Taking care of your hearing aids likely seems easy enough. When you first got your hearing aids, you probably got a set of care guidelines, after all. Most hearing specialists will give you a step-by-step how-to in regard to routine hearing aid maintenance. Still, getting all of that information at once means you most likely didn’t retain some of it. So you could still have questions like, how frequently should I clean my hearing aid? How about my service schedule? How can I get the most life from my hearing aids?
If you want to keep your hearing aids in tip-top working order, check out the following tips.
Tip #1: Try not to let your hearing aids get wet
Electronics generally don’t do well with wetness. Even though your hearing aids may offer a certain amount of water resistance, you generally want to keep moisture away from them. Beyond the obvious, this means you should do things like the following:
- When you’re wearing your hearing aids, avoid using hair care products. That is, remove your hearing aids before using a lot of hair spray or hair gel. These types of products can really gunk up your devices.
- When it’s humid outdoors, run a dehumidifier. Even indoors, high humidity means your hearing aids may be more moist more often. And that moisture can compromise the sensitive electronics inside. Prolonging hearing aid life may mean keeping that dehumidifier running.
- Store your hearing aids someplace dry and cool. Many people wonder what the best way to store hearing aids is. Well, don’t, for instance, store them in your bathroom (which gets really steamy at least once a day). It also helps to keep them in the same spot every day so you aren’t trying to figure out where you put them. In the same way, don’t leave your hearing aids just lying around, dogs like to eat them and cats like to play with them!
Tip #2: Check (and clean) those earwax filters
The human body naturally generates earwax in a healthy way. It’s also something that hearing aid makers recognize is going to occur. Most modern hearing aids incorporate features that are designed to deal with a modest earwax production.
It’s up to you to be sure there’s not too much earwax on your hearing aids. This means checking and swapping the wax guards when necessary (and making that an element of your hearing aid cleaning schedule). Depending on which model hearing aid you have, you can invest in specialized little tools for this and we can help you with that.
What is the replacement schedule for earwax guards? You will change these wax guards around once every month on most models.
Tip #3: Take care of the batteries
Your Hearing aids rely on your batteries for power. Your hearing aid will last a lot longer if you keep your batteries fresh. So there are several battery-care steps you can take:
- Get a battery charger or a rechargeable hearing aid: That way, you won’t be throwing batteries (and money) away over and over again.
- Keep all of the contact points on the battery clean and dry. If they are dirty or wet, you can use a clean, dry cloth to wipe them. This is yet another part of your device where moisture is the enemy.
- When you’re not using your hearing aids, don’t forget to switch the power off. Otherwise, your battery will just sit there and drain. Because of this, when you need your hearing aids the most, they might not be charged enough to function.
Tip #4: Only use clean hands to handle your devices
The majority of the time, your hearing aids should be in your ears. But they don’t get there by themselves. You use your fingers to put your hearing aids in, and those fingers could contain all kinds of things (salt, maple syrup, Cheeto dust, and so on). By design, hearing aids are very delicate and probably won’t do well with things like crumbs.
Generally, you should only handle your hearing aids with clean hands. So before you put in or take out your hearing aids, give your hands a quick cleanse.
Tip #5 Keep us in the loop
You may presume that you won’t require any help from us once you’ve purchased your hearing aids. But… this is not usually true. Here are some very good reasons why scheduling regular appointments with us is still important.:
- To track and monitor the progression of your hearing loss.
- Cleaning and maintenance.
- To help you calibrate your fit.
When something breaks, what should you do?
Occasionally, something could go wrong (perhaps you accidentally step on them) despite your best effort. You should call us as soon as possible in cases such as this.
We will be able to help you fix your devices, or get a new set if necessary.
Want to speak with us about your next pair of hearing aids? Set up an appointment today!