Caring for your hearing aids likely feels easy enough. When you initially obtained your hearing aids, you probably got a set of care guidelines, after all. The majority of 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 most likely didn’t remember some of it. So you could still have questions like, how often should I clean my hearing aid? What about my service schedule? How can I make my hearing aids last as long as possible?
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 moisture. Even though your hearing aids may offer a certain degree of water resistance, you typically want to keep them dry. Beyond the obvious, this means you need to do things like the following:
- When you’re wearing your hearing aids, avoid using hair care products. When you’re going to use hair spray or gel, remove your hearing aids. Your hearing aid can really get gunked up from these types of products.
- Store your hearing aids someplace cool and dry. Many people wonder what the best way to store hearing aids is. So the steamy bathroom won’t be a very good place to store your hearing aids. It also helps to store them in the same place every day so you aren’t trying to figure out where they went. Also, cats love to play with hearing aids and dogs will sometimes try to eat them, so don’t just leave them lying about.
- When it’s humid outdoors, run a dehumidifier. When it’s really humid, your hearing aids can have more moisture than you would want even inside. And the fragile electronics inside of your device will be damaged. If you want to get the most longevity out of your hearing aid as possible, get that dehumidifier going!
Tip #2: Keep the earwax filters nice and clean
The human body normally generates earwax in a healthy way. It’s also something that hearing aid manufacturers understand is going to take place. Consequently, most hearing aids are designed to deal with a moderate amount of earwax.
Your task is to be certain your hearing aids don’t become inundated with ear wax. This means checking and swapping the wax guards when necessary (and making that an element of your hearing aid cleaning routine). You can purchase 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 change these wax guards approximately once every month on the majority of 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:
- Get a battery charger or a rechargeable device: That way, you won’t be throwing batteries (and money) away over and over again.
- 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 electronics in general, moisture will result in a bad outcome here.
- Remember to switch off your devices 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 function.
Tip #4: Only use clean hands to handle your devices
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 your hearing aids in, and those fingers 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 handle 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 up with your hearing specialist
You may presume that you won’t need any assistance from us once you’ve purchased your hearing aids. But… this isn’t usually correct. Most individuals with hearing loss will want to set up regular appointments with us for the following reasons:
- To keep track of and monitor the advancement of your hearing loss.
- To help make sure your devices fit well.
- Cleaning and maintenance.
When something breaks, what should you do?
Sometimes, despite your best efforts, something goes wrong with your hearing aids (perhaps you accidentally step on them). When this occurs, you should get in touch with us as quickly as you can.
We will be able to help you repair your devices, or get a new set if necessary.
Want to talk to us about your next pair of hearing aids? Schedule an appointment today!
