It probably feels like a simple thing to care for your hearing aids. After all, you were most likely given a set of care guidelines when you initially purchased your devices. With regard to regular hearing aid maintenance, most hearing specialists will give you a step-by-step instruction tutorial. Still, getting all of that information at once means you probably didn’t retain some of it. So you could still have questions like, how often should I clean my hearing aid? Or, how often should I get my hearing aid serviced? How can I get the most life out of my hearing aids?
These five, easy-to-follow tips can help provide some answers, as well as easy ways to help in taking care of your hearing aids so they work better longer.
Tip #1: Keep your hearing aids dry
Electronics typically don’t do well with moisture. Although your hearing aids may offer a certain level of water resistance, you typically want to keep them dry. Beyond the obvious, this means you should do things like the following:
- When it’s humid outdoors, run a dehumidifier. When it’s very humid, your hearing aids can have more moisture than you would want even inside. And that moisture can compromise the delicate electronics inside. If you want to get the most longevity out of your hearing aid as possible, get that dehumidifier running!
- When you’re wearing your hearing aids, don’t use hair care products. When you’re going to use hair spray or gel, take out your hearing aids. These kinds of products can really gunk up your devices.
- Store your hearing aids someplace cool and dry. Many individuals wonder what the best way to store hearing aids is. So the steamy bathroom isn’t going to be a very good place to keep your hearing aids. And in order to keep track of your hearing aids, store them in the same place every day. Also, cats love to play with hearing aids and dogs will sometimes try to eat them, so don’t just leave them lying around.
Tip #2: Check (and clean) those earwax filters
Earwax production is a healthy and normal thing for the human body to do. Hearing aid designers are well aware of this. As a result, most hearing aids are designed to deal with a moderate amount of earwax.
It’s up to you to make sure there’s not too much earwax on your hearing aids. So make changing out your wax guard, when necessary, a regular part of your cleaning schedule. Depending on what model hearing aid you have, you can get specialized little tools for this and we can help you with that.
What is the replacement schedule for earwax guards? Well, for the majority of models, it will be around once every month or so.
Tip #3: care for the batteries
Your Hearing aids rely on your batteries for power. Your hearing aid will last much longer if you keep your batteries fresh. So there are several battery-care steps you can take:
- Keep all of the contact points on the battery dry and clean. You can wipe them with a clean cloth if they aren’t. As with electronics in general, moisture will lead to a bad outcome here.
- Invest in a rechargeable device or a battery charger: That way, you won’t be throwing batteries (and money) away again and again .
- When you’re not using your hearing aids, remember to switch the power off. Or else, your battery will just sit there and drain. Because of this, when you most need your hearing aids, they may not be charged enough to work.
Tip #4: Only use clean hands to handle your hearing aids
The majority of the time, your hearing aids should be in your ears. But they don’t get there on their own. You use your fingers to put in your hearing aids, and those hands could contain all sorts of things (salt, maple syrup, Cheeto dust, and so on). Your hearing aids are sensitive devices by design, so crumbs aren’t really very good for them.
In general, 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 up with your hearing specialist
You may think that you won’t need any assistance from us once you’ve purchased your hearing aids. But… this is not usually correct. Most people who have hearing loss will want to schedule routine appointments with us for the following reasons:
- Check the status of your hearing loss (making certain it’s not advancing faster than expected).
- To help make sure your devices fit well.
- To clean and maintain your hearing aids.
What should you do when something breaks?
Sometimes, in spite of your best efforts, something goes wrong with your hearing aids (perhaps you accidentally step on them). You should call us as soon as possible in situations like this.
We will be able to help you repair your devices, or get new ones if needed.
Want to talk to us about your next pair of hearing aids? Set up an appointment today!