Hearing aids can be fragile instruments. They’re great at helping us live our lives and give us the freedom that we need to hear again and be more confident in ourselves, but they can also break easily especially if we don’t take great care of them. In this article, we’re going to be talking about three things to expect if your hearing aid needs repairs.

1. Your hearing aids will probably be caked in dirt and grime when you realize they need to be repaired

One of the most common reasons for hearing aid repairs is a dirty unit. Since our hearing aids go into our ears, they’re susceptible to moisture damage and earwax buildup. Hearing aids need regular cleaning especially if you use them a lot, produce a lot of earwax or require them when you’re doing physical activity.

To avoid constant repairs, make sure you give your hearing aids a good clean. The type of items you use to clean it can vary depending on the size of your hearing aids, but the general idea is to be delicate and gentle with it so you don’t damage them.

2. Your hearing specialist might actually suggest replacing your hearing aids instead of repairing them

In some cases, your hearing health professional might actually recommend replacing your hearing aids altogether. This is usually the case if they’re expensive to repair or if your hearing specialist can’t locate spare parts to replace it with. As a result, it might be cheaper and more effective to actually replace your hearing aids with a newer pair.

In most cases, a replacement is usually the better option. You can change things you didn’t like about the previous model such as the fit or the features, and you’ll get a more up-to-date version that will improve the sound quality and comfort that you experience.

3. Your hearing aid might not actually need repairs at all, it could just be the settings that have changed

Hearing aids are incredibly advanced nowadays and come with lots of settings and profiles that can be set and calibrated by your hearing health professional. As a result, all of these buttons might confuse you and if you’ve forgotten what your hearing care provider taught you regarding the use of your hearing aids, then you might have accidentally switched a setting or adjusted the volume the wrong way.

Wrong settings are commonly mistaken for broken hearing aids, and you might come to learn that a drop in quality or poor noise production could be the result of the settings changing or not working correctly. In this case, your hearing aid won’t actually need repairs and your hearing specialist will likely just remind you how to use your hearing aids. However, if the settings are frequently changing on their own or the buttons aren’t working, then you will need to replace it as it’s probably faulty.