AARP Online Community and Discussion Forums - hearing aid battery users

LeslieLouise47 · ‎11-20-2024

I wonder if AARP is aware of how many seniors are adversely affected by having to deal with hearing aid batteries that are impossible to open - or once opened, impossible to store - since mandated child-resistant packaging went into effect?

Two work-arounds I've found: (1) save your old packaging, cut batteries out of new packaging, and store in old packaging OR (2) buy a rechargeable hearing aid batteries and charger set.

#1 is a lot of work & not at all easy for someone w/arthritis or tremors, etc... and #2 is dicey for those who live in rural areas with frequent winter power outages.

As with pill bottles, we should have a choice between easy-open and child-proof.

robynb11 · ‎06-28-2025

I agree 100%. I’ve cut myself every fingers so many times. I now open and put them in a prescription bottle. So much easier if they’d package them that way.

Grestarian · ‎04-30-2025

I just had to do this for my mother-in-law. We were at a grocery store when she bought a couple new 6-packs of micro-batteries and lamented that the latest packaging is a pain in the @ss to deal with.

When we got back to her apartment, I borrowed scissors and cut the packages open, separating the upper shell from the lower shell so I could dump them all out. It took me a good 20 minutes per 6-pack to accomplish that. While I was wrestling with the packages, she brought over a box of batteries her son had rescued earlier and noted that some of them were already bad (because they were loose and the positive sides of some of the batteries were touching the negative sides of other batteries) but she wouldn't know which was which until she used them in her hearing aids and the remaining charge faded.

After dumping the tiny metal dots into my lap, I decided to improve on her son's idea: I put a loop of Scotch tape on the inside of the lid of her box and stuck the + side of the batteries to it. I wasn't sure if the tape or the adhesive would conduct current, so that's why I made a point of sticking all the flat (only one charge) sides to the tape. The point of the tape, of course, was to make sure they didn't slide around and flip and roll and touch each other. Now she stores the box lid-side-down and just tips the container portion backward to reveal a bunch of batteries with their negative side facing upward. With her fingernails, my mother-in-law can easily pick a battery off the tape.

If I had more time to do it, I would have used double-sided tape so it would stick to the flat surface of the lid better than my moebius loop. If I had been setting it up for myself, I would have spaced the batteries further apart simply because my nails are short and I can't use them to peel a battery off a sticky surface; more space between coin cells would be easier for my fingertips.

-------------

So my question is this:
Clearly there have been far too many incidents (one is too many) of kids swallowing micro-batteries so the battery companies are protecting themselves from liability by making it especially hard for a kid to do that. But I don't know the literature or history of this stuff and wonder what the consequences have been. If a kid is big enough to dig into a drawer and find the hearing aid batteries, I imagine that kid is big enough for the tiny device to just pass through the digestive system and out. Or are kids damaging their stomach when peptic acid is mixing with battery acid/alkaline paste? Or are they cracking their teeth trying to crunch on those little silver nuggets? If they're small enough to be choking on a hearing aid battery, aren't they too small to get into a high cabinet where such devices are (should be) stored when toddlers are likely to come around?

Here's a more practical (less rhetorical) question: Would you be willing to pay a few more cents per battery for 'fuss free packaging' rather than 'child-proof' packaging? [The running joke in my family is that only childen can figure out how to open Child-Proof packaging; adults are too dumb and seniors have lost the dexterity or strength.] It seems to me those packages that look like flattened bundt cakes (e.g. RayOvac, Energizer, and some generic brands) are the major offenders, but I see some reasonable packaging from Members Mark and Duracell. Perhaps my mother-in-law needs to order those on-line in advance and skip having to fight with the grocery-store-oriented packaging.

robynb11 · ‎06-28-2025

Why couldn’t they have put them in a prescription bottle so people w kids could use the lock top and those of us with arthritis could use the easy open cap. I cut myself every time I have to open a new package!

SpringIsHereVA · ‎04-30-2025

Ronald @Grestarian , time for AARP to push for easier access batteries for seniors. It is like yesterday, me buying flu medicine for the 1st time in YEARS at age 67 and having to wait for Self-Checkout cashier to approve. 🙄 Geez, thanks kids for using this med to get high/drunk. I get my yearly flu shot, now to hope I NEVER get it again or years before I do again. Nothing like head and body aching while you WAIT on cashier to arrive. 😤 Take care, Nicole 👵

➡️[*** Ronald wrote on Wednesday 4/30/25: I just had to do this for my mother-in-law. We were at a grocery store when she bought a couple new 6-packs of micro-batteries and lamented that the latest packaging is a pain in the @ssto deal with.
When we got back to her apartment, I borrowed scissors and cut the packages open, separating the upper shell from the lower shell so I could dump them all out. It took me a good 20 minutes per 6-pack to accomplish that. While I was wrestling with the packages, she brought over a box of batteries her son had rescued earlier and noted that some of them were already bad (because they were loose and the positive sides of some of the batteries were touching the negative sides of other batteries) but she wouldn't know which was which until she used them in her hearing aids and the remaining charge faded.
After dumping the tiny metal dots into my lap, I decided to improve on her son's idea: I put a loop of Scotch tape on the inside of the lid of her box and stuck the + side of the batteries to it. I wasn't sure if the tape or the adhesive would conduct current, so that's why I made a point of sticking all the flat (only one charge) sides to the tape. The point of the tape, of course, was to make sure they didn't slide around and flip and roll and touch each other. Now she stores the box lid-side-down and just tips the container portion backward to reveal a bunch of batteries with their negative side facing upward. With her fingernails, my mother-in-law can easily pick a battery off the tape.
If I had more time to do it, I would have used double-sided tape so it would stick to the flat surface of the lid better than my moebius loop. If I had been setting it up for myself, I would have spaced the batteries further apart simply because my nails are short and I can't use them to peel a battery off a sticky surface; more space between coin cells would be easier for my fingertips.
-------------
So my question is this:
Clearly there have been far too many incidents (one is too many) of kids swallowing micro-batteries so the battery companies are protecting themselves from liability by making it especially hard for a kid to do that. But I don't know the literature or history of this stuff and wonder what the consequences have been. If a kid is big enough to dig into a drawer and find the hearing aid batteries, I imagine that kid is big enough for the tiny device to just pass through the digestive system and out. Or are kids damaging their stomach when peptic acid is mixing with battery acid/alkaline paste? Or are they cracking their teeth trying to crunch on those little silver nuggets? If they're small enough to be choking on a hearing aid battery, aren't they too small to get into a high cabinet where such devices are (should be) stored when toddlers are likely to come around?
Here's a more practical (less rhetorical) question: Would you be willing to pay a few more cents per battery for 'fuss free packaging' rather than 'child-proof' packaging? [The running joke in my family is that only childen can figure out how to open Child-Proof packaging; adults are too dumb and seniors have lost the dexterity or strength.] It seems to me those packages that look like flattened bundt cakes (e.g. RayOvac, Energizer, and some generic brands) are the major offenders, but I see some reasonable packaging from Members Mark and Duracell. Perhaps my mother-in-law needs to order those on-line in advance and skip having to fight with the grocery-store-oriented packaging. ***]

PatriciaG789922 · ‎04-30-2025

My question is this. Where was the mother when all this happened. The mother talks about the child's personality at that young age, more reason to watch them closely. Some of these accidents are due to negligence of the parents. I'm sorry that her daughter died. Her focus should be on the parents of children to secure their batteries in a safe place. Because of that law we all suffer opening that package.

p611239s · ‎02-19-2025

I agree. I've just fought with the packaging and cut up two 6-pack circles - my scissors are ruined and I cam close to cutting myself. What happens when you are on a plane (where scissors are not allowed) and your hearing air runs out? Do we go deaf until they can be changed? I'm flying tomorrow and will ask the airline if they give senior assistance.

CharlesB733850 · ‎03-12-2025

Absolutely agree. I just ran into this for the first time with my latest batch, and I came here immediately to see if others were having the same issue.

Regardless of the intention, the regulation won't meet expectations ... I travel a lot and bringing scissors on trips is burdensome/illegal as you say. So my solution will be to unpackage all of the batteries and put them in another container which is much less secure than the previous packaging was before this new regulation. Completely defeats the purpose, but that's not my problem.

How are new advocacy topics raised to AARP - I can't find anywhere to make this an official suggestion...

ChristinaP548073 · ‎03-27-2025

Hi! Just wanted to let you know I did what you said and cut all the batteries out and put them in a pouch in my purse for easy access Don't do it! I found out the hard way that if they are all touching each other they will die. Had to throw out 30 of them! The new packaging is awful and really inconvenient!

robynb11 · ‎06-28-2025

I had no idea. So putting in prescription bottle is a bad idea. Thanks for the heads up. I’ll just put in my old packaging. Appreciate your feedback

SpringIsHereVA · ‎03-27-2025

Christina @ChristinaP548073 , is there a way to NOT have them "touch" each other? 🤔

YOU WROTE: I found out the hard way that if they are all touching each other they will die.

Take care,

Nicole 👵

MarjorieK8441 · ‎02-13-2025

I am disappointed that AARP has not addressed this issue, which affects so many seniors who wear hearing aids. It's impossible to open the packages, especially if one has arthritis or has lost dexterity in their hands. We are told to cut open the package in particular spots (which in itself is hazardous -- I've cut myself trying to get through the heavy plastic), remove the battery (see above hazard), and then do it again for the other battery. You can't cut open an entire package at once to avoid having to repeat the procedure to save the remaining batteries in one place, since they will lose their charge. You have to then dole each one out into an individual container for the next round. Are you supposed to carry scissors with you at all times to accomplish this (hello airline security). This is beyond absurd. Some may decide it's too much trouble, and not wear their hearing aids at all. Surely some genius at the various battery companies could have thought of more accessible packaging. This is a major story. Why isn't AARP covering it?

JamesS899425 · ‎03-20-2025

Fix this AARP. Thousands of older folks inconvenienced because some family was not smart enough to keep the batteries from a kid. Most of us live in households with no kids. Why not an option to buy based on need to protect someone?

MarciaS609692 · ‎04-18-2025

II agree 100%. We have no small children as our grandchildren are all grown. There should be an option to opt out of this. Why punish everyone?

SpringIsHereVA · ‎04-18-2025

Marcia @MarciaS609692 , they DO THIS for Prescription BOTTLES. Lol, before I knew about this, I use to have to use a HAMMER to get the lids off. 🤣😂 Now I CHECK BEFORE LEAVING PHARMACY as some staff I guess DO NOT check my records before refilling. AARP really needs to ADVOCATE for this to change (hearing aid batteries). 😤 Take care, Nicole 👵

[*** @MarciaS609692 wrote 4/18/25:
II agree 100%. We have no small children as our grandchildren are all grown. There should be an option to opt out of this. Why punish everyone? ***]

KathyinCentralCA · ‎01-25-2025

Amen! Thankfully, my husband and I still have the physical dexterity to open them, but it's difficult. And who wants to carry scissors everywhere? From what I'm reading online, the only acceptable practical solution is to use a battery carrying case that keeps each one in a separate compartment. Apparently, if they're kept together they will lose power. But that still requires wrestling with the package to get them out in the first place.

This was not a well-thought-out plan. I suggest everyone who sees this contact AARP and ask them to get on the case.

@LeslieLouise47 wrote:
I wonder if AARP is aware of how many seniors are adversely affected by having to deal with hearing aid batteries that are impossible to open - or once opened, impossible to store - since mandated child-resistant packaging went into effect?
Two work-arounds I've found: (1) save your old packaging, cut batteries out of new packaging, and store in old packaging OR (2) buy a rechargeable hearing aid batteries and charger set.
#1 is a lot of work & not at all easy for someone w/arthritis or tremors, etc... and #2 is dicey for those who live in rural areas with frequent winter power outages.
As with pill bottles, we should have a choice between easy-open and child-proof.

jl1417184 · ‎01-03-2025

Could AARP lobby for an exception for households with no small children?

We have such an exception for prescription bottle caps.

The new packaging for hearing aid batteries are MUCH HARDER to open.

GailL1 · ‎11-20-2024

Amen to that Sister - I use to have to change the batteries for my mom and now that my hands and fingers don’t work so well I could just imagine what it would be like to have to do it now. I might even go to one of those “hearing horns”. they work without batteries but aren’t pretty or hidden.

Just getting into the packaging would be hard on me - they want to keep kids from opening the battery pack and swallowing one of these batteries - that’s well and good but what about us ?????