A Guide to Caring for Your Hearing Aids

Whether you’ve recently purchased new hearing aids or you’ve had them for a while, one fact is for sure: it’s vital that you care for them, so they work efficiently and won’t let you down when you use them throughout the day.

When you bought your hearing aids, you will likely have been given some care instructions from your audiologist. However, if you no longer have those instructions, you might be unsure what you should do.

The following guide will give you all the information you need to know about caring for your hearing aids. You’ll learn about what can likely cause problems for your hearing aids and the importance of conducting hearing aid care procedures as part of your daily routine.

The Main Issues That Affect Hearing Aids

One thing you don’t want to happen is to allow water and moisture to remain inside your hearing aids. As you can appreciate, hearing aids contain electronic components; water and electricity don’t mix very well!

Fortunately, hearing aids get designed to be resilient and can tolerate getting used in wet conditions. Some hearing styles can have more exposure to moisture than others, such as ITE (in-the-ear) styles.

Should you get your hearing aids wet, it’s crucial you dry them out as soon as possible. You could put them on a clean surface and let them dry out naturally overnight, for example. Or, you could put them by a dehumidifier.

Dirt and Ear Wax Ingress

Another issue that affects all hearing aids is when they get affected by dirt and ear wax ingress. The former is a result of environmental factors, whereas the latter is something that occurs naturally and is inevitable due to how hearing aids work.

To avoid ear wax ingress, it makes sense to clean your ears each morning before you fit your hearing aids. Dirt ingress isn’t avoidable; you’ll need to clean your hearing aids periodically to solve that problem (more on that in a moment).

How Should You Store Your Hearing Aids?

There will be times where you aren’t using your hearing aids, such as when you’re about to have a bath or shower, go swimming, or go to bed. When you aren’t using your hearing aids, you must store them safely in the case or drying set box given to you by your audiologist.

When you remove your hearing aids at night before going to bed, consider removing the batteries from them first. Doing so will help boost the longevity of your batteries.

How Should You Clean Your Hearing Aids?

The only tools you need to clean your hearing aids periodically are a lint-free cleaning cloth, a hearing aid brush, and some cleaning solution. You can get all of those items from your audiologist, although you should already have them from when your hearing aids were new.

Cleaning your hearing aids involves the following:

• Cleaning the exterior shell with the cloth and cleaning solution;
• Using the brush on tubes, earmolds, sound outlets, and ventilation holes.

It’s a process you should do at least once a week to keep your hearing aids in tip-top condition.

Final Thoughts

There isn’t much you need to do when it comes to caring for your hearing aids. What you need to keep in mind is that you should incorporate your care procedures as part of your daily and weekly routines.