Gadget News: Ear Gear

Sometimes complex problems are solved with the simplest solutions. My son was William finding that his Med-El Opus 2 cochlear implant speech processor was would suddenly stop working when he was playing football. After a night in the drying machine, they would come back to life but with his first season in the Under 10's football (soccer) league, a solution had to be found. William had already had a double-breakdown during a friendly match due to moisture.

Selection of Ear Gear

The implant centre at the world-renown Addenbrooke's University Hospital in Cambridge suggested that a good temporary fix would be to use sticky tape to cover the joins where the battery pack connects to the speech processor.This could stop moisture getting on to the tiny contacts that connect the two bits together. When moisture does get to those contacts - the speech processor shuts down.

Maybe I used the wrong kind of tape but the tape fell off at sometime during training. Another solution had to be found so the next stop was a product called Ear Gear that I known about for some time but had never considered.

Ear Gear comes in various shapes and sizes and is marketed as a way to protect hearing aids or cochlear implant processors against sweat, moisture dirt and loss. Basically, Ear Gear is a material cover made of a nylon-spandex blend, they come in various colours and have versions which have cords and clips so they don't get lost or damaged.

From the pictures I'd seen of Ear Gear in a catalogue, I thought that the cochlear implant version simply wouldn't be the right shape. The pictures, taken without hearing aids or implants inside, were deceptive because it did fit well. To my surprise, almost perfectly, due to the curvature and elastic properties of the material. Ear Gear easily stretched to cover the processor.

Another good design feature are the holes at the top and bottom of the Ear Gear that allow for radio-aid receivers to be used if necessary and the use of a 'huggy' (plastic tubing to hold equipment to the ear) which is essential when playing vigorous sport.

So far so good then. But would Ear Gear keep the implants working during football training that night? Light rain was beginning to fall outside as William chose the colour of the Ear Gear he would wear. He had a choice of camouflage, blue, black and a crazy orange camouflage style pattern. The training kit his team wears is blue, so William chose the blue.  

A couple of things to note about Ear Gear which are on the downside. Getting them on the processor when using a huggy is fiddly and I can imagine getting frustrated and giving up with it. The way it has to be done is not the way recommended in the instructions. Also, changing batteries is something that sometimes needs to be done quickly so Ear Gear covers will slow that process down. I found a way to change batteries quickly without taking the Ear Gear completely off  but again, that wasn't in the instructions and I found that out for myself.

Back to the training ground now to pick up the boy and the light rain had steadily grown heavier. This really was going to be proper test. I fully expected that William would have taken off the processors long ago because they had got wet or damp but no! They were both still on and working under the Ear Gear covers which had, despite the openings here and there, kept them completely dry. I was amazed! This was a revelation and the football season looks like it wont be interrupted by processor breakdown followed by more breakdowns due to moisture or rain.

The Opus 2 processor is a slender by design so the Ear Gear does make it look a touch bigger or bulkier and that will be the same for hearing aids too. William commented that with the Ear Gear on, the processor felt softer against his skin and he thinks they look good too. William wore the camouflage version for school the next day and he's tried the orange and brown (his hair colour) versions too. He tells me his friends have noticed..

Ear Gear can be purchased across the world - check the official site for distributors. In the UK, they are available online here from Connevans and via the Action on Hearing Loss Shop Catalogue (request catalogue online) for between £5 for the baby version and £20 for double cord and clip adult versions.