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Hearing aids are an important investment in your hearing health, and they connect you to the world around you. In order to ensure you receive the maximum benefit from your devices, it’s important to take good care of them. Below we review how to properly clean each part of your hearing aid.
Types of Hearing Aids
There are six main types of hearing aids:
Behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids.
Receiver-in-the-ear (RITE) or receiver-in-canal (RIC) hearing aids.
Open-fit hearing aids.
In-the-ear (ITE) hearing aids.
In-the-canal (ITC) hearing aids.
Completely-in-canal (CIC) hearing aids.
No matter what type you have, your hearing aid contains five main parts: a microphone that picks up sounds in your environment, an amplifier that converts the sounds into digital code and adjusts them to a level you can hear, a receiver that delivers the sounds to your ears, a battery that powers the device and a shell which houses these components.
Cleaning the Microphone Port
Follow these steps to clean the microphone port:
Use a soft brush to gently clean debris off the microphone port.
Be sure to hold your hearing aid upside down, so the port faces the floor. This ensures debris falls out instead of into the device.
Never poke anything into the microphone port.
Cleaning the Receiver
Clean the receiver by following these steps:
Use the wax pick/wire loop to scoop the debris out. Repeat until there is no more wax.
Replace the wax guard as needed if your device has one.
Be gentle, as too much force can cause damage.
Cleaning the shell
Follow these steps to clean the shell, also called the casing, of your devices:
Use a soft, dry cloth to wipe off the shell.
Use the brush for stubborn debris.
Never use a damp cloth or chemical cleaner, as this can cause damage.
When to See an Audiologist
Just like you should take your car to Performance Auto Care of Topeka when it’s not working properly, you should leave hearing aid repairs to audiologists. If you’ve followed these steps and still can’t get rid of stubborn debris or sound is not coming through clearly, schedule an appointment for a clean and check with your audiologist.
For more information or to schedule an appointment, call the hearing aid experts at Topeka ENT today.