You take good care of your hearing aids. Cleaning them every day, you make sure they are safe and snug on their charger when you go to sleep.
Suddenly and distressingly, your hearing aids are no longer working the way they once did. Fortunately, there are some measures you can take to troubleshoot the issue. Just don’t forget: your main job is to avoid damaging your hearing aid additionally (or you may need to replace them).
Troubleshooting your hearing aid
Of course, when you first got your sweet new hearing aids, you made a point of storing the owner’s manual in a safe place. You’ll want to get it out so you can use it for troubleshooting and, possibly, maintenance. Each model of hearing aid can be rather different so it’s important to follow the manual’s guidelines.
On most models there are some other things you can check, here are a few:
- Keep your microphone clear: Check for anything obstructing the microphone of your hearing aid. Your hearing aid may feedback or simply fail to work if the microphone is blocked.
- Check for visible damage: Does your hearing aid have any noticeable loose components or cracks in its shell? Cracks, clearly, could indicate more significant damage (or let in moisture).
- Wax buildup: Do a visual check of your hearing aid to ensure that there is no wax accumulation interfering with basic functionality. Wax can accumulate quickly even if you clean your hearing aids regularly so make sure you double check.
- Check your battery: You’ll still want to assess the battery power even if you had your hearing aids on the charger at night. If your hearing aid has replaceable batteries, it might not be a bad idea to check if those batteries are correctly inserted or if a new one fixes the issue.
Once again you can find out how to address each of these concerns by referring to your owner’s manual. In some cases, you may be able to perform maintenance yourself.
How can I tell when my hearing aid requires repair?
Your hearing aid will most likely need to be repaired professionally if you do routine upkeep and it still malfunctions. You need your hearing aids for nearly every aspect of your life so this may not sound very appealing.
You won’t automatically be without your hearing aid for lengthy periods of time just because it needs to be repaired. Sometimes, we can fix it in office and you can take it with you when you leave.
Or, depending on the degree of the damage, you could get your hearing aids back in a few hours.
But rapid repair will not be possible in all cases. And in those cases, you may find yourself in need of a backup set of hearing aids. Perhaps you have an old pair that will do temporarily in a pinch. We may even be able to loan you a pair while you are waiting.
Get assistance with your hearing aids right away
It’s essential to have your hearing aid checked and repaired if you start to notice the audio quality is starting to fail.
Any amount of downtime should be avoided. Your mental health and your general health can be affected by neglected hearing loss. And it becomes all too easy to leave your hearing aids laying in a drawer somewhere while your hearing continues to deteriorate.
The optimum way to keep your hearing healthy is to keep those hearing aids working. And the best way to do that is to clean them, keep them charged, and, when needed, bring your hearing aids to get some professional repair.