Caring for your hearing aids probably feels simple enough. When you initially got your hearing aids, you probably got a set of care guidelines, after all. With regard to routine hearing aid maintenance, most hearing specialists will give you a step-by-step instruction tutorial. Still, getting that much information at once means you most likely didn’t remember some of it. So you might still have questions like, how often should I clean my hearing aid? How about my service schedule? How can I get the most life out of my hearing aids?
If you want to keep your hearing aids in good working order, look at the following tips.
Tip #1: Keep your hearing aids dry
Moisture and electronics don’t really jive. Hearing aids are somewhat water resistant but aren’t at all waterproof, so they need to be kept as free from moisture as possible. Here are several ways to do just that:
- When it’s humid outdoors, run a dehumidifier. When it’s extremely humid, your hearing aids can have more moisture than you would want even indoors. And that dampness can compromise the sensitive electronics inside. Prolonging hearing aid life may mean keeping that dehumidifier going.
- Keep your hearing aids somewhere dry and cool. Knowing the best way to store your hearing aids can be somewhat of a challenge for lots of individuals. Well, don’t, for example, keep them in your bathroom (which gets really steamy at least once every day). It also helps to keep them in the same place every day so you’re not trying to figure out where you put them. By the same token, don’t leave your hearing aids just lying about, dogs love to eat them and cats like to play with them!
- When you’re wearing your hearing aids, don’t use hair care products. That is, remove your hearing aids before utilizing a lot of hair spray or hair gel. Your hearing aid can really get gunked up from these kinds of products.
Tip #2: Check (and clean) those earwax filters
The human body naturally produces earwax in a healthy way. Hearing aid manufacturers are well aware of this. Most modern hearing aids incorporate features that are created to cope with a moderate earwax production.
It’s up to you to make sure there isn’t too much earwax on your hearing aids. This means checking and swapping the wax guards when necessary (and making that part of your hearing aid cleaning program). You can buy and utilize special cleaning tools for this, depending on what model you have (ask us for guidance here).
How frequently should wax guards be replaced? Well, for the majority of models, it will be around once every month or so.
Tip #3: Keep your batteries charged and fresh
Your Hearing aids rely on your batteries for power. The healthier your hearing aid batteries are, the longer your hearing aid will last. So there are a few battery-care steps you can take:
- Keep all of the contact points on the battery clean and dry. You can wipe them down with a clean cloth if they aren’t. As with electronics in general, moisture will result in a bad outcome here.
- Get a battery charger or a rechargeable device: This will save you lots of money on wasted batteries.
- Don’t forget to shut off your hearing aids when you aren’t using them. Otherwise, your battery will just sit there and drain. And that means your hearing aids could quit working when you really need them.
Tip #4: Wash your hands before handling your hearing aids
The majority of the time, your hearing aids should be in your ears. But they depend on you to put them in. You use your hands to put your hearing aids in, and those fingers could contain all types of things (salt, maple syrup, Cheeto dust, and so on). Your hearing aids are delicate devices by design, so crumbs aren’t really great for them.
Generally, you should only touch your hearing aids with clean hands. So before you put in or take out your hearing aids, give your hands a quick wash.
Tip #5 Keep us in the loop
It may feel like, once you have your hearing aids, you can leave your hearing specialist in the dust. But… this isn’t typically true. Most individuals who have hearing loss will want to schedule routine appointments with us for the following reasons:
- To clean and maintain your hearing aids.
- To track and monitor the advancement of your hearing loss.
- To help you ensure your devices fit well.
When something breaks, what should you do?
Sometimes, something could go wrong (perhaps you accidentally step on them) despite your best effort. You should get in touch with us as soon as you can in cases like this.
If your device requires any repairs, or you need a new one, we can help with that.
Schedule an appointment with us today to talk about your current or next set of hearing aids.
