Taking care of your hearing aids likely seems easy enough. After all, you were probably given a set of care guidelines when you originally purchased your devices. The majority of hearing specialists will give you a step-by-step how-to in regard to regular hearing aid maintenance. Still, getting all of that information at once means you probably didn’t retain some of it. So you might still have questions like, how frequently should I clean my hearing aid? How about my service schedule? How can I make my hearing aids last as long as I can?
If you want to keep your hearing aids in tip-top working order, look at the following tips.
Tip #1: Try not to allow your hearing aids to get wet
Moisture and electronics don’t really jive. Hearing aids are somewhat water resistant but are by no means waterproof, so they need to be kept as dry as possible. Beyond the obvious, this means you need to do things like the following:
- When it’s humid outdoors, run a dehumidifier. Even indoors, high humidity means your hearing aids may be more damp more often. And the fragile electronics inside of your device will be damaged. Prolonging hearing aid life might mean keeping that dehumidifier going.
- Avoid using hair products while your hearing aids are in. That is, take your hearing aids out before using a lot of hair spray or hair gel. These types of products can really gunk up your devices.
- Find a cool and dry spot to store your hearing aids when you’re not wearing them. Understanding the best way to store your hearing aids can be a bit of a challenge for many people. Well, don’t, for example, store them in your bathroom (which gets nice and steamy at least once a day). It also helps to keep them in the same place every day so you’re not wondering where they went. Also, cats love to play with hearing aids and dogs will sometimes attempt to eat them, so don’t just leave them lying about.
Tip #2: Check (and clean) those earwax filters
Earwax production is a normal and healthy thing for the human body to do. Hearing aid manufacturers are well aware of this. The majority of contemporary hearing aids have features that are created to cope with a moderate earwax production.
It’s up to you to be sure there’s not too much earwax on your hearing aids. So make changing out your wax guard, when needed, a regular element of your cleaning schedule. Depending on which model hearing aid you have, you can get specialized little tools for this and we can help you with that.
How frequently should wax guards be replaced? You will change these wax guards approximately 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 much longer if you keep your batteries fresh. So there are several battery-care steps you can take:
- When you’re not wearing your hearing aids, don’t forget to turn them off. Or else, your battery will just sit there and drain. And that means your hearing aids could quit working when you really need them.
- Make sure all of the battery contacts and components are dry. If they are dirty or wet, you can make use of a clean, dry cloth to wipe them. As with electronics in general, moisture will lead to a bad time here.
- Invest in a rechargeable device or a battery charger: That way, you won’t be chucking batteries (and money) away over and over again.
Tip #4: Only use clean hands to handle your devices
Most of the time, your hearing aids should be in your ears. But they depend on you to put them in. You use your fingers to put in your hearing aids, and those hands could contain all kinds 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.
It’s essential that you don’t handle your hearing aids with dirty hands. So give your hands a quick wash before you have to take them out and handle them.
Tip #5 Keep us in the loop
You might presume that you won’t need any help from us once you’ve purchased your hearing aids. But… this is not normally true. Most individuals with hearing loss will want to set up regular appointments with us for the following reasons:
- To help you calibrate your fit.
- Check the status of your hearing loss (making certain it’s not advancing faster than expected).
- To clean and maintain your hearing aids.
When something breaks, what should you do?
Occasionally, in spite of your best efforts, something goes wrong with your hearing aids (maybe you accidentally step on them). When this happens, you should get in touch with us as quickly as you can.
If your hearing aid needs any repairs, or you need a new one, we can help with that.
Make an appointment with us today to discuss your current or next pair of hearing aids.