Caring for Your Hearing Aids

After you have purchased your hearing aids, you need to make sure that you can protect them from daily elements and regular use. Taking proper care of and maintaining your hearing aids is the best way to provide daily protection and keep them operating smoothly. When you first buy them, they should come with a guarantee to protect from manufacturer default. However, you might also want to take out insurance as extra protection against any damage or even your hearing aids getting lost or stolen. Proper hearing aid maintenance is vital, so make sure you're handling yours with care.

Cleaning your hearing aids

Your hearing aids can get dirty, which can impair their function. Keeping them clean will ensure they always work well and that nothing is blocked. You can gently clean the outside of your hearing aids using a soft cloth or even a soft brush to remove any dust, dirt or wax. Pay attention to the receiver and microphone, but make sure that you're gentle with your cleaning. You can buy hearing aid cleaning kits if you want to have some tools designed for taking care of hearing aids. You can also get your hearing aids professionally cleaned if you think that they need it.

Protect your hearing aids from moisture

Too much moisture can be very damaging for anything with electrical components, including your hearing aids. Keeping them dry is important if you want to protect them. When you're not wearing them, make sure you keep them somewhere cool and dry. Leaving the battery compartment open will prevent moisture from getting stuck inside. Try to keep them out of your bathroom or other places with lots of steam and moisture. If you live somewhere humid, you might want to keep them in a hearing aid dehumidifier. This will prevent the moisture in the air from getting to them too much.

Keep away from pets and children

You can never be too careful where children and animals are concerned. When you're making sure to keep things like cleaning products and medication out of reach of them, don't forget your hearing aids. Both pets and children can be extremely curious and they won't hesitate to play with something new. If you don't want your hearing aids chewed up, dropped or stepped on, it's best to keep them somewhere out of the way. Don't have them within reach of little fingers or four-legged friends if you want to avoid extensive damage.

Find a safe space

Whenever you're not wearing your hearing aids, make sure you have a safe space to put them. It can be easy to just put them down wherever you take them off, but that's a good way to lose them or to accidentally damage them. By having a designated place to put your hearing aids, you will always know where they are. You can be sure that they're safe and avoid accidentally sitting or standing on them. You don't want them to fall out of your pocket or get lost somewhere in your house when you could put them somewhere safe.

Practice good battery handling

Good battery care is an important part of caring for your hearing aids too. It not only helps to protect your hearing aids, but can also help your batteries to last longer. When the batteries in your hearing aids are dead, make sure to change them as soon as possible. If you're not going to be wearing them for a while for any reason, it's best to take the batteries out than to leave them sitting there with batteries in them. When you change your batteries, do so with clean hands and leave your batteries to activate for five minutes after removing the plastic tab.

Hearing aid repairs and maintenance

When it comes to repairing your hearing aids, it's usually best to leave things to the professionals. You can check a few simple things, like whether you need to change your batteries or if your settings are correct. But if some simple troubleshooting doesn't solve the problem that you're having, don't try to take your hearing aids apart. You could end up causing more problems by trying to fix your hearing aids on your own. Take them to a professional instead so that they can diagnose and repair the problem. They can get it done quickly so you don't have to be without them for long.

Contact Baker Audiology & Hearing Aids by calling (605) 610-3466 to find out more about how to care for your hearing aids.