You take care of your hearing aids. When you go to bed, you always put them comfortably on the charger and you clean them every day.
But you get pretty distressed when your hearing aids suddenly stop working the way they used to. There are a few things you can do to troubleshoot the issue, thankfully. Just remember: your main job is to refrain from damaging your hearing aid additionally (or you might need to replace them).
Hearing aid troubleshooting
Naturally, when you first got your sweet new hearing aids, you made a point of storing the owner’s manual in a safe place. You’ll want to pull it out so you can use it for troubleshooting and, possibly, maintenance. Every model of hearing aid can be rather different so it’s important to follow the manual’s guidelines.
Here are some things you can check on most models:
- Keep your microphone clear: Look for anything blocking the microphone of your hearing aid. Your hearing aid may feedback or simply fail to work if the microphone is obstructed.
- Check your battery: You’ll still want to assess the battery power even if you had your hearing aids on the charger at night. It might be a good plan to check if you might need new batteries or if the old ones are properly inserted, particularly if your batteries are replaceable.
- Look for visible damage: Does your hearing aid have any apparent loose components or cracks in its shell? If you find cracks, it could suggest that moisture is getting in and there may be more extensive damage.
- Wax accumulation: Perform a visual check of your hearing aid to ensure that there is no wax accumulation interfering with standard operation. Wax can accumulate quickly even if you clean your hearing aids frequently so make it a point to double check.
Again, consult your owner’s manual on how you should address each of these issues. Self-maintenance is sometimes possible.
When does my hearing aid require repair?
Your hearing aid will probably need to be repaired professionally if you do routine maintenance and it still malfunctions. That might not always sound appealing, after all, you depend on your hearing aid for day-to-day communication (not to mention dinners with your family, keeping up to date with your favorite Netflix series, and so on).
It’s certainly worth taking note that “repair” doesn’t necessarily translate into “send your hearing aids in for service and wait several weeks”. Sometimes, we can do the repair in office and you can take it with you when you go.
Or, you’ll be able to bring your hearing aids in for professional assistance and have them back in just a few hours (this, of course, depends on the degree of the damage, all the more reason to bring your devices in for repair as soon as possible).
There are still some cases where such quick repair is not possible. A backup pair of hearing aids may be necessary in these cases. Perhaps you have an old pair that will do temporarily in a pinch. Or it’s possible that we have a loaner pair you can use.
Get assistance with your hearing aids right away
It’s essential to have your hearing aid assessed and repaired if you start to notice the audio quality is starting to fail.
You’ll want to avoid any downtime. Your mental health and your general health can be affected by neglected hearing loss. And it becomes all too easy to leave your hearing aids laying in a drawer somewhere while your hearing continues to deteriorate.
The optimum way to keep your hearing healthy is to keep those hearing aids working. And the ideal way to do that is to keep them clean, keep them charged, and, when necessary, take your hearing aids to get some professional help.