It probably seems like a simple thing to take care of your hearing aids. After all, you were probably given a set of care instructions when you originally bought your devices. Most hearing specialists will give you a step-by-step how-to when it comes to regular hearing aid maintenance. But it’s quite likely that you may forget some of that information that you got all at once. So you still may be wondering, what should my cleaning schedule look like? Or, how often should I get my hearing aid serviced? How can I make my hearing aids last as long as possible?
If you want to keep your hearing aids in tip-top working order, check out the following tips.
Tip #1: Try not to allow your hearing aids to get wet
Moisture and electronics don’t really jive. Even though your hearing aids might provide a certain degree of water resistance, you generally want to keep moisture away from them. Beyond the obvious, this means you should do things like the following:
- Stay away from using hair products while you’re wearing your hearing aids. That is, take your hearing aids out before using a lot of hair spray or hair gel. Your hearing aid can really get gunked up from these kinds of products.
- When it’s humid outdoors, run a dehumidifier. Even inside, high humidity means your hearing aids may be more damp more often. And that moisture can compromise the sensitive electronics inside. Prolonging hearing aid life may mean keeping that dehumidifier going.
- Find a cool and dry spot to store your hearing aids when you aren’t using them. Many people wonder what the best way to store hearing aids is. Well, don’t, for instance, store them in your bathroom (which gets nice and steamy at least once a day). It also helps to store them in the same place every day so you aren’t wondering where you put them. Also, cats like to play with hearing aids and dogs will occasionally attempt to eat them, so don’t just leave them lying about.
Tip #2: Check (and clean) those earwax filters
The human body normally generates earwax in a healthy way. Hearing aid manufacturers are well aware of this. Most modern hearing aids have features that are designed to cope with a moderate earwax production.
Your job is to make sure your hearing aids don’t become overloaded with ear wax. This means inspecting and swapping the wax guards when necessary (and making that an element of your hearing aid cleaning program). You can invest in and use special cleaning tools for this, depending on what model you have (ask us for guidance here).
What is the replacement schedule for earwax guards? You will change these wax guards around once every month on most models.
Tip #3: Keep your batteries charged and fresh
Your Hearing aids depend on your batteries for power. The better your hearing aid batteries are, the longer your device will last. So there are several battery-care steps you can take:
- Get a battery charger or a rechargeable device: This will save you lots of money on wasted batteries.
- When you’re not using your hearing aids, remember to turn them 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.
- Be certain all of the battery contacts and components are dry. If they are dirty or wet, you can use a clean, dry cloth to wipe them. As with most electronics, moisture will lead to a bad outcome here.
Tip #4: Only use clean hands to handle your devices
Most of the time, you should be wearing your hearing aids. But they don’t get there by themselves. You use your hands to put in your hearing aids, and those hands 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 exactly very good for them.
Generally, you should only touch your hearing aids with clean hands. So give your hands a quick clean before you have to take them out and handle them.
Tip #5 Keep us in the loop
It might feel like, once you have your hearing aids, you can leave your hearing specialist in the dust. But… this isn’t typically correct. Here are a few very good reasons why scheduling routine appointments with us is still significant.:
- Cleaning and maintenance.
- To help make sure your devices fit well.
- Check the status of your hearing loss (making certain it isn’t advancing faster than expected).
When something breaks, what should you do?
Sometimes, something could go wrong (maybe you accidentally step on them) despite your best effort. When this occurs, you should contact us as quickly as you can.
We will be able to help you fix your devices, or get a new set if needed.
Make an appointment with us today to talk about your current or next pair of hearing aids.
