Hearing aids are an important part of your life. They help you to communicate better with the people you appreciate, to enjoy music or movies more, to be more productive at work... Basically, they improve your quality of life. Of course, something so important in your day to day deserves that you take care of them with the utmost care. Of course, your hearing care professional cleans your hearing aids every time you visit him within the service that you have contracted, but, although he can do it in a more thorough way, it is also convenient that you clean them regularly yourself. In this way, among all those involved, we will avoid as much as possible that they may suffer breakdowns or malfunctions. In this post, we are going to explain what you can do yourself in your home to keep them as well cared for as possible quickly and easily.

General cleaning

You should first clean the outside of your hearing aids with a soft and dry cloth, including the earmold if you use one. You should avoid the use of alcohol, soaps or generic cleaning products as they could damage or wear out your appliances. On the other hand, you can use products created specifically for the cleaning of hearing aids, such as Audinell cleaning spray. These types of products are made with components that take into account the material of the hearing aids and don’t wear them out.

Then use a brush to clean the microphones on your hearing aids. Regarding this step, you shouldn’t make the mistake of trying to clean them by inserting an object in the hole where they are since you could damage them. Just the brush is enough. Depending on your type of hearing aid, you can also pass this brush through the sound outlet, be it that of an intra hearing aid, a tulip or a custom made mold.

Finally, if your hearing aids or custom earmolds have a ventilation duct, also called a venting, you must remove any earwax that may have accumulated. To do this, you need a venting cleaner. This object is a kind of specific thread for this function that you can find in most cleaning kits or even incorporated in the case of your hearing aids. You must introduce it through the end of the conduit until it comes out through the other. In this way, the remains of wax will be pushed to the outside.

With these three steps, you will have already done the usual cleaning of your hearing aids. It’s usually recommended to do it once a week or so, although you can reduce this time if necessary. For example, you can be a person who generates more wax than usual, you sweat more because you usually do sports...


Other things you can do

In addition to the general cleaning that we have mentioned before, there are small things that you can do occasionally to keep your hearing aids even more fit.

If you use custom earmolds, it’s advisable to separate them from the rest of the hearing aid and clean them with soap and water or using specific products such as Audinell effervescent tablets. Once this is done, they must be completely dry, both externally and in conduits, before reattaching them to your hearing aids.

It’s also advisable to use a specific dehumidifier for hearing aids as moisture can damage the electronics of the hearing aid. For example, they are useful if you are a person who sweats profusely or lives in a particularly humid area. You can find all types, from those based on drying tablets to electronic.

Lastly, your hearing aid model may have small external pieces at the sound output called wax filters. Its function is to protect the receiver by preventing the wax from coming into contact with it. Of course, these filters can accumulate the wax from which they protect them, which can lead to a change in the sounds we hear or even to completely plug the sound output. Therefore, it’s advisable to replace these antiwax filters periodically (the time interval depends on the amount of wax that one generates) or if any change in loudness is perceived. Don’t be alarmed, although many times each brand uses its own filters, in all cases this filter change is a quick and easy process.

As you can see, regular cleaning of your hearing aids is a simple process that you can easily do at home. By investing just 5 minutes from time to time, you can avoid minor breakdowns and extend the life of your hearing aids in an easy way. In this way, you can be sure that you have done everything in your power to keep your hearing aids in good condition. Rest assured that, in Claso, we will do the rest.