Caring for your hearing aids probably feels simple enough. After all, you were likely given a set of care instructions when you first purchased your devices. With regard to routine hearing aid maintenance, most hearing specialists will give you a step-by-step instruction tutorial. But it’s quite likely that you might forget some of that information that you got all at once. So you may 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 get the most life out of my hearing aids?
If you want to keep your hearing aids in good 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 get along that well. Hearing aids are slightly 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:
- Find a cool and dry place to keep your hearing aids when you aren’t wearing them. Many individuals wonder what the best way to store hearing aids is. Well, don’t, for instance, keep them in your bathroom (which gets nice and steamy at least once every day). It also helps to store them in the same spot every day so you aren’t trying to figure out where they went. In the same way, don’t leave your hearing aids just lying about, dogs love to eat them and cats like to play with them!
- When you’re wearing your hearing aids, don’t use hair care products. That is, remove your hearing aids before using a lot of hair spray or hair gel. These kinds of products can really gunk up your devices.
- Keep a dehumidifier running during those more humid months. When it’s extremely humid, your hearing aids can have more moisture than you would want even indoors. And the delicate electronics inside of your device can be damaged. If you want to get the most life out of your hearing aid as possible, get that dehumidifier running!
Tip #2: Keep the earwax filters nice and clean
Earwax production is a normal and healthy thing for the human body to do. Hearing aid makers are well aware of this. Consequently, most hearing aids are created to deal with a modest amount of earwax.
Your job is to be certain your hearing aids don’t become overwhelmed with ear wax. So make changing out your wax guard, when necessary, a routine part of your cleaning routine. You can purchase and utilize special cleaning tools for this, depending on your hearing aid model (ask us for guidance here).
What is the replacement schedule for earwax guards? You will change these wax guards about once every month on most models.
Tip #3: Take care of the batteries
Your batteries keep your hearing aids working. Your hearing aid will last much longer if you keep your batteries fresh. The following are a few tips for battery care:
- When you’re not using your hearing aids, don’t forget to switch the power off. Or else, your battery will just sit there and drain. And that means your hearing aids could stop working when you least want them to.
- Invest in a rechargeable device or a battery charger: That way, you won’t be throwing batteries (and money) away over and over again.
- Keep all of the contact points on the battery dry and clean. If they are dirty or wet, you can use a clean, dry cloth to wipe them. This is yet another place in your device where moisture is the enemy.
Tip #4: Clean your hands before handling your hearing aids
The majority of the time, you should be wearing your hearing aids. But they depend on you to put them in. You use your fingers to put in your hearing aids, and those fingers could contain all kinds of things (salt, maple syrup, Cheeto dust, and so on). By design, hearing aids are really delicate and probably won’t do well with things like crumbs.
Generally, you should only handle your hearing aids with clean hands. So give your hands a quick wash before you have to take them out and handle them.
Tip #5 Stay in touch with your hearing specialist
You might presume that you won’t need any help from us once you’ve purchased your hearing aids. Usually, though, this is not the situation. Here are some very good reasons why scheduling regular appointments with us is still relevant.:
- Cleaning and maintenance.
- To help you fine-tune your fit.
- To keep track of and monitor the advancement of your hearing loss.
What should you do when something breaks?
Sometimes, in spite of your best efforts, something goes wrong with your hearing aids (maybe you accidentally step on them). When this happens, you should contact us as quickly as you can.
We will be able to help you repair your devices, or get new ones if needed.
Want to talk to us about your next set of hearing aids? Schedule an appointment today!