Summer Maintenance Tips for Your Hearing Aids

Keeping your hearing aids in good condition is essential for your hearing experience. Making sure your hearing aids are well-maintained means you can rely on your hearing aids for years of performance. Fortunately, today’s hearing aids are simple to take care of. Most hearing aids simply need a daily wipe down with a clean and dry cloth to remove moisture and debris. Routinely, hearing aids should be inspected for any sign of corrosion, battery issues or concerns with tubing or wiring performance.

While most hearing aids are low-maintenance, the summer season presents some challenges that have the potential to compromise your hearing aids. A season marked by time spent in water and sand, not to mention occurrences of extreme heat, can pose various risks to your hearing devices. Here are some important things to consider when using your hearing aids this summer.

Your Hearing Aids Shouldn’t Get Wet

Your hearing aids are built to perform in the challenging conditions of the human ear. This means that the outer shell and inner components of your device are all designed to be moisture resistant. This moisture resistance is designed to stand up to normal levels of perspiration and body moisture in the ear canal and offers protection against corrosion and electrical shorting caused by moisture.

Unfortunately, moisture resistance does not mean your hearing aids are waterproof. Summer often involves many situations that could expose your hearing aids to damaging moisture – from swimming pools to increased sweat. Your hearing aids are not designed to be wet or submerged in water. Water can encroach upon your hearing aids and encourage electronic malfunctioning as well as corrosion. Water can short a device electronically and do damage that is potentially beyond repair.

Always be sure to remove your hearing aids before showering, bathing and swimming. You’ll want to have a small rigid and waterproof storage container for your hearing aids so they won’t get crushed or wet while they are out of your ears. 

When summer weather intensifies the way you sweat, remember to dry your hearing aids often. If you are sweating a great deal, remove your hearing devices and pat them dry with a clean cloth while allowing them to air out. Pat your ears dry as well before wearing the hearing aids again.

Your Hearing Aids Shouldn’t Get Sandy

The summer is also usually the season where we are closest to sand. There’s no summer activity quite as iconic as a day at the beach. Unfortunately, this puts your hearing aids at risk of being exposed to the fine, loose particulate that composes sand. Sand can easily be kicked up or blown in the air and introduce unwanted particles into your hearing aid.

Sand can infiltrate the small seams and microphone openings of your hearing aids. If it gets into the tubing of your hearing device it can distort or block incoming sound. It is important to keep your hearing aids away from sand.

When you are on a beach, always check your hands before removing or adjusting your hearing aids to make sure they are dry and free of sand particles. Don’t leave your hearing aids out where they can be exposed to sand and other debris. Again, a sealed and rigid container is the best place to keep your hearing aids when they are not in your ears. 

Your Hearing Aids Shouldn’t Get Hot

Summer’s heat can also be a hazard for your hearing aids. Never leave your hearing aids in a situation where they could be exposed to extreme heat, such as a hot car. A closed car can heat up to dangerous temperatures in a matter of minutes – hot enough to warp small components in your hearing device or even melt the outer casing. Damage caused by extreme heat can mean that your hearing aids neither fit nor function properly.

While removing your hearing aids before hitting the beach is a smart idea, you need to also keep them away from dangerous temperatures. Rather than leaving them in a cup holder or glove box of your car, opt for bringing your hearing aids in their storage container with you. This summer, make sure you can protect your hearing aids when you need to – a small, hard-cased and waterproofed storage box will keep your hearing aids safe from harm.