It most likely feels like a simple thing to care for your hearing aids. After all, you were most likely given a set of care instructions when you initially bought your devices. With regard to regular hearing aid maintenance, the majority of 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 remember some of it. So you may still have questions like, how often should I clean my hearing aid? 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 work better longer.
Tip #1: Try not to let your hearing aids get wet
Electronics generally don’t like wetness. While your hearing aids may provide a certain level of water resistance, you generally want to keep moisture away from them. Here are a few ways to do just that:
- When it’s humid outdoors, run a dehumidifier. Even indoors, high humidity means your hearing aids may be more moist more often. And that dampness can compromise the sensitive electronics inside. Prolonging hearing aid life might mean keeping that dehumidifier running.
- Avoid using hair products while your hearing aids are in. 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.
- Find a dry and cool spot to keep your hearing aids when you aren’t wearing them. Many individuals wonder what the best way to store hearing aids is. So the steamy bathroom isn’t going to be a great place to keep your hearing aids. It also helps to store them in the same spot every day so you aren’t wondering where they went. Also, cats like to play with hearing aids and dogs will sometimes attempt to eat them, so don’t just leave them lying around.
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 manufacturers are well aware of this. Most contemporary hearing aids incorporate features that are designed to deal with a modest earwax production.
It’s up to you to be sure there’s not too much earwax on your hearing aids. This means checking and swapping the wax guards when necessary (and making that part of your hearing aid cleaning program). Depending on what model hearing aid you have, you can invest in specialized little tools for this and we can assist you with that.
How frequently should wax guards be replaced? You will swap these wax guards about once every month on most models.
Tip #3: Keep your batteries charged and fresh
Your batteries keep your hearing aids working. The better your hearing aid batteries are, the longer your hearing aid will last. The following are some tips for battery care:
- Get a battery charger or a rechargeable device: This will save you lots of money on wasted batteries.
- Make sure all of the battery contacts and components are dry. 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.
- Remember to shut off your hearing aids when you aren’t using them. Or else, your battery will just sit there and drain. And that means your hearing aids could stop working when you really need them.
Tip #4: Clean your hands before handling your hearing aids
Your hearing aids are going to be in your ears most of the time. But they depend on you to put them in. You use your fingers to put in your hearing aids, and those fingers could contain all kinds of things (salt, maple syrup, Cheeto dust, and so on). By design, hearing aids are really delicate and likely won’t do well with things like crumbs.
Generally, you should only touch your hearing aids with clean hands. So before you put in or take out your hearing aids, give your hands a quick cleanse.
Tip #5 Keep us in the loop
You might assume that you won’t need any assistance from us once you’ve purchased your hearing aids. But… this is not normally true. Here are a number of very good reasons why scheduling regular appointments with us is still important.:
- Cleaning and maintenance.
- To help you calibrate your fit.
- Keep an eye on the status of your hearing loss (making certain it isn’t advancing faster than expected).
When something breaks, what should you do?
Sometimes, something could go wrong (perhaps you accidentally step on them) in spite of your best effort. You should call us as soon as you can in situations like this.
If your hearing aid requires any repairs, or you need to get a new one, we can help with that.
Want to speak with us about your next set of hearing aids? Schedule an appointment today!