What is the best way to clean my hearing aids?

Hearing aids, like all electronic or mechanical devices, need routine maintenance! No matter what style of hearing aid you have, they are all electronic devices that are put in a sweaty, waxy, moist environment for an average of 18 hours a day so they need daily maintenance to function properly and consistently.

Below, are some tips to help keep your hearing aids functioning well:

• Wipe down hearing aid and/or dome daily with a tissue or moist wipe
• Brush microphones, receivers, and other parts of hearing aid daily– you can use what was given to you by your audiologist, or a small soft baby toothbrush
• Hearing aids that have wax guard systems—check and change at least once month, or anytime the wax guard is clogged and you’re not hearing well. Wax guards are available for purchase at all offices!
• Domes should be replaced if they start to get loose or saggy, so they don’t get stuck in the ear canal. Consider changing your domes every couple of months to prevent this from happening.
• Open battery door at night to turn your hearing aids off and let air into the battery compartment. This should also save you some battery life!
• Do not store the hearing in a humid environment (i.e. bathroom).
• Put the hearing aids in a Drying Unit at night! Most units have fans to circulate the air, UV lights to kill bacteria, and a desiccant to remove moisture and humidity from the hearing aids. If you don’t have one, GET ONE!

IT’S VERY IMPORTANT TO PROTECT YOUR INVESTMENT

Remember—daily maintenance will improve the performance of the hearing aid, but it will not necessarily extend the life of a hearing aid. National average lifetime of a hearing aid is 3.8 years—at that point it is time to consider upgrading technology so that you can continue to hear as best as you can!

Ronna Fisher

Dr. Ronna Fisher, AuD, CCC-A, FAAA is the founder and president of Hearing Health Center, which she established in 1984 in memory of her father, who suffered from untreated hearing loss and died at 53. That personal loss has shaped her entire career. Under her leadership, Hearing Health Center has been voted the best hearing practice in Illinois three years in a row by Hearing Review. In 2005, she expanded her mission by founding the Fisher Foundation for Hearing Health Care, a nonprofit dedicated to making auditory care more accessible. Dr. Fisher earned her doctorate in audiology from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry and holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence in Audiology (CCC-A) from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Audiology and a member of the Academy of Dispensing Audiologists.

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