If you use hearing aids but you’re still having difficulty hearing, your hearing aids may need professional maintenance.
You take care of your hearing aids. You baby them. You charge them every night and clean them every day.
But you can’t understand why your hearing aids aren’t working effectively and it’s very annoying. Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to resolve the issue. Just remember: preventing damage is your number one task (or you might need to replace them).
Troubleshooting Your Hearing Aid
Make sure you consult with your owner’s manual when performing maintenance and troubleshooting as every model of hearing aid can be a bit different. On most models, these things can be checked:
- Keep your microphone clear:On occasion, the microphone can be obstructed. An obstructed microphone can create feedback or can make your hearing aid sound silent or broken.
- Check for noticeable damage: Loose components or cracks may appear around the shell of your hearing aids so don’t forget to inspect for that. Cracks, clearly, could indicate more significant damage (or allow).
- Wax accumulation: Perform a visual check of your hearing aid to ensure that there is no wax accumulation preventing ordinary functionality. Even if you perform routine cleaning, occasionally wax can accumulate quickly, so it’s worth checking this off your list.
- 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 power. If your hearing aid has changeable batteries, it may be a good idea to check if those batteries are in correctly or if a new one solves the problem.
Again, check your owner’s manual on how you might address each of these issues. Self maintenance will be a possibility in some cases. (But, again, read the instructions.)
When Does my Hearing Aid Require Repair?
If your hearing aid continues to malfunction after you have performed basic maintenance and troubleshooting, it’s probable that your hearing aid will require professional repair. That might not always sound appealing, let’s be honest, you depend on your hearing aid for daily communication (not to mention dinners with your family, staying current with your favorite Netflix series, etc).
However, it’s worth mentioning that “repair” doesn’t always mean you need to “mail your hearing aids in” for service and wait a few weeks. Sometimes, we can repair it while you wait.
So in those cases, you will be able to get your hearing aid back before the day’s end (this, of course, depends on the severity of the damage, that’s all the more reason to bring your devices in for repair as soon as possible).
Not all scenarios can be addressed in house though. A backup pair may be required in those cases. An old pair may be able to do a decent job as a backup so if you have an old pair, bring them in with you. There might even be a loaner pair at our office that you can use until yours come back.
Don’t Wait to Get Help For Your Hearing Aids
It’s necessary to have your hearing aids repaired as soon as you detect any falter or fading of the audio quality.
If you do this you will be more likely to avoid any downtime. Your overall health and your mental health are affected by untreated hearing loss. Moreover, once your hearing aids are forgotten in a box somewhere, it’s way too easy to pretend they don’t exist, even as, your hearing progressively worsens.
Your best chance of getting 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 keep them clean, charge them, and, when needed, take your hearing aids to get some professional assistance.