Is this possible? I was just told that I need a hearing aid as I suffered a lot of damage in Iraq with the Army. I want good hearing aids that I can use while still doings sports, as I love to swim and play squash and run. Any advice on this will be greatful as I am still waiting on the NHS to come through so it is looking like i shall go private soon untill they do come through. So where can i get a good price on hearing aids and also the waterproof hearing aids?

Hello there,

Unfortunately do to the nature of sound and to the nature and construction of modern hearing aid components, it's actually not possible to produce a hermetically sealed instrument.

However, a few manufacturers have been incorporating gore-tex screens and silicon chassis seals. At one time this was the preserve of German specialists Eurion with their Lotos models.Now, Phonak are pushing their water-proofing in the Naida series and Starkey have the Zon instrument that can be immersed in a glass and then used after

Your only problem with these is that they are all Behind-the-ear models - though the Zon is very small. It is nigh on impossible to produce a custom in-the-ear instrument and guarantee against problems if it was immersed in water.

hi - i was looking into this recently too - there are waterproof hearing aids advertised at approx £700 but I'm not sure about the quality of the sound or how reliable they are. Hearing aid manufacturers haven't quite got round to the waterproofing bit. I know it's annoying but traditional hearing aids can be ok for sport as they're pretty resilient but its best to talk to your hearing aid dispenser and they'll advise you the best type for what you need, it also depends on the severity of your loss.
Hope this helps,
Rachel x

Hi - I am also looking at water resistant / waterproof hearing aids and came accross this one which is hermetically sealed to 1 meter for 10 minutes.
http://www.eurion.ch/En/Default.htm (external link, opens new browser window) priced at £650.00
For normal swimming this should not pose a problem. For me being splashed with seawater whilst riding a RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) it could be the answer to an ongoing problem.
Hope the info is of use - Peter