When you get into a good habit of wearing your hearing aids, you might start noticing things. New sounds. Cool sensations. Interesting emotions. And…earwax?

Today we’ll talk about cleaning your hearing aids – including removing earwax. We’ll also show you how to take care of your rechargeable hearing aids or how to change the batteries in your hearing devices.

Cleaning your hearing aids

Your ear canals produce earwax primarily for two reasons.

1. Earwax assists in lubricating the ear canal – sort of like lip balm for your ears.
2. It helps protect the ears against infections and foreign objects such as small insects or dirt.

So, earwax serves a natural and vital purpose in our body. Wax build-up can, however, clog up your hearing aids and is one of the main contributors to the need for hearing aid repair.

We recommend that you build a daily routine of taking a tissue or a dry cloth and using it to dab the earpiece of your hearing aid. This should remove any stray earwax on the device.

However, if you notice that your hearing aids are not performing as well as before due to a build-up of earwax, you may need to replace the wax filter. This is uncommon within the first month of use, and you don’t need to worry if it happens. Just contact your hearing care professional and ask for assistance.

Charging your hearing aids

Battery life in rechargeable hearing aids is heavily dependent on how much you use them for streaming music, television and other features. Luckily, it’s so easy to recharge your hearing aids – just place them in the charger at night and you’ll wake up to fully powered devices in the morning. Also, you can do a quick recharge during the day if needed.

But it’s important that you correctly insert your hearing aids into the charger and use a drying aid kit if you are in humid or wet conditions.

Here’s some great tips to get ensure you get the most out of your rechargeables

Changing your batteries

If you don’t have rechargeable batteries, don’t worry. Changing the batteries is not complicated at all! The batteries in your hearing aids will typically last three to 10 days, depending on usage, which means how much you use them for streaming music, television and other features. You’ll hear a sound when the battery is running low, so you’ll know it’s time to replace the batteries. This warning period can vary depending on how your hearing care professional has programmed it.

If you need assistance, you can watch this demonstration of how to change the batteries in your hearing aids:

Here are a few useful tips when it comes to changing the batteries:

• Put a little dot or the sticker from your battery in your calendar every time you change the batteries. This will allow you to observe your average battery lifetime and plan for it.
• Change the batteries over a surface such as a table or a tray. That way, if you drop the batteries, you won’t have to rummage around the floor looking for them.
• When you remove the sticker from the battery, we advise that you wait 30 seconds before inserting it. This gives the new battery time to draw air and will help it function optimally.

We hope these tips will help you in your daily life with hearing aids!