How to Care for and Maintain Your Hearing Aids for Longevity

When you make the decision to invest in hearing aids, ensuring their longevity becomes a priority. While high-quality hearing aids typically require minimal maintenance, proper care is essential to prevent repairs and prolong their lifespan. Once you have your new hearing aids, understanding how to maintain them becomes crucial.

Although hearing aids are designed for daily wear and are constructed to endure daily demands, they remain susceptible to factors like dirt, moisture, earwax and impact. Fortunately, the maintenance of hearing aids is straightforward. This guide provides insights into effectively caring for your hearing aids, ensuring their reliability for years to come.

Watch Out for Earwax

It’s perfectly natural for your body to produce earwax, and everyone will produce a varied amount depending on their individual makeup. Your earwax is designed to keep your ear canals free of dust and debris, forming on the sides and being expelled as you chew, yawn and talk. Usually, it’s enough to simply wipe the outer part of your ear with a dry or moist cloth and you will remove that excess earwax. Unfortunately, even normal levels of earwax production can sometimes interfere with your hearing aid. After all, many hearing aids are worn on the ear, and some, like in-the-canal (ITC) variants, are fitted a little more closely.

As a worthwhile preventative measure, consider using wax guards, filters, brushes or a clean, slightly damp cloth to remove wax from your hearing aid each night. Make sure your ears are dry before wearing your hearing aid, and report any buildup to your audiologist. This will help avoid possible damage to your hearing device.

Wash Your Hands When Handling

Washing your hands is a simple yet crucial habit, and undoubtedly, one that you likely adhere to consistently. However, it’s imperative to extend this hygiene practice to the handling of your hearing aids. Every time you insert, maintain, or remove them, ensuring your hands are clean becomes paramount. Despite being nearly invisible, bacteria, skin oils, sweat and subtle residues from substances like lotion or soap can accumulate on your hearing aid over time. This build-up has the potential to interfere with the device’s functionality, particularly if these materials find their way into the microphone or hearing ports. Maintaining a hand-cleaning routine before handling your hearing aids becomes an essential step in preserving their optimal performance and longevity.

Safe Storage

Most people using conventional hearing aid devices like in-the-ear, behind-the-ear and in-the-canal will tend to remove their device when sleeping each night, or when enjoying a mid-day nap. This means that at least one-third of each day, your hearing aid will be outside of your ear, stored nearby in a case or charging port. It’s important to make sure the port or container is well-cleaned and kept away from direct sunlight. A bedside table where the case is unlikely to be knocked off will be perfect.

It’s also important to note that sometimes, you may choose to remove your hearing aid while in public. For example, if you’re on a busy flight, then you may wish to remove the hearing aid and relax for a little while. In this case, a hard-shell carry case you can neatly fit into a backpack or handbag is key. Remember that hearing aids are delicate devices, so making sure any hard impacts are accounted for and prevented as much as possible is key. More than anything else, safe storage whenever the device isn’t occupying your ear can improve their longevity.

Minimize Exposure to Extreme Temperatures

Minimizing exposure to extreme temperatures is crucial for ensuring the optimal functioning and longevity of your hearing aids. Exposure to intense heat, such as leaving them in a hot car or near a heat source, can potentially damage sensitive electronic components, affecting their performance. Conversely, exposing your hearing aids to prolonged cold temperatures may impact their battery life and could lead to condensation issues when transitioning to warmer environments. To protect against temperature extremes, it’s advisable to store your hearing aids in a controlled environment, avoiding places with excessive heat or cold.

Regularly Visit Your Audiologist

Your audiologist will be your partner in caring for your hearing aids. Whether you think they could use a professional cleaning or you’re concerned they may need some minor repairs, your audiologist will be able to guide you in the right direction. Many can even perform in-office repairs so you can have your hearing aids back the same day. Ready to take better care of your devices? Give the team at Peninsula Hearing a call at Poulsbo: 360-697-3061 or Port Townsend: 360-379-5458.