Helpful Tips on Caring for Your Hearing Aid

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A hearing aid is an impressive piece of technology that has the ability to enhance your quality of life in significant ways. This vital device also contains complex circuitry, and can be damaged by moisture, dirt, excessive temperatures and chemicals. Needless to say, hearing aids require special care!

There are a number of things you can do to make sure that your hearing aids continue to function properly, and to ensure that you have the best listening experience possible. At Lifestyle Hearing Solutions, we’ve put together this general overview on caring for your hearing aid. For a more detailed guide to hearing aid maintenance, click here.

Caring for Hearing Aid Batteries

All hearing aids depend on a quality battery in order to function effectively. There are several easy things you can do to make sure that you are getting the most out of your batteries. Perhaps the easiest is to simply turn your hearing aid off before you sleep at night to conserve battery power. Dirt and moisture can harm batteries and cause corrosion, so make sure that you wash your hands before replacing batteries, and leave the battery compartment of the aid open overnight so that any accumulated moisture can evaporate.

If you notice that sounds have become distorted, or if you have to turn the volume up more than usual, it may be time to replace the battery; some aids will make a beeping sound to indicate that you need to replace the battery soon. It is a good idea to keep a spare battery with you when you go out, as some can die quite quickly. For those who prefer to forgo frequent battery changes, rechargeable hearing aid batteries are now available.

Keeping Hearing Aids Clean

Dirt, debris, and other substances such as earwax, can block the holes and tubes of your device and interfere with sound quality. One way to be sure that your hearing aid stays clean is to make sure that your fingers are always clean and dry before handling the aid. Cleaning the device regularly to remove any dirt or wax deposits is crucial, and your hearing care professional can suggest special cleaning products, such as moist towels and picks for this purpose. Household cleaning agents and alcohol can seriously damage your hearing aid and should never be used.

Minimizing Moisture

Although most modern hearing aids are designed with special protective coatings, moisture can still be harmful to the electronic circuitry of the device over time. Hearing devices should always be removed before showering, going out in the rain, bathing or swimming. Bathrooms are generally damp, and as such, aids should not be kept in the bathroom. Consider purchasing a special dry-storage case to store your hearing aid in at nightthese units actively remove all moisture from your aid while you sleep and can greatly help the device to maintain peak performance.

General Tips on Maintaining Your Hearing Aids

Along with keeping the devices clean, minimizing moisture, and properly caring for the batteriesthere are a few other things you can do to increase the longevity of your hearing aids and reduce repairs.

Always handle the aids gently: avoid dropping them, keep them out of reach of pets and children, and store them in a small protective case when they are not in use. Hearing aids are vulnerable to extreme cold or heat, so store them at normal room temperature and remember to remove them when using a hair dryer. Chemicals can also harm the devices, so make sure to remove them when applying sunscreen, hairspray, or cologne.

We also recommend that you take advantage of follow-up visits with your hearing professional to ensure that your aids are working to the best of their ability. A Hearing Instrument Specialist has specialized tools for cleaning certain hard-to-reach areas on your hearing aid, like the microphone.

At Lifestyle Hearing Solutions, we offer a wide range of hearing services including hearing aid maintenance, hearing aid repair and hearing testing. We invite you to schedule an appointment with one of our friendly specialists for a “clean and check” of your hearing aids by calling 520-323-0099.


Lifestyle Hearing Solutions of Tucson
6425 E. Broadway
Tucson, AZ 85710
(520) 323-0099

Lifestyle Hearing Solutions of Oro Valley
200 W Magee Suite 100
Oro Valley, AZ, 85704
(520) 639-8760