Caring for your hearing aids likely feels simple enough. After all, you were most likely given a set of care instructions when you originally bought your devices. With regard to routine hearing aid maintenance, most hearing specialists will give you a step-by-step instruction tutorial. But it’s very likely that you might forget some of that information that you got all at once. So you might still have questions like, how frequently should I clean my hearing aid? Or, how often should I have my hearing aid serviced? How can I make my hearing aids last as long as possible?
These five, easy-to-follow tips can help give you some answers, as well as easy ways to help in taking care of your hearing aids so they work better longer.
Tip #1: Try not to let your hearing aids get wet
Electronics generally don’t do well with wetness. Hearing aids are somewhat water resistant but aren’t at all waterproof, so they should be kept as dry as possible. Here are several ways to do just that:
- Don’t use hair products while your hearing aids are in. When you’re going to use hair spray or gel, remove your hearing aids. These kinds of products can really gunk up your devices.
- Find a cool and dry place to keep your hearing aids when you aren’t using them. Knowing the best way to store your hearing aids can be somewhat of a challenge for lots of people. So the steamy bathroom isn’t going to be a very good place to store your hearing aids. It also helps to keep them in the same spot every day so you aren’t wondering where they went. In the same way, don’t leave your hearing aids just lying around, dogs love to eat them and cats like to play with them!
- Keep a dehumidifier running during those more humid months. When it’s really humid, your hearing aids can have more dampness than you would want even inside. And the delicate electronics inside of your device will be damaged. Prolonging hearing aid life might mean keeping that dehumidifier running.
Tip #2: Check (and clean) those earwax filters
The human body normally produces earwax in a healthy way. Hearing aid manufacturers are well aware of this. As a result, most hearing aids are designed to deal with a modest amount of earwax.
Your task is to make sure your hearing aids don’t become overwhelmed with ear wax. This means checking and replacing the wax guards when necessary (and making that an element of your hearing aid cleaning schedule). You can invest in and utilize special cleaning tools for this, depending on what model you have (ask us for recommendations here).
What is the replacement schedule for earwax guards? You will swap these wax guards approximately once every month on most models.
Tip #3: care for the batteries
Your Hearing aids depend on your batteries for power. The better your hearing aid batteries are, the longer your hearing aid will last. So there are several battery-care steps you can take:
- Be certain all of the battery contacts and components are dry. You can wipe them with a clean cloth if they aren’t. This is yet another part of your device where moisture is the enemy.
- Get a battery charger or a rechargeable hearing aid: That way, you won’t be throwing batteries (and money) away again and again .
- Don’t forget to turn off your hearing aids when you aren’t using them. This just kills the battery for, well, no good reason. Consequently, when you need your hearing aids the most, they may not be charged enough to work.
Tip #4: Only use clean hands to handle your devices
The majority of the time, you should be wearing your hearing aids. But they don’t get there on their own. You use your fingers to put in your hearing aids, and those fingers 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 exactly great 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 us in the loop
It might seem like, once you purchase your hearing aids, you can leave your hearing specialist in the dust. But… this is not usually true. Here are some very good reasons why scheduling regular appointments with us is still relevant.:
- Keep track of the status of your hearing loss (making sure it’s not progressing quicker than expected).
- To help you calibrate your fit.
- Cleaning and maintenance.
What should you do when something breaks?
Occasionally, something could go wrong (perhaps you accidentally step on them) despite your best effort. You should contact us as soon as you can in situations like this.
If your device needs any repairs, or you need a new one, we can help with that.
Want to talk to us about your next pair of hearing aids? Schedule an appointment today!