One of the most common questions that you ask us is precisely the fact of knowing how I should maintain the hearing aids so that they last as long as possible. As we always say, if you take good care of them and do the maintenance correctly, can easily last between 5 and 7 years in good condition. Of course, it is very important that you visit your audiologist to perform maintenance and electronic checks on a regular basis to ensure over time that everything is working perfectly.

Maintenance for behind-the-ear BTE hearing aids:

These hearing aids are characterized by having a custom mold in the ear that does not contain electronics and therefore are the easiest to maintain, since the tube that joins the hearing aid with the ear mold can be unhooked and thus they can be cleaned separately.

To clean the hearing aid, the part that is located behind the ear (BTE), it is as simple as using a chamois or paper napkin impregnated with the cleaning spray that is provided in your hearing center and cleaning it well on all sides. This spray is special for hearing aids since it is hypoallergenic and does not contain alcohol, especially never use products with alcohol as they can damage electronics.

In the part that is located behind the ear, the most important thing is that there is no dirt on the microphone inputs, where the sound enters, for this you can use the small brush that will also be provided in the hearing center where you go. These entry holes that you can easily detect in your hearing aid are responsible for capturing the sound, so it is extremely important that they are not blocked or dirty so that the sound that is amplified is as clear and clean as possible.

On the other hand you have the tube that holds the earmold. If you have separated it from the hearing aid as we have said before, you can clean it without problems using special products for it. They are generally containers where warm water and an effervescent tablet are placed, then the earmold is submerged and allowed to take effect for half an hour. When you remove it, you can dry it with a cloth and blow into the ducts to free them of liquid. To blow there are what we call blower knobs that are specially designed for this and the rest of the products are included in the cleaning kit for earmoulds. Also the effervescent tablets can be purchased separately if you want.

Once you have both the hearing aid and the earmold clean and dry, you can reattach them and continue using them as normal.

This maintenance can be done at least once a month and in this way you will be able to keep your BTE hearing aids in good condition for as long as possible. It is important to say that if despite doing this maintenance there are still traces of earwax in the earmold ducts, do not try to remove them yourself with household utensils, when you go for your periodic check-up your audiologist will take care of cleaning them thoroughly so that they are as normal again.