How To Care For Your Hearing Aids

Hearing aids are one of the greatest medical inventions of modern times. They give you the ability to turn the volume up in your life, letting you hear things more clearly. Thanks to technological advancements, modern hearing aids are much smaller than they used to be. This enables you to enjoy the benefits in a more convenient manner.

Nevertheless, the smallness and delicate nature of hearing aids can make them prone to damage or breakage. These devices are an essential part of your life – not to mention they’re a rather important investment. You must learn how to care for your hearing aids to ensure they last for as long as possible in the best condition.

Be Careful When Handling Hearing Aids

Hearing aids have all kinds of tiny moving parts and elements that can be damaged, such as the microphone and speaker. You must handle your device with the utmost care at all times to avoid damaging it. Be gentle when putting your hearing aids in your ears or placing them down somewhere. Always make sure your hands are clean when you touch them to avoid getting dirt or grime in tiny places that are hard to clean.

Never Use Water or Cleaning Agents on Your Hearing Aids

As a device that sits inside your ear, hearing aids will naturally get dirty. Wax can build up on the outside, which will cause performance issues when left unchecked. It’s important to constantly clean your hearing aids after each use, so you prevent this problem from happening. But, be sure to never use water or cleaning agents! This will damage your device and lead to repairs.

Instead, you can use a soft, dry cloth on hearing aids to wipe away earwax and other dirt. When you receive your hearing aids from your audiologist, there will be some simple cleaning tools in the box. This will include a soft brush that’s used to brush away any dirt or debris. Use this for a more thorough clean, and to reach places your cloth can’t get to.

Store Your Hearing Aids in a Safe Place Away from Humidity

Humidity is a big problem for hearing aids as it causes moisture build-up that damages the internal workings. Whenever you take your devices out, they must be placed in a safe location that’s nice and dry. Ideally, you should put them in their protective case away from pets, children and humidity. In turn, they won’t get damaged when you’re not wearing them.

Turn Your Hearing Aids Off When They’re Not in Your Ears

If you aren’t using your hearing aids, ensure they are turned off. Speak to an audiologist and they’ll explain that battery issues are a leading cause of hearing aid repairs and replacements. Leaving the battery on drains power from your hearing aids and can reduce their lifespan. Not only that, but it could mean they’re out of battery when you need them! If they’re not currently in use, turn them off.

Check the Wax Filter

All hearing aids will have wax filters designed to prevent wax from getting too far into the device. Over time, these filters will become so clogged with wax that they no longer function correctly. It’s impossible to stop wax from entering the inner part of the device, causing all kinds of long-term problems.

Get into the habit of checking your wax filter every night before bed. When you notice there’s too much wax in the filter, swap it out for a new one. Your device should come with spares, but it’s worth talking to your audiologist to get more.

Never Wear Your Hearing Aids to Bed, In the Shower or While Swimming

Avoid wearing hearing aids to bed as you can crush them while tossing and turning. Similarly, don’t wear them in the shower or when you’re swimming. Why? Because all the water and humidity will cause moisture to linger inside your hearing devices. Take them out, keep them safe and they will last for much longer.

Looking after your hearing aids is an essential task that can’t be neglected. It’s also useful to see your audiologist for regular maintenance checks, just to ensure your devices are working correctly.

If you’d like to learn more about hearing aids or wish to talk to an audiologist about your hearing problems, contact Rametta Audiology & Hearing Aid Center today. For our Tarentum office, call at (724) 409-4439 and for our Vandergrift office, call at (724) 567-3233.