What to Know About Hearing Aid Maintenance

As you can appreciate, you’ll need to spend some time caring for and maintaining your hearing aids to ensure their longevity. The things you need to do will become second nature to you, and they are tasks you should ideally carry out as part of your daily routine.

Your audiologist will have undoubtedly given you some instructions and tips on caring for your hearing aids. However, what must you do for periodic maintenance? The following will provide you with an insight into hearing aid maintenance procedures and concepts.

Cleaning Products

You must only use cleaning products approved by your audiologist. Typically, your primary go-to tool will be a clean, lint-free cloth, something similar to what you might use to clean eyeglasses.

Other cleaning products you will need include a specially designed soft brush that is capable of cleaning small holes and crevices. Examples include tubes in behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids and the sound outlets and vent holes on most other types like in the ear (ITE).

Your audiologist may also recommend an alcohol-free cleaning solution, although the cloth and brush alone will be fine for most cases. Other tools you can use include a wax pick or wire loop, and a multi-tool with everything you need on the single tool.

You can typically purchase such cleaning products anywhere, including online. However, it makes sense to buy them from your audiologist as they will only sell tried and test products that deliver excellent results and offer real value for money.

Moisture Removal

It’s easy to assume that the only time your hearing aids will get affected by moisture is if you walk outside on a rainy day. The truth is, hearing aids can attract moisture from inside the ears – even on a dry, sunny day.

Hearing aids are, by design, a moisture trap, so it’s essential to remove any moisture from them each evening before you go to bed. The way to do that is by removing your hearing aids and placing them on a clean, dry, and flat surface overnight.

If you’ve been out somewhere in the rain, you can dry the exterior shells of your hearing aids with a cloth and the interior parts as well. Next, you can place them by a dehumidifier to ensure that all moisture gets removed.

Battery Maintenance

Each evening before you go to bed, it’s essential you remove the batteries from your hearing aids and charge them in the dock as provided by the manufacturer. While your batteries are getting charged, leave the battery compartments open in your hearing aids.

Doing so will give your hearing aids a chance to dry out overnight if there is any moisture inside them.

Cosmetics and Toiletries

Lastly, if part of your daily routine involves applying cosmetics or toiletries to your face, it makes sense to remove your hearing aids before you start. That way, you will lessen the likelihood of them getting damaged by sprays, gels, and powders.

Conversely, you should also remove your hearing aids first when you want to remove cosmetics and toiletries from your face.