Running with Hearing Loss

[LittleNell83]

Hi,

I don't know if anyone can help. I am partially deaf so struggle to hear sounds behind me. Basically I have one working ear, the other is dead. It also means balance and coordination is tricky sometimes. I now have hearing aids which transmit sound from the deaf ear to the hearing ear giving some awareness of that side, but as I was worried about them dropping out or becoming damaged.

My BHE hearing aids don't allow me to use Bluetooth music devices so I often run without anything. I tried running with music but feel vulnerable as this blocks out surrounding noise.

I have just bought some little hearing aid socks which clip onto my top so they don't get lost should they fall out.

I am just wondering if anyone else has any advice or ideas which may help, or experience they can share. I am nervous about a running group as I struggle to hear people when not facing them.

Thanks in advance,

Nell

[Irishprincess Graduate10]

I can't offer any specific advice but I have a friend who runs and is completely deaf in one ear. He doesn't run with music and he doesn't run on roads. But apart from that he does everything else and has run in races with me and has got on fine.

I think you should consider joining a group. There's safety in numbers, you don't have to think about routes, etc and If you tell them you have hearing problems then they won't expect you to respond to them. I run in a group sometimes and most of the time we don't talk to each other usually because we're all too out of breath!

[LittleNell83 in reply to Irishprincess]

Thanks, I will look into a group when the weather warms up.

[davelinks Graduate10]

I'm very deaf in the right ear, tinnitus doesn't help, background noise and anyone talking on that side is a real struggle (so I make sure the wife is on that side😁)

But when running haven't had much problem in a group or with single person, even when I was listening to c25k, I don't use any music, not even a hearing aid, so must have got used to the difficulty and manage it..😊

[misswobble Graduate10]

I have a very poor left ear because of repeated infections, perforated ear drum etc. It’s not very good at the moment and is driving me mad So my hearing one side is poor

I often run without music We don’t need to 🙂 It’s sensible to be alert to what’s happening around you as much as possible

Running as a group is good but not a requirement . You can run equally well alone but don’t rule it out. I run with a group rarely these days

I wear a folded up Buff over my ears to keep the wind out of them but it also helps keep my earphones in place if I do wear them Maybe something like that would help keep your hearing aids in place Worth a try 🙂

[Sqkr]

My pal has complete hearing loss in one ear, she doesn't run with a hearing aid but says she hates the sound/feel of her thudding feet and the inside of her body as she runs, which is apparently magnified on her deaf side without the aid-I don't know if that's something you find too, so she listens to music to distract from it. She'd used a mono earpiece for a while, but tried my bone conduction headphones recently and immediately declared them to be magical, and went and bought some of her own. They work (in layman's terms!) by conducting the sound waves through your skull instead of via your ear...holes(?) , and she found she could listen to stereo music for the first time in years, and still hear the world around her on her hearing side.

They're a divisive piece of equipment, but I'm a total convert. I think they're brilliant because I can still hear everything around me and as a small, flimsy person running about in the dark that is something that really concerned me with my old in-ear buds. Also, you're allowed to use them in road races and I do like running to music for longer distances.

My local running shop has some you can try out in store, I'd recommend giving them a go to see if they work for you too. These are the ones I got, but they also have a less slim cheaper version:

amazon.co.uk/Wireless-Bluet...

(edited because I bodged up the link)

[LittleNell83 in reply to Sqkr]

Thank you, I will try bone conduction head phones. I can run without but on long runs music helps distract myself from watch watching

[icklegui]

there's someone else on here/Couch to 5K forum - I hope they don't mind me pointing out their posts, search for Razouski ?

[LittleNell83 in reply to icklegui]

Thanks Icklegui, I will look out for Razouski. Yours, Nell