Taking care of your hearing aids likely seems 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 most likely didn’t retain some of it. So you still may be wondering, what should my cleaning routine look like? Or, how frequently should I have 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: Keep your hearing aids dry
Moisture and electronics don’t really jive. While your hearing aids might offer a certain level of water resistance, you generally want to keep them dry. Beyond the obvious, this means you need to do things like the following:
- Find a dry and cool place to keep your hearing aids when you aren’t using them. Many individuals 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 store them in the same place every day so you aren’t trying to figure out where they went. Also, cats like to play with hearing aids and dogs will occasionally attempt to eat them, so don’t just leave them lying about.
- When you have your hearing aids in your ears, don’t use hair care products. When you’re going to utilize hair spray or gel, remove your hearing aids. These kinds of products can really gunk up your devices.
- When it’s humid outdoors, run a dehumidifier. Even indoors, high humidity means your hearing aids could be more damp more frequently. And the fragile electronics inside of your device can be compromised. If you want to get the most life out of your hearing aid as you can, get that dehumidifier running!
Tip #2: Check (and clean) those earwax filters
The human body naturally generates earwax in a healthy way. It’s also something that hearing aid designers understand is going to happen. Consequently, most hearing aids are designed to deal with a modest amount of earwax.
It’s up to you to be sure there isn’t too much earwax on your hearing aids. So make swapping out your wax guard, when needed, a regular element of your cleaning routine. You can invest in and use specialized cleaning tools for this, depending on what model you have (ask us for guidance here).
What is the replacement schedule for earwax guards? Well, for most models, it will be around once a month or so.
Tip #3: Take care of the batteries
Your batteries keep your hearing aids going. The better your hearing aid batteries are, the longer your hearing aid will last. So there are several battery-care steps you can take:
- Get a battery charger or a rechargeable hearing aid: This will save you lots of money on wasted batteries.
- Don’t forget to shut off your hearing aids when you aren’t wearing them. Or else, your battery will just sit there and drain. Because of this, when you need your hearing aids the most, they may not be charged enough to function.
- Make sure all of the battery contacts and components are dry. If they are dirty or wet, you can use a clean, dry cloth to wipe them. This is yet another place in your device where moisture is the enemy.
Tip #4: Clean your hands before handling your hearing aids
The majority of the time, your hearing aids should be in your ears. 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 materials. Your hearing aids are sensitive devices by design, so crumbs aren’t exactly great for them.
In general, you should only handle your hearing aids with clean hands. So before you put in or take out your hearing aids, give your hands a quick wash.
Tip #5 Keep us in the loop
You might think that you won’t need any assistance from us once you’ve purchased your hearing aids. Typically, though, this isn’t the case. Most individuals with hearing loss will want to make routine appointments with us for the following reasons:
- Check the status of your hearing loss (making certain it isn’t advancing quicker than expected).
- To clean and maintain your hearing aids.
- To help you ensure your devices fit well.
When something breaks, what should you do?
Occasionally, something could go wrong (maybe 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 device needs any repairs, or you need to get a new one, we can help with that.
Schedule an appointment with us today to talk about your current or next set of hearing aids.