Hearing Aid Maintenance

23/07/2009 by John Lloyd.

Hearing Aid Maintenance 

You will, on average, wear your hearing aids for 12 hours a day, every day for the next 5 years – this equates to 22,000 hours of use in a hot and humid ear canal, exposed to the elements of life. It is important you maintain them appropriately. 

Fact: Wax and moisture are responsible for about 80% of all faults.

Fact: The microphones or the speakers are changed in about 80% of all repairs. 

Proper maintenance will hopefully prevent you being without your hearing aids. 

The microphone – please use the brush to gently brush over the microphones or blow across the microphones, thereby removing any build up of dust etc. 

The speaker – your hearing aids are fitted with wax guards and these are easily changed. Many new wax guards are now made with nano-coating technology which helps prevent moisture ingress too. The need to change can be anything from twice in a day to once every 2 months. Use the prong on the end of the brush to remove dirt, but DO NOT poke hard into the wax guards. If you have a thin-film guard, simply wipe it. 

The earpiece – we advise all wearers to buy ‘Sterets’ pre-injection swabs from your local chemist and to use these daily to wipe off wax and dirt. Clean well into the grooves.  

Vent holes – for wearers of ITE’s this is the hole that runs through the hearing aid. Push the vent tool through the hole from the faceplate end towards the speaker end. 

Moisture protection – We advise wearers to use dry-pots regularly, especially when camping or on holiday in hot and humid places. Silicone crystals can be purchased off the RNID website, or we can supply the electronic Zephyr Dry Store for £60. See this website for more details…http://www.connevans.co.uk/store/viewProduct.do?id=1977485 

Infections – For people prone to infections, common in swimmers using hearing aids, we recommend an electronic dry-pot with a UV lamp which kills 99.9% of all bacteria. We can supply the Global Dry Store for £100. See this link for more details…http://www.connevans.co.uk/store/viewProduct.do?id=3999 

Batteries – We ask that all hearing aid wearers respect the environment and recycle their batteries. Save them and dispose of them at the tip, or hand them to us to do so. 

More information Please feel free to tell any other wearers you know to join this blog – I will soon be starting Hearing Aid lessons. 

Join the ‘Hearing Aid Forum’ @ http://www.hearingaidforums.com/ - It’s very helpful!

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