It most likely seems like a simple thing to take care of your hearing aids. After all, you were likely given a set of care instructions when you originally purchased your devices. With regard to regular hearing aid maintenance, most hearing specialists will give you a step-by-step instruction tutorial. Still, getting all of that information at once means you most likely didn’t retain some of it. So you still may be wondering, what should my cleaning schedule look like? Or, how frequently 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 provide some answers, as well as simple ways to help in maintaining your hearing aids so they function better longer.
Tip #1: Keep your hearing aids dry
Electronics usually don’t do well with moisture. Hearing aids are slightly water resistant but aren’t at all 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:
- Don’t use hair products while you’re wearing your hearing aids. That is, take your hearing aids out before utilizing a lot of hair spray or hair gel. Your hearing aid can really get gunked up from these types of products.
- Find a cool and dry place to keep your hearing aids when you’re not wearing them. Many people question what the best way to store hearing aids is. Well, don’t, for instance, store them in your bathroom (which gets really steamy at least once every day). It also helps to keep them in the same place every day so you’re not wondering where they went. In the same way, don’t leave your hearing aids just lying around, dogs like to eat them and cats love to play with them!
- Keep a dehumidifier going during those more humid months. Even indoors, high humidity means your hearing aids could be more moist more often. And the delicate electronics inside of your device will be damaged. If you want to get the most life out of your hearing aid as possible, 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 designers recognize is going to happen. As a result, most hearing aids are created to deal with a moderate amount of earwax.
It’s up to you to be sure there’s not too much earwax on your hearing aids. This means inspecting and swapping the wax guards when necessary (and making that an element of your hearing aid cleaning program). Depending on what 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 swapped? Well, for most models, it will be about once every month or so.
Tip #3: Take care of the batteries
Your batteries keep your hearing aids going. The healthier your hearing aid batteries are, the longer your device will last. The following are a few tips for battery care:
- Remember to turn off your devices when you aren’t using them. Otherwise, your battery will just sit there and drain. Consequently, when you need your hearing aids the most, they might not be charged enough to function.
- Get a battery charger or a rechargeable device: That way, you won’t be chucking batteries (and money) away again and again .
- Keep all of the contact points on the battery clean and dry. If they are dirty or wet, you can use a clean, dry cloth to wipe them. As with most electronics, moisture will lead to a bad time here.
Tip #4: Only use clean hands to handle your devices
The majority of the time, you should be wearing your hearing aids. But they don’t get there by themselves. Your hands (which you need to handle your hearing aids) could be covered in all sorts of offending substances. Your hearing aids are sensitive devices by design, so crumbs aren’t really very good for them.
It’s essential that you don’t touch your hearing aids with dirty hands. So give your hands a quick clean before you need to take them out and handle them.
Tip #5 Keep up with your hearing specialist
It might seem like, once you have your hearing aids, you can leave your hearing specialist in the dust. But… this is not normally true. Here are a number of very good reasons why scheduling regular appointments with us is still relevant.:
- Cleaning and maintenance.
- Check the status of your hearing loss (making sure it’s not progressing faster than expected).
- To help you ensure your devices fit well.
What should you do when something breaks?
Occasionally, something could go wrong (maybe you accidentally step on them) in spite of your best effort. When this happens, you should contact us as quickly as possible.
We will be able to help you repair your devices, or get new ones if necessary.
Schedule an appointment with us today to talk about your current or next pair of hearing aids.