Caring for your hearing aids probably seems simple enough. When you first obtained your hearing aids, you most likely got a set of care instructions, 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 probably didn’t retain some of it. So you still might be wondering, what should my cleaning routine look like? How about my service schedule? How can I get the most life out of my hearing aids?
These five, easy-to-follow tips can help give you some answers, as well as easy ways to help in maintaining your hearing aids so they function better longer.
Tip #1: Try not to allow your hearing aids to get wet
Electronics typically don’t like moisture. Although your hearing aids might provide a certain degree of water resistance, you typically want to keep them dry. Here are several ways to do just that:
- Don’t use hair products while your hearing aids are in. That is, remove your hearing aids before utilizing 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 damp more often. And the fragile electronics inside of your device will be compromised. Prolonging hearing aid life may mean keeping that dehumidifier going.
- Store your hearing aids somewhere cool and dry. Understanding the best way to store your hearing aids can be somewhat of a challenge for lots of people. So the steamy bathroom won’t be a very good place to store your hearing aids. It also helps to keep them in the same place every day so you aren’t trying to figure out where they went. Also, cats like to play with hearing aids and dogs will sometimes attempt to eat them, so don’t just leave them lying around.
Tip #2: Keep the earwax filters nice and clean
The human body normally produces earwax in a healthy way. It’s also something that hearing aid manufacturers know is going to take place. Consequently, most hearing aids are created to deal with a modest amount of earwax.
Your job is to make sure your hearing aids don’t become inundated with ear wax. So make changing out your wax guard, when needed, a routine part of your cleaning routine. You can invest in and use special cleaning tools for this, depending on your hearing aid model (ask us for guidance here).
What is the replacement schedule for earwax guards? Well, for most models, it will be about once every month or so.
Tip #3: Keep your batteries charged and fresh
Your batteries keep your hearing aids working. The healthier your hearing aid batteries are, the longer your hearing aid will last. The following are some tips for battery care:
- Remember to shut off your devices when you aren’t wearing them. This just kills the battery for, well, no good reason. Consequently, when you most need your hearing aids, they might not be charged enough to work.
- 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. As with most electronics, 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.
Tip #4: Wash your hands before handling your hearing aids
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 your hearing aids in, and those hands could contain all sorts of things (salt, maple syrup, Cheeto dust, and so on). By design, hearing aids are really sensitive and probably won’t do well with things like crumbs.
It’s important that you don’t handle your hearing aids with dirty hands. So before you put in or take out your hearing aids, give your hands a quick cleanse.
Tip #5 Stay in touch with your hearing specialist
It may seem like, once you purchase your hearing aids, you can just forget all about your hearing specialist. Usually, though, this isn’t the case. Most individuals who have hearing loss will want to make regular appointments with us for the following reasons:
- To help make sure your devices fit well.
- To clean and maintain your hearing aids.
- Keep an eye on the status of your hearing loss (making certain it’s not advancing quicker than expected).
What should you do when something breaks?
Sometimes, despite your best efforts, something goes wrong with your hearing aids (maybe you accidentally step on them). When this occurs, you should get in touch with us as quickly as you can.
If your device 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 set of hearing aids.
