Oticon Blog

How to give your hearing aids a long life

Reading Time: 2.5 min.
29/01/20

Wearing hearing aids is one of the best investments you can make to improve your quality of life. As you may have already experienced, it doesn’t ‘just’ allow you to hear better; it lets you fully participate in life. Take good care of them and you have steady companions for years to come.

 

Your hearing aids are designed to withstand the wear and tear of daily use through all seasons and activities. They are not delicate devices and there is no need to worry excessively about damaging them.

That being said, there are a few things you can do to take good care of them and ensure their longevity.

 

The best way to ensure you don’t lose or accidentally knock over your hearing aids is to simply keep them in their case when you are not wearing them. Some hearing aid users leave them in pockets or bags, which can make them hard to find again, or they may even fall out when you go to grab something else out of your bag or pocket.

 

Moisture build-up inside the hearing aids is one of the most common reasons for why hearing aids stop functioning properly. We tend to sweat more in warm weather, which can lead to condensation building up inside your hearing aids. During the summer, we recommend you check for moisture inside the battery drawer and dry it out if necessary. You can use a hearing aid dryer (also called a dry box) for this purpose. 

 

Most people love a day at the beach. When you wear your hearing aids at the beach, you need to take a little extra care of them because they are exposed to saltwater, sand and sunscreen. We recommend you avoid handling your hearing aids when your hands are sandy, and remove them when applying sunscreen. When you take a dip in the water, be sure to remove your hearing aids and leave them safely in their case. 

 

Hearing aids are built to deal with all the daily situations you may find yourself in – including getting caught in the rain or when working up a sweat. If you find moisture has built up inside your hearing aids, we recommend taking out the batteries and leaving the battery drawers open overnight to ventilate them – or using a hearing aid dryer. Another DIY tip is to place your hearing aids in a bowl of uncooked rice, which will also dry out any moisture.

We recommend you remove your hearing aids before putting on any make up or hairspray. Again, there is no reason to be overly concerned; it is simply to prevent the chemicals in cosmetic products from coming into close contact with the hearing aids as this could damage them.

 

The most important thing to stress here is that your hearing aids are built to be a steady companion for years to come. Take a look at this video to see how we test and treat your hearing aids before they reach you: