7 Ways to Maintain Your Hearing Aids at Home

Amy Kelsey

Having hearing problems comes with its own set of challenges. Lucky for us, technology provided us with a great solution in the form of sophisticated and tiny machines, hearing aids. But looking at how delicate these machines are, you need to know how to take care of them at home to make sure they last you a long time. 

While you should reach out to professionals and your doctor for serious technical issues, there are some issues that you can learn to resolve on your own. 

Learning how to maintain your hearing aids at home regularly can help prevent damage and increase the device's longevity.


 

While hearing aids of all types get exposed to external environmental factors like humidity, dirt, earwax, moisture, and debris, there are certain types of problems that different kinds of hearing aids are more particularly susceptible to. 

Invisible-In-The-Canal (IITC) and In-The-Ear (ITE) aids are most susceptible to getting jammed with earwax, while over-the-ear hearing aids are exposed more to debris, sweat, and water.


 

But no matter what type of hearing aid you use, here are a few steps that you can practice daily to maintaining your device at home:


 



  1. Always, always handle the hearing aids with utmost care. Even though hearing aids are designed to withstand rough handling, they can break if dropped from great heights.

  2. Make sure you clean your hands before touching them.

  3. Store them in a dry and safe place when they are not in use. Create a dedicated storage space like the small plastic container the device came in. Just make sure you keep it in a place that is out of reach from children and pets.

  4. Get the battery to last you a long time by turning off the hearing aid when it is not in use.

  5. You can prevent accidental falls by using the cord-and-clip system that attaches your hearing aid to a cord and clips it to your clothes from the other end. This method makes sure you don’t lose your device if it falls accidentally. 

  6. Clean the ear wax and debris with a clean microfiber cloth. 

  7. Avoid any kind of water damage. Try not to wear the device when you go swimming, when you’re taking a shower, or blow-drying your hair.