Have you ever thought your hearing aid was broken and it was just blocked with wax? This article is for YOU!
Caring for your hearing aid is very important and sometimes can be very underrated. The better you care for your hearing aid the longer it will provide you with clear and crisp sound.
EARWAX…. The big culprit. When your hearing aid is not emitting any sound step one should be to change your batteries or make sure they are charged and the step two should be to change your wax filters (if you have a receiver-in-the ear hearing aid) or check your hearing aid tube (if you have a behind-the-ear hearing aid) to see whether wax is blocking the tube.
Earwax is something we need to manage if you are a hearing aid user. Here are a few steps which you can do to manage your wax build up.
- When you visit your audiologist make sure the first thing they do is to have a look into your ears. I am sure they do this already. We can remove wax for you or if the wax is too deep in the ear canal, we can refer you to an ENT to perform wax removal via micro-suction.
- Before you visit a health practitioner for wax removal, we highly recommend that you soften the wax. To soften the wax put a drop of sweet oil into your ear with a dropper once a day for three consecutive days.
- If you visit your General Practitioner, whether it be for any reason, ask them to have a look into your ears and remove wax if you have a wax build up.
Annual check-up
At your annual check-up we will re-test your hearing to see whether your hearing has changed. At this appointment we will fine-tune your hearing aids according to your most recent hearing test results. It is important for both the audiologist and patient to know that the hearing aids are working according to manufacturer specifications. Depending on the manufacturer of your hearing aid, we highly recommend an annual clean and service. The manufacturer can clean out wax from hard to reach places and asses if the care and maintenance which you have been performing is up to standard. The hearing aid manufacturer may suggest more regular services or wax filter changes, depending on their evaluation of the hearing aid.
Sweat and moisture
Your hearing aid comprises of many different parts and although they are a robust, we encourage you to treat them with care. Whether your hearing aid is said to be water resistant or not we recommend that you DO NOT wear them when showering, bathing or swimming. If they do accidently get wet or if you get caught in a down pour take your hearing aids off, gently wipe them with a dry cloth, remove the batteries and put them in your drying container or electronic drying kit/dehumidifier. Sweat can also cause damage to your hearing aid especially if you have acidic sweat. It is very important to place your hearing aids into your drying container or electronic drying kit once a week, at minimum.
Written by Anne Budden