If you recently started wearing hearing aids, you may still have questions about the proper way to take care of them. If so, use one or more of the following tips to help keep your hearing aids clean and sanitary.
Leave The Battery Doors Open At Night
As soon as you take off your hearing aids for the night, open the battery doors to let the batteries and the interiors of the hearing aids dry out. This helps extend the life of your batteries, as well as keeps the interior electronics from deteriorating from the moisture and possibly shorting out.
Clean Your Hearing Aids In The Morning
While planning on when to clean and sanitize your hearing aids, you should do so in the morning after they have been allowed to air out all night. Cleaning them while they are dry reduces the amount of moisture buildup, which could damage the delicate electrical components inside the appliance.
Letting them air out also allows any wax on the pieces to dry out. Doing this keeps you from smearing the wax all over the ear pieces, which would make them more difficult to clean.
Wipe Wax Off With A Soft, Dry Cloth
Before you put your hearing aids in your ears in the morning, wipe the wax off with a soft, dry cloth. Since the wax has been allowed to dry, it should come off easily.
Do not use a damp cloth to remove the wax. Doing so will only moisten the wax, making it more difficult to clean off.
While wiping the wax off the ear pieces, make sure you wipe away from the speaker hole. If any wax gets inside this hole, the sounds will become muffled and you will not be able to hear clearly.
Wipe The Outsides Of The Appliances With A Damp Cloth
After wiping off all of the wax, use a damp cloth to wipe and sanitize the outside of your hearing appliances. Do not saturate the cloth, as the excess liquid could damage your hearing aids.
For a homemade sanitizer, mix one part alcohol and two parts. Or, you can ask your doctor what store-bought wipes they recommend.
Making a habit of using the above tips every day can help keep your hearing aids clean and functioning correctly. If you have more questions or need specific product recommendations, you may want to speak with your hearing aid specialist at a place like Whisper Hearing Centers.
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