Top Hearing Aid Tips

Physical Fit

• With practice, your hearing aids will get easier and easier to insert.
• Give yourself enough time to put your hearing aid in your ear.
• There are usually some blue markings on the left hearing aid and red markings on the right hearing aid.
• There is no wrong way to put your hearing aid in your ear, as long as it is sitting properly at the end (the end justifies the means). Find a technique that works the best for you.
• Initially the hearing aids may feel snug or itchy. This feeling should diminish over time until you can almost forget the hearing aids are there.
• If the hearing aid causes any pain or pressure in your ear, please let your clinician know. There may be a problem with the fit. Sometimes it takes several days for a hearing aid to become uncomfortable.
• Once the hearing aid has been properly inserted, it should stay put. If the hearing aid seems to move when you are eating, talking or moving your jaw, call the office immediately to discuss this. There may be a problem with the fit.
• Whistling or feedback will normally occur when amplified sound coming from the sound outlet arrives back at the microphone. This can happen when the hearing aid is being inserted or removed (OK), when a hand or telephone is placed too close to the hearing aid (OK), when the hearing aid is not inserted properly (check the placement of the hearing aid in the ear), or when the hearing aid moves out of place with jaw movement (not OK, please let us know).
• Feedback can also become a problem if the hearing aid microphone or receiver gets dislodged (usually through overly aggressive cleaning) or when the ear canal gets completely or partially blocked with wax.
• If your hearing aid is turned on and you cup it in your fist, the hearing aid should feedback (whistle). This can be a good way to check that the battery is working.

On and Off

• Turn the hearing aid off when it is not in your ear. This will save the battery and will prevent the hearing aid from whistling when you may not be able to hear it.

Batteries

• Hearing aid batteries are air activated. The tab on the positive side of the battery is what keeps the battery fresh.
• Hearing aid batteries are colour-coded by size. If you are buying a hearing aid battery from an unfamiliar brand, look for colouring similar to the batteries you normally use (10 yellow, 312 brown, 13 orange, 675 blue).
• The batteries should be stored at room temperature with the tabs on.
• Batteries should never touch each other (with or without the tabs on) as this can discharge the batteries and severely shorten their life.
• Once the tab is removed from the battery, the battery starts to drain whether or not the hearing aid is turned on. Of course, it will drain faster when the hearing aid is turned on.
• Practice the 5-minute rule. Before a new battery is used for the first time, take the sticker of the battery and let it sit for 5 minutes before closing the battery door. This allows the battery time to fully activate, promising the longest battery life.
• A hearing aid battery will last between 4 and 7 days (or longer) depending on the size of the battery, the amount of noise that you are in, the type of hearing loss you have as well as the type of hearing aid that you have.
• During the first two months or so that you are starting to use your new hearing aid, it is worthwhile to track how much life you are getting from your batteries. When you place a new battery in the hearing aid, place the battery tab on your calendar (or note the date some other way). Once you know the expected lifetime of your batteries, you will be better able to troubleshoot problems if your hearing aid stops working.
• Some batteries are faulty and will not last as long as others. But generally, batteries are fairly reliable. If you suspect a battery has died (without warning), put one new battery in the hearing aid, preferably from a different package than the one you just replaced. If the hearing aid is still not working, suspect that the sound outlet or the microphone may be blocked.
• If your other hearing aid is working, you can put the “dead” battery in the working hearing aid to confirm that the battery is indeed the problem.
• The batteries have quite a long shelf life. It is a good practice not to purchase more than a one year’s supply at a time. Battery packages usually have expiration dates on the back, which are usually two years from the date of manufacture.
• We carry a premium Rayovac battery, which has the highest quality control standards and maintains the most constant voltage.
• We do not recommend purchasing batteries from drug stores or electronics stores, which likely have a very low battery turnover. It is likely the batteries you are purchasing are already fairly old.
• If you insert a battery into your hearing aid and the battery door will not easily close, the battery is likely backwards.
• Hearing aid batteries are designed to maintain a constant voltage and then drop fairly quickly (sometimes within minutes) at the end of their life.
• Most hearing aids have a low battery warning when the battery voltage drops below a certain level. If the battery dies when the hearing aid is turned off, you will not get a warning and it will not work when you turn it on.

Cleaning Your Hearing Aids

• Wax and moisture are the leading causes of hearing aid failure and the need for hearing aid repairs.
• Although Alberta is fairly dry, moisture in hearing aids can be a problem. Do not store your hearing aids in humid areas of the house such as the bathroom or kitchen. Be aware of putting hearing aids on with wet hair or when washing your face. Be cautious wearing hearing aids in the rain. Some ears are moister than others, and some people are more prone to perspire.
• To eliminate moisture as a concern, nightly use of a hearing aid dehumidifier is recommended. A dehumidifier will passively remove moisture overnight.
• The dehumidifier is filled with rechargeable desiccant gel crystals and they change colour as they absorb moisture.
• After one to two years, the crystals in the hearing aid dehumidifier can no longer be recharged and it will be time to replace the dehumidifier.
• Avoid getting dust and debris into the microphone openings. Hair sprays, perfume and makeup can also clog the microphone opening or screen.
• Hearing aids get lost or damaged when they are not in your ears and get knocked off counters or are crushed in pockets.
• Start practicing good habits with where you place the hearing aid when it is not in your ear. Always put the hearing aid in the dehumidifier or in a sealed hard box when it is not in your ear.
• Animals are also very attracted to ear wax, so keep your hearing aids safe from pets.
• The goal of wax prevention is to stop wax from getting into the device’s electronics. If your hearing aid has a wax guard, it should be replaced regularly (at least once a month but as often as necessary).
• Your ear may produce more wax in the first few months of acclimatizing to a hearing aid.
• If your hearing aid stops working suddenly, the most common reason is because wax is blocking the sound outlet. Change the wax guard or clean the sound outlet as the first step in troubleshooting the cause of the problem.