Teaching patients how to clean their hearing aids is an important part of my work as a hearing instrument specialist at North Houston Hearing Solutions. We make explaining proper hearing aid care a priority because we want our patients to get the most out of their investment. Regular maintenance helps extend the life of the devices and reduce the need for professional repair. Let’s go over what you need to know about cleaning your hearing aids.
Using the Right Tools
To take care of your hearing aids, you’ll need a cleaning brush, a soft and dry cloth, and a wax removal pick. If you have a behind-the-ear device, a hearing aid air blower is useful. Your hearing aids may have come with maintenance tools. In case they didn’t, you can get a hearing aid cleaning kit from our office. Since Houston’s climate is humid, we advise our patients to protect their hearing aids overnight in a hearing aid dehumidifier.
Establishing a Maintenance Routine
We strongly recommend that our patients clean their hearing aids at the same time each day. Once caring for your hearing aids becomes a regular part of your daily routine, it’s less likely the task will be forgotten. Many patients find right before going to bed is the best time for hearing aid care. Then their devices are clean and dry when they wake up the next day.
Cleaning Your Hearing Aids
It’s a good idea to use a soft surface as your work area. You don’t want to damage your hearing aid by accidentally dropping it on a hard surface. Now we’re ready to get started.
Your first step is opening the battery compartment and removing the batteries. Use your brush to clean the battery compartment. The best practice is to keep the batteries out and the compartment open. You want the battery compartment to dry out while you’re sleeping.
For in-the-ear hearing aid users, your next step is brushing the openings. If brushing doesn’t get the openings clean, your wax pick should be able to remove the rest of the debris. Then you can use your soft, dry cloth to wipe off the hearing aid. Finally, put your devices in a hearing aid dehumidifier for the night.
Behind-the-ear hearing aid users need to establish a daily routine and a weekly one. Each day it’s a good idea to brush debris from your hearing aid. Next, detach the tubing and earmold from the hook. You can use your soft, dry cloth to wipe off the tubing and earmold. Then the hearing aids should go in their dehumidifier.
Once a week, the tubing and earmold should be washed in warm, soapy water. (Of course, the rest of the hearing aid should never be exposed to water.) The tubing has to be completely dry before re-attaching it. You may need to use your hearing aid air blower to get rid of the remaining moisture.
If you have questions about cleaning your hearing aids or need additional assistance, contact us, or schedule a tele audiology appointment.
