Taking care of your hearing aids likely feels simple enough. After all, you were likely given a set of care guidelines when you originally purchased your devices. In regard to regular hearing aid maintenance, most hearing specialists will give you a step-by-step instruction tutorial. Still, getting that much information at once means you probably didn’t retain some of it. So you still may be wondering, what should my cleaning schedule look like? 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: Keep your hearing aids dry
Electronics usually don’t like wetness. Hearing aids are slightly water resistant but are by no means waterproof, so they need to be kept as free from moisture as possible. Beyond the obvious, this means you should do things like the following:
- Avoid using hair products while you’re wearing your hearing aids. That is, remove your hearing aids before using a lot of hair spray or hair gel. These types of products can really gunk up your devices.
- Store your hearing aids somewhere cool and dry. Many individuals question what the best way to store hearing aids is. Well, don’t, for example, store them in your bathroom (which gets nice and steamy at least once a day). And in order to keep track of your hearing aids, store them in the same place every day. Also, cats love to play with hearing aids and dogs will sometimes try to eat them, so don’t just leave them lying around.
- When it’s humid outside, run a dehumidifier. Even indoors, high humidity means your hearing aids may be more moist more frequently. 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 you can, get that dehumidifier going!
Tip #2: Keep the earwax filters nice and clean
Earwax production is a normal and healthy thing for the human body to do. It’s also something that hearing aid makers understand is going to occur. The majority of modern hearing aids incorporate features that are created to manage a modest earwax production.
Your task is to make sure your hearing aids don’t become overwhelmed with ear wax. So make changing out your wax guard, when necessary, a regular part of your cleaning schedule. You can invest in and utilize specialized 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 about once every month on the majority of models.
Tip #3: Take care of the batteries
Your batteries keep your hearing aids going. The better your hearing aid batteries are, the longer your device will last. The following are a few tips for battery care:
- When you’re not using your hearing aids, remember to switch the power off. Otherwise, your battery will just sit there and drain. For this reason, when you most need your hearing aids, they may not be charged enough to function.
- Get a battery charger or a rechargeable device: This will save you a lot of money on wasted batteries.
- Be certain 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. This is yet another part of your device where moisture is the enemy.
Tip #4: Only use clean hands to handle your devices
Most of the time, your hearing aids should be in your ears. But they don’t get there by themselves. You use your fingers 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 sensitive devices by design, so crumbs aren’t really great for them.
In general, you should only handle your hearing aids with clean hands. So give your hands a quick wash before you need to take them out and handle them.
Tip #5 Keep up with your hearing specialist
You might presume that you won’t need any assistance from us once you’ve purchased your hearing aids. Generally, though, this is not the situation. Most people with hearing loss will want to make regular appointments with us for the following reasons:
- To track and monitor the development of your hearing loss.
- To help you fine-tune your fit.
- Cleaning and maintenance.
When something breaks, what should you do?
Sometimes, despite your best efforts, something goes wrong with your hearing aids (maybe you accidentally step on them). You should get in touch with us as soon as possible in situations like this.
We will be able to help you fix your devices, or get a new set if necessary.
Schedule an appointment with us today to talk about your current or next set of hearing aids.