If you use hearing aids but you’re still having difficulty hearing, your hearing aids may require professional maintenance.
You take care of your hearing aids. You’re really cautious with your hearing aids. You charge them nightly and clean them every day.
But you can’t understand why your hearing aids aren’t working effectively and it’s really annoying. Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to troubleshoot the issue. Keep in mind: preventing damage is your first task (or you might need to replace them).
Your Hearing Aid Might Need Troubleshooting
Every design of hearing aid is different so use your owner manual for troubleshooting and maintenance. Here are a few things you can check on most models:
- Wax accumulation: Do a visual check of your hearing aid to ensure that there is no wax buildup preventing normal functionality. Wax builds up rapidly so even if you have a regular cleaning schedule you still need to pay attention to this.
- Check for noticeable damage: Loose components or cracks may develop around the shell of your hearing aids so don’t forget to inspect for that. Cracks, clearly, could reveal more substantial damage (or allow).
- Check your battery: Even if you’re sure your hearing aids spent the night on the charger, you’ll want to double-check the battery level. If your hearing aid has replaceable batteries, it might not be a bad idea to check if those batteries are in properly or if a new one fixes the issue.
- Keep your microphone clear: Check for anything blocking the microphone of your hearing aid. A blocked microphone can cause feedback or can cause your hearing aids to sound broken or silent.
Again, consult your owner’s manual on how you should approach each of these problems. In certain cases, you may be able to perform maintenance on your own. (But, once again, read the instructions.)
Does my Hearing Aid Need servicing – How do I Know?
Your hearing aid will most likely need professional servicing if you keep having issues with it after performing these basic maintenance tasks. That might not always sound appealing, after all, you depend on your hearing aid for everyday communication (not to mention dinners with your family, staying current with your favorite Netflix series, and so on).
However, it’s worth mentioning that “repair” doesn’t always mean you need to “send your hearing aid out” for service and wait a number of weeks. There are some situations where it can be repaired in shop while you wait.
That means, in some cases, you’ll be able to bring your hearing aids in for professional help and have them back in a matter of minutes or hours (this, of course, depends on the scope of the damage, which is all the more reason to bring your devices in for repair as soon as you can).
Not all scenarios can be addressed in house though. And on those occasions, you might find yourself needing a backup pair of hearing aids. An old pair may be able to do a decent job as a backup so bring them in with you if you have a pair. We might even have a pair we can let you use while you are waiting.
Don’t Put Off Getting Help For Your Hearing Aids
It’s crucial to have your hearing aids serviced as soon as you experience any falter or fading of the audio quality.
That’s because you hope to eliminate any downtime. Your general health and your mental health are affected by untreated hearing loss. An even more serious concern is that your hearing will get worse as your hearing aids sit forgotten in a drawer.
The best way to get the maximum help from your hearing aids is to keep them functioning at their highest quality. And the best way to do that is to clean them, charge them, and, when needed, take your hearing aids to get some professional assistance.