It most likely feels like a simple thing to take care of your hearing aids. After all, you were most likely given a set of care instructions when you first purchased your devices. The majority of hearing specialists will give you a step-by-step how-to when it comes to regular hearing aid maintenance. But it’s very likely that you may forget some of that information that you got all at once. So you still may be wondering, what should my cleaning routine look like? Or, how often should I get my hearing aid serviced? How can I get the most life out of my hearing aids?
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 function better longer.
Tip #1: Try not to allow your hearing aids to get wet
Electronics generally don’t like wetness. Hearing aids are somewhat water resistant but are by no means waterproof, so they should be kept as free from moisture as possible. Beyond the obvious, this means you need to do things like the following:
- Find a dry and cool place to keep your hearing aids when you’re not using them. Knowing the best way to store your hearing aids can be a bit of a challenge for many individuals. Well, don’t, for instance, store them in your bathroom (which gets really steamy at least once every day). It also helps to store them in the same place every day so you aren’t wondering where they went. Also, cats like to play with hearing aids and dogs will occasionally try to eat them, so don’t just leave them lying about.
- When you’re wearing your hearing aids, avoid using hair care products. That is, remove your hearing aids before utilizing a lot of hair spray or hair gel. These kinds of products can really gunk up your devices.
- Keep a dehumidifier going during those more humid months. When it’s extremely humid, your hearing aids can have more dampness than you would want even indoors. And that moisture can compromise the sensitive electronics inside. Prolonging hearing aid life may mean keeping that dehumidifier going.
Tip #2: Check (and clean) those earwax filters
The human body normally produces earwax in a healthy way. Hearing aid makers are well aware of this. Consequently, most hearing aids are created to deal with a modest amount of earwax.
It’s up to you to be sure there isn’t too much earwax on your hearing aids. This means inspecting and replacing the wax guards when needed (and making that an element of your hearing aid cleaning program). You can invest in 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 swap these wax guards about once every month on most models.
Tip #3: Keep your batteries charged and fresh
Your Hearing aids count on your batteries for power. Your hearing aid will last a lot longer if you keep your batteries fresh. So there are several battery-care steps you can take:
- Don’t forget to shut off your hearing aids when you aren’t wearing them. Or else, your battery will just sit there and drain. And that means your hearing aids may stop working when you really need them.
- Get a battery charger or a rechargeable hearing aid: This will save you a lot of money on wasted batteries.
- Keep all of the contact points on the battery dry and clean. You can wipe them with a clean cloth if they aren’t. This is yet another place in your device where moisture is the enemy.
Tip #4: Wash your hands before handling your hearing aids
Most of the time, your hearing aids should be in your ears. But they depend on you to put them in. You use your hands to put in your hearing aids, and those hands could contain all kinds of things (salt, maple syrup, Cheeto dust, and so on). Your hearing aids are delicate devices by design, so crumbs aren’t really very good for them.
Generally, you should only touch 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 us in the loop
You may think that you won’t require any assistance from us once you’ve purchased your hearing aids. Generally, though, this is not the case. Most people who have hearing loss will want to set up regular appointments with us for the following reasons:
- Keep track of the status of your hearing loss (making certain it isn’t progressing faster than expected).
- To help make sure your devices fit well.
- Cleaning and maintenance.
What should you do when something breaks?
Occasionally, 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.
If your device requires any repairs, or you need to get a new one, we can help with that.
Want to talk to us about your next pair of hearing aids? Set up an appointment today!