Cleaning your hearing aids on a daily basis helps to ensure their performance, longevity, and saves money on repairs. Easy to fit into your nightly routine, these hearing aid cleaning tips will help you to reduce the amount of wax, debris, dust and other contaminants that could affect your technology.
First things first:
- Wash your hands and make sure they are dry before cleaning hearing aids.
- Work over a soft surface to prevent losing or breaking anything that might fall.
- Be extra mindful when cleaning, handling each piece with care.
- Turn technology upside down so debris will fall out rather than get pushed back in.
- Do not use a soaking wet cloth, unapproved solutions, or cotton swabs.
- If earwax is something that continues to be an issue ask your audiologist about having your ears professionally cleaned.
- NEVER put your hearing aid in water.
What you’ll need:
- Wire loop for cleaning earwax out of the receiver.
- A wax pick to clear out the vent.
- A brush to remove debris from the entire hearing aid (mostly for in-the-ear devices) and microphone.
- A multi tool is very handy when cleaning hearing aids as it has the above pieces as well as a magnet to help remove your battery.
- Tubing air blower, which is used mostly for cleaning moisture out of the tube that connects your over-the-ear ear mold, or dome.
How to clean hearing aids depends on the type of hearing aid (ITE in-the-ear versus BTE behind-the-ear) you have. The main difference is that your BTE technology will have an earmold that can be immersed in water and cleaned with certain solutions or soap, while that would be detrimental to an ITE device. Ask your audiologist what the best practices are for cleaning your specific hearing aid style.
No matter which kind you have the shell, the receiver, and the microphone are what you’ll want to focus on.
Hearing Aid Cleaning Tips:
- Always take the batteries out before cleaning your hearing aid.
- The case or the shell of your device is best cleaned with a soft cloth or brush as described above. If there are particularly difficult parts you can use a damp cloth to help remove the debris.
- The receiver is most subject to wax buildup so you will want to be sure to be careful and thorough when scooping debris out. It’s also good practice to focus on brushing the receiver when you’re done scooping to make sure you’ve gotten everything.
- Using the brush again, gently clean the microphone.
- When done keep your batteries out and the door open (brush gently) on a towel at night. Even better, a dehumidifier is more effective in removing moisture from your technology, helping them last longer.
Cleaning hearing aids manually is the ideal way to maintain them but overtime debris, dust, and wax will build up, so take advantage of your practice’s clean and checks. During this time, parts will be thoroughly cleaned or even replaced to make sure your technology is working its best so your hearing can too.