Hearing aids help in reducing the impact of hearing loss on individuals. They allow individuals to navigate their daily routines with greater ease, minimizing communication difficulties. However, it’s important to maintain these devices properly to avoid the necessity for frequent repairs. Taking care of your hearing aids ensures their continued functionality, allowing individuals to benefit from improved hearing without interruptions.

Why is Hearing Aid Maintenance Important?

Maintaining your hearing aids is essential for their optimal performance and longevity. Consistent care prevents potential problems such as distorted sounds or unexpected malfunctions, ensuring a consistently clear and reliable sound output. Moreover, frequent maintenance reduces the risk of damage caused by moisture, earwax build-up or other debris, all of which can compromise the device’s effectiveness.

How to Properly Maintain Your Hearing Aids

Fortunately, there are many steps you can take to maintain your hearing aids to prevent breakdown, damage and the need for hearing aid repairs, whether you’re wearing in-the-ear (ITE), behind-the-ear (BTE) or in-the-canal (ITC) hearing aids. Your audiologist will show you the proper ways to maintain and clean your hearing aids, making sure you are using the right tools.

Clean Your Hearing Aids

Regularly cleaning your hearing aids, using a dry cloth or soft brush, will also work to ensure your hearing aids work as intended. This is because it removes dirt and dust from the surface of the device, which could impact the sound quality. It can also help to prevent ear infections.

Store Your Hearing Aids Correctly

Storing your hearing aids correctly is essential to avoid repairs. When you’re not using them, keeping them in a case or container help to shield them from dust and moisture, preventing accidental damage. This habit preserves their quality, ensuring they work well and reduce the need for repairs.

Wear Wax Guards

Wearing wax guards when using hearing aids can prevent multiple forms of damage, including moisture, wax and dirt build-up. Ideally, you should change your wax guards once a month or whenever you notice that they are not working quite as effectively as they should be. Talk with an audiologist about how to change your wax guards to make sure you are doing it correctly to prevent damage from happening.

Protect Your Hearing Aids from Moisture and Water

Water and moisture can cause damage to your hearing aids, as they can impact the sound quality or damage the microphone or battery. It’s crucial that you protect your hearing aids from moisture and water exposure if you want to prevent hearing aid repairs. For example, you should take your hearing aids out when in the shower and sauna or wherever you go swimming. Again, storing your hearing aids correctly when not in use can prevent moisture damage.

Proper maintenance, such as daily cleaning, can help to prevent the need for hearing aid repairs. This means you will not have to go without your hearing aids when you need them most. An audiologist will be help to provide solutions if you are experiencing any damage to your hearing aids.