Taking care of your hearing aids likely feels easy enough. After all, you were probably 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. 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 routine look like? Or, how often should I get my hearing aid serviced? How can I get the most life from my hearing aids?
These five, simple-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 let your hearing aids get wet
Moisture and electronics don’t really get along that well. Hearing aids are slightly water resistant but aren’t at all waterproof, so they should be kept as dry as possible. Here are several ways to do just that:
- Avoid using hair products while you’re wearing your hearing aids. That is, take your hearing aids out before using a lot of hair spray or hair gel. These kinds of products can really gunk up your devices.
- When it’s humid outside, run a dehumidifier. Even indoors, high humidity means your hearing aids could be more moist more frequently. And the fragile electronics inside of your device can be damaged. If you want to get the most life out of your hearing aid as possible, get that dehumidifier running!
- Store your hearing aids somewhere cool and dry. Many people wonder what the best way to store hearing aids is. Well, don’t, for instance, keep them in your bathroom (which gets nice and steamy at least once every day). And in order to keep track of your hearing aids, keep them in the same place every day. In the same way, don’t leave your hearing aids just lying around, dogs like to eat them and cats like to play with them!
Tip #2: Keep the earwax filters nice and clean
Earwax production is a normal and healthy thing for the human body to do. Hearing aid makers are well aware of this. 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. So make swapping out your wax guard, when needed, a routine element of your cleaning regimen. Depending on which model hearing aid you have, you can get specialized little tools for this and we can assist you with that.
What is the replacement schedule for earwax guards? Well, for the majority of models, it will be around once every month or so.
Tip #3: Keep your batteries charged and fresh
Your Hearing aids rely on your batteries for power. The better your hearing aid batteries are, the longer your device will last. The following are a few tips for battery care:
- Invest in a rechargeable device or a battery charger: That way, you won’t be throwing batteries (and money) away over and over again.
- When you’re not using your hearing aids, don’t forget to turn them off. This just kills the battery for, well, no good reason. And that means your hearing aids may quit working when you really need them.
- Keep all of the contact points on the battery dry and clean. You can wipe them with a clean cloth if they aren’t. As with most electronics, moisture will result in a bad time here.
Tip #4: Only use clean hands to handle your hearing aids
Your hearing aids are going to spend most of their time in your ears. But they don’t get there by themselves. You use your fingers to put in your hearing aids, and those hands could contain all sorts of things (salt, maple syrup, Cheeto dust, and so on). Your hearing aids are sensitive devices by design, so crumbs aren’t exactly great for them.
It’s essential that you don’t handle 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 Stay in touch with your hearing specialist
You may think that you won’t need any assistance from us once you’ve purchased your hearing aids. But… this is not usually correct. Here are some very good reasons why scheduling regular appointments with us is still important.:
- Keep track of the status of your hearing loss (making sure it’s not progressing quicker than expected).
- To clean and maintain your hearing aids.
- To help you fine-tune your fit.
When something breaks, what should you do?
Occasionally, in spite of your best efforts, something goes wrong with your hearing aids (perhaps you accidentally step on them). You should get in touch with us as soon as possible in situations such as this.
We will be able to help you fix your devices, or get a new set if needed.
Schedule an appointment with us today to discuss your current or next set of hearing aids.