Your hearing aids will provide years of reliable hearing with regular cleaning.
You should learn how to clean and maintain your hearing aids at home. Hearing aids operate in conditions that are not ideal: the inside of your ear canals are subjected to earwax and moisture. Regular cleaning by yourself combined with routine maintenance by your audiologist will give you years of better hearing.
Tips For The Care Of Your Hearing Aids
- Get The Proper Tools: Indispensable tools for at home cleaning would be a wax pick and a soft brush. Earwax may accumulate in the opening at the end of a hearing aid causing muffled sound or feedback (whistling). If it is not cleaned off it will cause damage to the receiver. Use your pick and brush to gently clear away wax.
- Establish Good Habits: Wash your hands well before cleaning your hearing aids. Do not have hearing aids in during your hygiene routine. Do not wear your hearing aids when showering, washing your face or hair, as water and soap will damage them. Put hearing aids in after you apply hair products such as sprays or gels.
- Clean Your Hearing Aids At The End Of The Day: If you clean your hearing aids before bedtime it will give them several hours to air out. Do not us wipes with chemicals or alcohol when cleaning as this will damage the devices.
- Avoid Extreme Heat Or Cold: If it is below freezing and you remove your hearing aids to shovel the driveway, leave them inside the house, do not put them away in your coat pocket. Likewise, if you remove your hearing aids to jump in the pool on a hot day, take them inside instead of leaving on a table out in the hot sun.
How To Clean In The Ear Hearing Aids
- Clean the openings in the device including the microphone ports with a soft-bristle toothbrush or the brush provided by your hearing aid professional to clear away built up wax. Hold the device downward so the loose particles fall out of the hearing aid instead of staying lodged inside.
- Use a wax pick or hook to clean anything out of the holes that didn’t get removed with the brush.
- Finish by using a clean, dry cloth or tissue and wipe the entire device. This will remove debris from the case of the hearing aid.
How To Clean Behind The Ear Hearing Aids
- Remove debris with a soft brush or a dry cloth.
- Take the earmold from the hook to clean it. Earmolds made from soft materials can become discolored and stain over time. If you wipe them clean daily and soak them in warm, soapy water once each week it will help. But be sure to let the earmolds dry completely overnight before using. Do not use checmical or alcohol on them. Earmolds may develop a slight odor after awhile, but if it is a strong odor that could indicate you may have an ear infection, than you should consult your hearing aid professional.
Other Considerations
At night do the following for all types of hearing aids.
- Remove batteries and keep the battery compartment open all night so it may dry thoroughly. If they are rechargeable store them as recommended by the manufacturer.
- Always brush the battery compartment using the cleaning brush.
Hearing Aid Cleaning Tools
By using the following tools they will keep your hearing aids in pristine condition:
- Hearing Aid Cleaning Brush: The soft brush tip end will clean the body, faceplate or sound port of the hearing aid.
- Wax pick or wire loop: This tool will help to remove wax and other debris safely from hearing aid nooks and holes.
- Multi-tool: This is an all-in-one tool designed to contain both a brush and a wax loop for thorough cleaning.
Proper cleaning and maintenance of your hearing aids will give you years of trouble-free wear.