The Dos and Don’ts of Hearing Aids

Most people who wear hearing aids are aware of what to do in order to take care of their devices. For example, it’s important to clean them daily, avoid moisture, take the batteries out at night and store them in a safe place.

But there are some obvious daily routines that many people do not often think about avoiding when it comes to their hearing aids. For example, it’s important to avoid extreme temperatures, humidity and chemicals. It is also important to be wary of excess earwax.

Temperature and your hearing aid

Damage occurs from high heat or cold, which may adversely affect your hearing aid’s performance. Extreme temperatures cause damage to hearing aids because condensation gets inside the hearing aid as you go from inside to outside, where temperatures might fluctuate from a warm house to a frigid winter chill. Make sure to avoid storing your hearing aids on a heater or air conditioner, near a stove, in a sunny window, in a hot car or in any other hot or cold place you can think of. Do no use your blow dryer to dry your hearing aids and do not wear hearing aids while tanning under a sun lamp.

Humidity and hearing aids

Humidity, which creates moisture in hearing aids, wreaks havoc to your devices. Moisture can destroy the microphone and the receiver in the hearing aids, clog the sound opening and ear tubing and even cause corrosion in the hearing aids. Moisture causes static sounds, makes the hearing aids quit working intermittently or worse — not at all.

Chemicals and hearing aids

Chemicals, such as hair spray and gel, can clog hearing aids. Part of your daily routine should be styling your hair before putting your hearing aids in, so as to avoid putting your devices at risk. Should your hearing aids become clogged, use check for dirt and grime, which can cause static or feedback. To avoid build-up from clogging the microphone and sound ports of your hearing aids, it’s vital to clean the hearing device daily with hearing aids tools, such as a hearing aid cleaning brush, an ear hook, wax pick or wire loop or a multitool, which is a sort of “Swiss Army Knife” of hearing aid cleaning tools.

Earwax and hearing aids

While earwax is natural, it can cause hearing aids to malfunction if it gets stuck in the nooks and crannies of the device. To keep your earwax to a minimum, gently clean your ears with a warm, wet washcloth once a day. Avoid inserting a cotton swab into your ears, as this motion poses a risk of pushing earwax deeper into the ear canal or worse, puncturing the eardrum.

If you still find excess amounts of earwax with daily cleansing, you could use at-home earwax removal kits. These over-the-counter softening drops are put into the ears, while holding to the head to the side, and then allowed to drain out after five minutes. Sitting up will let the drops drain out naturally. To rid the ear of any excess fluid, a bulb-type syringe, usually included in the kits, may be used to gently flush the ear with warm water.