Keeping Your Hearing Aid Going: What Hearing Supplies Do You Need?
So, now that you have your hearing aid up and running, and the world is full of sound again, it's time to think about hearing aid maintenance. You just dropped a good sized bundle on these hearing aids, now you need to spend just a little more to get the supplies you need to keep them running at full speed.
First and foremost, you need batteries. Most battery companies (Eveready, Energizer, Rayovac, etc.) make hearing aid batteries. They are very tiny, so you might want to have some tweezers on hand to help putting them in there. Check the date on the battery and try not to get one that's been sitting on the shelves for too long. Your hearing aid battery should last you around 3 years.
It's important for the health of your hearing and the long life of your hearing aids to keep your ears clean. Remember that humidity is hard on your hearing aid, and earwax can build up and cause it to malfunction.
In addition to cue tips and regular ear-cleaning gear, there are special creams you can buy that are designed for hearing aid wearers. They'll soothe any itchiness your ears may get from contact with the plastic.
You can also get sanitized ear spray. This will help keep your ears clean and reduce wax buildup. There is also a product called Mini Dri-Aid that helps keep your ears dry.
You'll need to also clean the actual hearing aid itself. For this, there are a variety of brushes and accessories. One of the most useful of these is the wax pick. It's like a little toothpick that you can use to get wax out of the hearing aid's speakers and other sensitive places.
You should never wash the parts of the hearing aids that contain electronics in water. However, you can use Audiowipes. These are like wet knaps, but are especially designed for use on electronics.
What if you need to repair your hearing aids? You can buy a cheap repair kit with some easy-to-use items to fix common problems. First, make sure the battery is okay. For this you might want to buy a battery tester. It's difficult to tell sometimes when your battery is running low, so a battery tester is usually a good investment.
If you hear feedback or whistling, it probably means that your volume is too high. You don't need any supplies to fix that! Just turn it down a notch and see how that goes.
For serious repairs, you will have to take the aid to a professional, and they will usually have spares for you to use in the meantime.
If you want an all-in-one deal, there are companies that offer hearing aid maintenance kits full of brushes, picks, creams, sprays and other goodies.
Most of these products can be found at your local drugstore. If they are hard to find, talk to your doctor or audiologist about where to buy them. You can find many of these products on the Web as well.