Hearing aids are tiny pieces of incredible technology, and like all tech, they can go wrong from time to time. As a hearing aid wearer, you need to be aware of the fact that your hearing aids aren’t invincible and every so often issues with them may occur.
Despite your best efforts to care for your hearing aids, you may find that sometimes things begin to go wrong. When your hearing aid begins to not work properly, this can impact your quality of life, as it means that you are unable to hear as well as you should be able to. That’s why, as soon as there’s an issue with your hearing aid, it’s vital that you get it seen to by your audiologist.
Of course, while you may know that hearing aid problems occur, you may not know why they do. Wondering what causes hearing aids to need repairs? For everything that you need to know, have a read of this.
Wear and tear
Like all pieces of technology, over time hearing aids begin to degrade and their functionality is affected. When you’re placing a piece of technology inside a moist environment such as the inner ear, it’s natural to expect some problems as the piece of technology ages.
The good news is that there are steps that you can take to keep your hearing aid working for longer. These include things like keeping your inner ear canal clean and dry, or as clean and dry as possible. You can also take hearing aid cleaning seriously, to help prevent ear wax build up. (If you’re unsure how to clean your hearing aid, ask your audiologist for advice.)
Loss of power
Sometimes, hearing aids lose power because there’s a problem with their batteries. While in most instances, simply replacing the batteries is all it takes, in others this isn’t the case. If you’ve changed your hearing aid’s battery recently but are still experiencing issues, this could be a sign that it’s time to consult your hearing specialist for advice.
Water in your hearing aid
Hearing aids and water don’t mix. That’s a fact that all hearing aid users must get used to. So when a hearing aid gets accidentally wet, it often means that a trip to see the audiologist for a hearing aid repair is in order. Of course, sometimes the water damage is too great and the device cannot be repaired, but for the most part, wet hearing aids are repairable.
Split tubing
With day to day wear, sometimes the hearing aid tubing can become damaged, which in turn impacts the quality of the sound being heard and the user’s comfort. If you notice that your hearing aid has split or broken tubing, it’s important to get it fixed as soon as possible, to ensure that it’s working as it should do and doesn’t cause any damage to the inner ear which could lead to an infection.
Hearing aids aren’t invincible and from time to time they go wrong. When this happens, it’s important that you take them to your audiologist as soon as possible, so that they are able to repair them quickly and prevent any further damage from occurring.