Taking care of your hearing aids probably seems simple enough. When you initially obtained your hearing aids, you probably got a set of care instructions, after all. In regard to regular hearing aid maintenance, the majority of hearing specialists will give you a step-by-step instruction tutorial. Still, getting that much information at once means you probably didn’t remember some of it. So you still might be wondering, what should my cleaning schedule look like? Or, how frequently should I get my hearing aid serviced? How can I make my hearing aids last as long as I can?
If you want to keep your hearing aids in tip-top working order, check out the following tips.
Tip #1: Keep your hearing aids dry
Electronics generally don’t do well with wetness. Hearing aids are somewhat water resistant but are by no means waterproof, so they need to be kept as free from moisture as possible. Here are several ways to do just that:
- Find a cool and dry place to keep your hearing aids when you aren’t using them. Many individuals question what the best way to store hearing aids is. Well, don’t, for instance, 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, keep them in the same place every day. Also, cats like to play with hearing aids and dogs will occasionally try to eat them, so don’t just leave them lying around.
- When it’s humid outdoors, run a dehumidifier. Even inside, high humidity means your hearing aids might be more moist more frequently. And the delicate electronics inside of your device will be compromised. If you want to get the most life out of your hearing aid as you can, get that dehumidifier going!
- When you’re wearing your hearing aids, don’t use hair care products. When you’re going to use hair spray or gel, take out your hearing aids. Your hearing aid can really become gunked up from these types of products.
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 designers recognize is going to occur. The majority of modern hearing aids have features that are created to deal with a modest earwax production.
Your task is to make sure your hearing aids don’t become inundated with ear wax. This means examining and replacing the wax guards when necessary (and making that part of your hearing aid cleaning routine). Depending on which model hearing aid you have, you can get specialized little tools for this and we can assist you with that.
How often should wax guards be replaced? You will change these wax guards about once every month on the majority of models.
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. So there are several battery-care steps you can take:
- Get a battery charger or a rechargeable device: 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. You can wipe them down with a clean cloth if they aren’t. This is yet another place in your device where moisture is the enemy.
- Remember to shut off your hearing aids when you aren’t wearing them. Or else, 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 work.
Tip #4: Only use clean hands to handle your hearing aids
The majority 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 fingers could contain all sorts of things (salt, maple syrup, Cheeto dust, and so on). By design, hearing aids are very delicate and likely won’t do well with things like crumbs.
It’s essential 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 wash.
Tip #5 Stay in touch with your hearing specialist
It may feel like, once you purchase your hearing aids, you can just forget all about your hearing specialist. But… this isn’t usually true. Here are some very good reasons why scheduling routine appointments with us is still significant.:
- To keep track of and monitor the advancement of your hearing loss.
- Cleaning and maintenance.
- To help you calibrate your fit.
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 contact us as soon as you can in cases like this.
We will be able to help you fix your devices, or get new ones if needed.
Make an appointment with us today to discuss your current or next pair of hearing aids.