You go out of your way to ensure your hearing aids are well taken care of. When you go to sleep, you always put them snuggly on the charger and you clean them every day.
But you get pretty discouraged when your hearing aids abruptly stop working the way they used to. Fortunately, there are a few steps you can take to diagnose the issue. Just remember: your number one job is to avoid damaging your hearing aid further (or you might have to replace them).
Hearing aid troubleshooting
Naturally, when you first got your nice new hearing aids, you made a point of putting the owner’s manual in a safe spot. Hopefully, you did so that you can consult with your owner’s manual to perform maintenance and troubleshooting. Each model of hearing aid can be rather different so it’s important to follow the manual’s recommendations.
On most models there are some other things you can check, here are a few:
- Check your battery: Even if you know your hearing aids charged all night, you’ll want to double-check the battery power. It might be a good idea to check if you may need new batteries or if the old ones are correctly inserted, especially if your batteries are replaceable.
- Look for noticeable damage: Does your hearing aid have any obvious loose components or cracks around its shell? If you find cracks, it could mean that moisture is getting in and there may be more extensive damage.
- Wax accumulation: Do a visual check of your hearing aid to make sure that there is no wax buildup interfering with basic functionality. Even if you carry out regular cleaning, sometimes wax can accumulate quickly, so it’s worth ticking this off your list.
- Keep your microphone clear: Look for anything obstructing the microphone of your hearing aid. Your hearing aid may feedback or merely fail to work if the microphone is blocked.
Once again you can learn how to deal with each of these issues by consulting your owner’s manual. Self-maintenance is sometimes possible.
When does my hearing aid require repair?
Your hearing aid will probably need to be repaired professionally if you do routine maintenance and it still malfunctions. That might not always sound desirable, after all, you rely on your hearing aid for day-to-day communication (along with dinners with your family, keeping up to date with your favorite Netflix series, and so on).
It’s definitely worth taking note that “repair” doesn’t always translate into “send your hearing aids in for service and wait a few weeks”. Sometimes, we can do the repair in office and you can take it with you when you leave.
Or, you’ll be able to bring your hearing aids in for professional help and have them back in a matter of a few hours (this, obviously, depends on the extent of the damage, all the more reason to bring your devices in for repair as soon as you can).
There are still some instances where such rapid repair is not possible. A backup pair of hearing aids might be needed in these situations. So if you have an old pair lying around, ask whether they will serve temporarily. Or maybe we have a loaner pair you can use.
Get assistance with your hearing aids without delay
If the sound quality is beginning to fail, it’s essential to get your hearing aids checked and repaired.
Any degree of downtime should be avoided. Your mental health and your overall health can be impacted by untreated hearing loss. And it becomes all too easy to leave your hearing aids sitting in a drawer somewhere while your hearing continues to decline.
The optimum way to keep your hearing working properly is to keep those hearing aids working. And the ideal way to do that is to clean them, keep them charged, and, when necessary, take your hearing aids to get some professional help.