Whenever I am near water while wearing my hearing aids (and now implant) — pools, showers, bathtubs — I get nervous as it doesn’t feel natural to have it on because water and hearing aids don’t mix. That’s why you’ll see me using an umbrella when it’s only sprinkling outside. I don’t want to get shocked 🙂
I never wore my hearing aids when I worked out because I didn’t want to risk getting it wet from a sweaty workout. However, I always wore them to sports practices and games. Long after I was no longer playing team sports, an audiologist told me about a hearing aid cover that protects the device. But it’s a pain to put it on.
Whenever I rode roller coasters… hearing aids came out then, too. When I went on the shock wave (from Six Flags over Texas and it goes upside down), my hearing aids came out, but the ear molds prevented them from completely falling out. So from then on, I took no chances.
Nucleus has announced the Nucleus Freedom, a water resistant implant! However, upon close reading, it sounds like you still can’t swim or bathe with it on. It’s made to handle mild water situations like sweat, rain, and sprinklers rather than complete submerging.
This is an improvement, but I would not want to wear it when I give my kids a bath since it could fall in. I know there are attachments that help the implant stay on better, but they’re a pain.