If you use hearing aids but you’re still having difficulty hearing, your hearing aids might need professional maintenance.
You take good care of your hearing aids. You baby them. You charge them nightly and clean them daily.
But you can’t figure out why your hearing aids aren’t functioning efficiently and it’s very annoying. Thankfully, there are some steps you can take to resolve the issue. Just remember: your number one job is to avoid damaging your hearing aid further (or you may need to replace them).
Your Hearing Aid Might Need Troubleshooting
Every design of hearing aid is different so make use of your owner manual for troubleshooting and maintenance. On most models, these things can be checked:
- Check for visible damage: Check if there are any noticeable cracks or loose components around the shell of your hearing aid. Cracks, clearly, could indicate more significant damage (or allow).
- Wax accumulation: Perform a visual inspection of your hearing aid to ensure that there is no wax buildup preventing normal functionality. Wax accumulates rapidly so even if you have a routine cleaning schedule you still need to check for this.
- Keep your microphone clear:Sometimes, the microphone can be obstructed. An obstructed microphone can cause feedback or can cause your hearing aids to sound silent or broken.
- Examine your battery: Always check your battery power even if you’re certain your hearing aid charged all night. Even rechargeable batteries need to be replaced sooner or later and sometimes you might not have them inserted fully.
Each of these issues will have its own strategy so check your owner’s manual. Self maintenance will be possible in certain cases. (But, once again, consult the instructions.)
When Does my Hearing Aid Require Servicing?
Your hearing aid will most likely require professional repair if you continue to have problems with it after performing these basic maintenance duties. Because you depend on your hearing aids for all of your everyday conversations and social activities, this probably doesn’t sound very attractive.
But it’s important to understand that repair doesn’t always mean sending your hearing aid away. Sometimes, we can repair it while you wait.
That means, in some cases, you’ll be capable of bringing your hearing aids in for professional help and get them back within a few minutes or hours (this, of course, depends on the magnitude of the damage, that’s all the more reason to bring it in for repair as soon as you can).
There are still some circumstances where same day repair isn’t possible. A backup pair may be necessary in those situations. An old pair might be able to do a decent job as a backup so bring them in with you if you have a pair. There may even be a loaner pair at our office that you can use until yours come back.
Don’t Wait to Get Help With Your Hearing Aids
It’s necessary to get your hearing aids repaired as soon as you notice any falter or fading of the audio quality.
If you do this you will be more likely to eliminate any downtime. Your general health and your mental health are impacted by neglected hearing loss. Moreover, once your hearing aids are forgotten in a box somewhere, it’s way too easy to pretend they don’t exist, all the while, your hearing progressively worsens.
The ideal way to keep your hearing healthy is to keep your hearing aids working. Keeping them charged and clean and if necessary, bringing them in for service is the best way to do that.