You take care of your hearing aids. When you go to sleep, you always put them snuggly on the charger and you clean them daily.
But you get pretty discouraged when your hearing aids suddenly stop working the way they did once. Fortunately, there are some measures you can take to troubleshoot the problem. Just remember: your number one job is to avoid damaging your hearing aid additionally (or you might have to replace them).
Hearing aid troubleshooting
Of course, when you first got your nice new hearing aids, you made a point of storing the owner’s manual in a safe spot. Hopefully, you did so that you can consult with your owner’s manual to do maintenance and troubleshooting. Each model of hearing aid can be somewhat different so it’s essential to follow the manual’s recommendations.
Here are some things you can check on most models:
- Keep your microphone clear: Check your hearing aid to find out if anything is obstructing the microphone. Your hearing aid may feedback or merely fail to work if the microphone is blocked.
- Check your battery: You’ll still want to assess the battery power even if you had your hearing aids on the charger at night. It might be a good plan to check if you might need new batteries or if the old ones are correctly inserted, especially if your batteries are replaceable.
- Wax accumulation: Make sure there’s no wax on your hearing aid by giving it a visual inspection. Even if you undertake regular cleaning, sometimes wax can build up quickly, so it’s worth ticking this off your list.
- Look for noticeable damage: Do you observe any visible cracks or loose components around the shell of your hearing aid? If you discover cracks, it could suggest that moisture is getting in and there might be more significant damage.
Again, consult your owner’s manual on how you should approach each of these concerns. Self-maintenance is sometimes possible.
How will I know when my hearing aid needs repair?
If your hearing aid continues to malfunction after you have performed basic maintenance and troubleshooting, it’s likely that your hearing aid will need to be professionally repaired. That might not always sound appealing, after all, you depend 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 necessarily mean “send your hearing aids in for service and wait a few weeks”. In some instances, we can repair your hearing aid in office while you wait.
Or, you’ll be able to bring your hearing aids in for professional assistance and get them back in a matter of a few hours (this, of course, depends on the degree of the damage, all the more reason to get your devices in for repair as soon as you can).
But fast repair will not be possible in every case. A backup pair of hearing aids may be needed in these cases. Perhaps you have an old pair that will do temporarily in a pinch. We might even be able to loan you a pair while you are waiting.
Get assistance with your hearing aids without delay
If the sound quality is beginning to fail, it’s crucial to get your hearing aids assessed and repaired.
You’ll want to avoid any downtime. Your mental health and your general health can be impacted by neglected hearing loss. And it becomes all too easy to leave your hearing aids laying in a drawer somewhere while your hearing continues to decline.
Keeping those hearing aids in excellent working order is the secret to keeping your hearing healthy. 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.