options goes through clips, sport locks, sleeves, tape, and pads so you can match the product to the part that moves. If the dome or earmold inside your ear is the part coming loose, see why a hearing aid keeps falling off; that is a fitting issue for your hearing professional.

How EarGripz fits between the aid and the ear with glasses

EarGripz is a pre-cut foam pad with adhesive on both sides. The center sticks to the hearing aid housing; one wing sticks lightly to the back of the ear and the other to the side of the head. It is designed to help the aid stay put when glasses, a mask, or a sweater come off, and the temple arm of your glasses rests over the top of it.

The pad is about 0.79 inches (2 cm) across and thinner than the first EarGripz, so it does not add much to the shelf behind the ear. A pack holds 60 pads on two sheets of 30, one pad per aid per day. For a small aid or a small ear, trim the wings with scissors. Clean, dry skin gives the best hold, so skip lotion and sunscreen behind the ear and tuck hair up before you press the wings down.

The step-by-step application guide shows where each wing goes. If you want to try a pack, order EarGripz hearing aid grips from Pehratek.

Readers and sunglasses that come on and off all day

Glasses that come on and off repeatedly are the hardest case, because every removal is another chance to hook the aid. The pad goes on once in the morning, so the hold does not depend on remembering the two-handed removal every time. Replace the pad each morning with a new one.

A few wearers keep a second pair of readers on a cord around the neck so the glasses never fully come off. Others switch to a single pair of progressive lenses and stop the on-and-off entirely. Those are decisions for you and your optician; the pad works with either.

Frequently asked questions

Can you wear hearing aids with glasses?

Yes. BTE and RIC hearing aids and glasses share the space behind the ear, and most people wear both all day. Put the hearing aids on first, take the glasses off with both hands straight forward, and choose frames with thin, straight temple arms.

Which goes on first, hearing aids or glasses?

Hearing aids first, then glasses. The temple arm then rests on top of the aid and holds it down. Take the glasses off before the aids.

Why does my hearing aid fall off when I take off my glasses?

The temple arm drags across the hearing aid housing and pulls it off the shelf behind your ear. Removing glasses one-handed to the side makes it worse. Two-handed, straight-forward removal and a pad that holds the housing to the skin both help.

What glasses are best for hearing aid wearers?

Frames with thin, straight temple arms cause the least trouble. Thick acetate arms, arms that hook sharply behind the ear, and wraparound sports frames catch the aid most. An optician can adjust the temple tips with your aids in place.

Do hearing aid retention pads work with glasses?

Adhesive pads such as EarGripz hold the hearing aid housing against the skin behind the ear, and the temple arm of the glasses rests over the pad. The pad is thin and about 0.79 inches across, so it adds little to the space behind the ear.

Should I take my hearing aids out to clean my glasses?

You do not need to. Take the glasses off with both hands, clean them, and put them back on over the aids. If you do remove the aids, put them back on before the glasses.

This article is educational content from an equipment maker and is not medical advice. Hearing aid fit should be checked by a hearing professional. Product availability and specifications can change; confirm current details at pehratek.com.