One of the easiest ways to maintain your ear health is to clean your hearing aids regularly, but are you cleaning them properly? Bacteria growth can linger in your hearing aids if you don’t maintain them, and that can lead to ear infections that affects your hearing ability and the effectiveness of the device you’re using. The infection can also cause other symptoms of poor hearing, such as tinnitus or temporary hearing loss. Let’s look at some tips that you may not know about when you’re cleaning your hearing aid!

1. Never use a wet cloth when you’re cleaning!

Water breeds bacteria, especially bacteria that is already on the surface of your skin! If you’re cleaning your hearing aids with any amounts of moisture, you’re risking bacteria growth in the small pockets of microscopic openings in the device. No matter how airtight it may seem, water will find a way inside, and you should take every precaution to prevent it!

2. If Bacteria is the problem, what about warm, soapy water?

While warm soapy water does solve the problem for bacteria, it brings a whole host of other issues with it! There are trace amounts of minerals in your soap, and it can severely damage your hearing aid if it gets into the circuits! Much like dropping your phone in water, your hearing aid should stay dry at all times to maximize its service life and to minimize water related damages, which does occur naturally!

One of the best thing to do is to get regular ear checkups.

3. What about rubbing alcohol?

Absolutely not! Alcohol is a chemical solution (I.e. it will dissolve other things) and it can and will damage plastic, acetate, and coatings! You may have an excess stock of rubbing alcohol for cleaning from the pandemic, but you should never use any of it on your hearing aid!

4. You should get your ears checked regularly for any abnormalities!

Excess ear wax or growths may damage your hearing aid and should be regularly cleaned by professionals. Sometimes earwax can harden and clog the receiver. Keeping your ears clean means keeping your hearing aid working as long as possible!

Clean ears are happy ears

5. Clean them over a soft surface.

This may not be immediately obvious to most people — if you lay out a clean towel over your work surface, you can dampen the fall if you accidentally drop your hearing aid while cleaning.

6. How often should you clean them?

For the typical person who uses hearing aids, you should clean them every night by wiping off anything visible before storing them. You should also clean them every 1 -2 weeks by using the cleaning kit that is included. Finally, you should see a specialist or your audiologist every 4 – 6 months to make sure they are in working order. These are the best practices you can do to ensure your hearing aids last as long as possible. Still have questions? Give us a call and book and appointment in our Mississauga or Brampton clinic for a FREE hearing evaluation. Evear Hearing can help you choose the best fit for your daily needs. From now until December 31st 2022, receive 25% off on all Premium Hearing Aids if you make a purchase! No coupon necessary.