Holidays can be stressful for people who suffer from hearing loss and/or tinnitus. These tips aim to make any holiday a pleasurable and stress-free experience. For starters, holidays can be used as a ‘lever’ for someone who needs hearing aids i.e. they make the holiday more enjoyable. For some, noisy main roads and crowded restaurants are not their friend.
General Tips
- Don’t forget extra batteries, wax filters and cleaning tools.
- For accessories, such as a recharger or phone clip, don’t forget the chargers and adaptors if travelling overseas.
- For the hard-of-hearing, print off all bookings and flight info, or save on your phone. Download the app from the airline that notifies changes to flights.
- Going to a foreign country? Download a translator app with voice to text translation.
- Being organised can reduce stress that worsens tinnitus.
- Keep earplugs in your bag for those unexpected loud noise situations.
Improve sleeping with tinnitus
- Take a portable sound machine and pillow speakers to help to sleep/relax at night.
- Maskers, such as BOSE noise masking ear plugs can also help with tinnitus, or stop you hearing a snoring partner, or a noisy party in the hotel next door.
- Use lavender oil on your pillow to help you to relax
Tips for the plane
- Leave hearing aids on whilst flying. Tell security you have hearing aids – they may ask you to remove them when going through security checks.
- If possible, sit near the front – it’s quieter.
- Those with tinnitus can use entertainment on offer as a distraction.
- Do mindfulness exercises to help to stay calm and relaxed.
- Noise reduction headphones make it easier to hear without needing to turn the volume up.
- If you suffer from blocked ears, take a decongestant before you fly, and acquire EARPLANES – pressure reducing earplugs that regulate pressure changes (available at the airport).
Tips for trains and busses
- Trains and busses may have an audio loop system installed that connects directly to your telecoil in your hearing aid – make sure that your telecoil is activated in your hearing aid (if it has one)
- Choose a train compartment with fewer people
Going on an organised tour?
- Tell the tour guide and if you have a mic linked to hearing aids; give it to the guide to use so their commentary isn’t missed.
Accommodation
- Accessibility rooms are in some hotels – they include special options for people with disabilities, including hearing loss. Enquire if your hotel has these on offer.
- Ask hotel staff to turn on captions on the TV
Tips for carers
- Turn off aids at night to preserve battery life
- Check for signs of wax blockage and clean if necessary
- Keep half the spare batteries in your hand luggage
- Use drying kit each night if in a humid climate
Author competing interests: No relevant disclosures.
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