It most likely feels like a simple thing to care for your hearing aids. When you first obtained your hearing aids, you most likely got a set of care instructions, after all. Most hearing specialists will give you a step-by-step how-to when it comes to regular hearing aid maintenance. Still, getting all of that information at once means you probably didn’t retain some of it. So you still may be wondering, what should my cleaning schedule look like? What about my service schedule? How can I get the most life from my hearing aids?
If you want to keep your hearing aids in tip-top working order, look at the following tips.
Tip #1: Keep your hearing aids dry
Moisture and electronics don’t really jive. While your hearing aids may provide a certain amount of water resistance, you typically want to keep them dry. Beyond the obvious, this means you need to do things like the following:
- When it’s humid outside, run a dehumidifier. When it’s very humid, your hearing aids can have more dampness than you would want even inside. And that dampness can compromise the sensitive electronics inside. Prolonging hearing aid life might mean keeping that dehumidifier running.
- Store your hearing aids somewhere dry and cool. Many individuals wonder what the best way to store hearing aids is. So the steamy bathroom won’t be a very good place to store your hearing aids. It also helps to store them in the same spot every day so you’re not trying to figure out where you put them. Also, cats like to play with hearing aids and dogs will sometimes try to eat them, so don’t just leave them lying around.
- When you’re wearing your hearing aids, avoid using hair care products. When you’re going to utilize hair spray or gel, remove your hearing aids. These types of products can really gunk up your devices.
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 manufacturers recognize is going to occur. Most modern hearing aids incorporate features that are created to deal with a moderate earwax production.
Your job is to be certain your hearing aids don’t become inundated with ear wax. This means inspecting and replacing the wax guards when needed (and making that part of your hearing aid cleaning routine). 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 often should wax guards be swapped? Well, for the majority of models, it will be about once every month or so.
Tip #3: Keep your batteries charged and fresh
Your Hearing aids count on your batteries for power. Your hearing aid will last much longer if you keep your batteries fresh. The following are some tips for battery care:
- Remember to turn off your hearing aids when you aren’t using them. Or else, your battery will just sit there and drain. Because of this, when you need your hearing aids the most, they might not be charged enough to function.
- Invest in a rechargeable device or a battery charger: That way, you won’t be chucking batteries (and money) away over and over again.
- Be certain all of the battery contacts and components are dry. If they are dirty or wet, you can make use of a clean, dry cloth to wipe them. As with electronics in general, moisture will result in a bad time here.
Tip #4: Only use clean hands to handle your hearing aids
The majority of the time, you should be wearing your hearing aids. But they depend on you to put them in. Your hands (which you need to handle your hearing aids) could be covered in all kinds of offending substances. By design, hearing aids are really delicate and probably won’t do well with things like crumbs.
It’s important 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 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 isn’t normally true. Here are some very good reasons why scheduling routine appointments with us is still relevant.:
- To clean and maintain your hearing aids.
- To help you adjust your fit.
- To track and monitor the development of your hearing loss.
What should you do when something breaks?
Sometimes, something could go wrong (perhaps you accidentally step on them) in spite of your best effort. You should contact us as soon as possible in situations like this.
If your hearing aid requires any repairs, or you need a new one, we can help with that.
Want to speak with us about your next pair of hearing aids? Set up an appointment today!
