Hearing aids, like all electronic or mechanical devices, need routine maintenance! No matter what style of hearing aid you have, they are all electronic devices that are put in a sweaty, waxy, moist environment for an average of 18 hours a day so they need daily maintenance to function properly and consistently.
Below, are some tips to help keep your hearing aids functioning well:
- Wipe down hearing aid and/or dome daily with a tissue or moist wipe
- Brush microphones, receivers, and other parts of hearing aid daily– you can use what was given to you by your audiologist, or a small soft baby toothbrush
- Hearing aids that have wax guard systems—check and change at least once month, or anytime the wax guard is clogged and you’re not hearing well. Wax guards are available for purchase at all offices!
- Domes should be replaced if they start to get loose or saggy, so they don’t get stuck in the ear canal. Consider changing your domes every couple of months to prevent this from happening.
- Open battery door at night to turn your hearing aids off and let air into the battery compartment. This should also save you some battery life!
- Do not store the hearing in a humid environment (i.e. bathroom).
- Put the hearing aids in a Drying Unit at night! Most units have fans to circulate the air, UV lights to kill bacteria, and a desiccant to remove moisture and humidity from the hearing aids. If you don’t have one, GET ONE!
IT’S VERY IMPORTANT TO PROTECT YOUR INVESTMENT
Remember—daily maintenance will improve the performance of the hearing aid, but it will not necessarily extend the life of a hearing aid. National average lifetime of a hearing aid is 3.8 years—at that point it is time to consider upgrading technology so that you can continue to hear as best as you can!
Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico helped christen the new offices for Hearing Health Center in the Fox Run Square shopping center on October 24, but not before receiving a clean bill of hearing.
Just prior to his thanking Hearing Health Center’s founder, Dr. Ronna Fisher, for 33 years of support in the Naperville community, Chirico had his own hearing checked by Dr. Ning Jing, a longtime Naperville resident celebrating his 15th year with the practice.
A special guest at the evening’s ribbon cutting ceremony, open house and hearing tech expo, Chirico admitted he hadn’t had a hearing checkup since grade school. “I’m surprised that doctors don’t test hearing,” he said. “They take our blood pressure, check our cholesterol, and run a myriad of other tests. Why don’t they check our hearing?
They will soon if Fisher has anything to say about it. As one of the nation’s foremost audiologists, Fisher has been advocating for incorporating hearing tests in yearly physicals for years.
“The problem is that most people don’t have any trouble communicating in a nice quiet room, three feet from their doctor, with no background noise,” Fisher Explains. “Patients don’t mention it and doctors don’t pick up on it or think to ask.”
New research links memory, early dementia and increased falls to hearing loss. When the brain does not receive all of the sound stimulation it should, the ability to process and understand speech deteriorate, and it gets worse the longer treatment is delayed. Early detection and using hearing aids, the only treatment for 95% of all hearing loss, is key.
“Hearing aids today are virtually invisible,” said Hearing Health Center patient Walter Jacobson, the legendary WBBM-TV news anchorman and reporter who attended the Naperville grand opening. “I thought I heard fine until I missed an important part of a conversation. When I got hearing aids, I was shocked. I had no clue I was missing so much. They changed my life.”
Hearing Health Center opened in Edward Hospital 33 years ago. Today there are five additional locations in Chicago, Highland Park, Oak Brook and Resurrection Hospital in Park Ridge.
Fisher is also the founder of The Fisher Foundation for Hearing Health Care, a nonprofit that provides hearing aids to her patients, and anyone unable to pay for treatment. Today the focus of the foundation is helping children with brain cancer that have permanent hearing loss from the treatment that saved their lives.
“These families are financially drained,” explained Fisher. “Their child is frustrated, angry and starting to lag behind. If they don’t get hearing aids immediately they will be behind the rest of their lives. They have no support and nowhere to turn. Thankfully, our foundation is there to help.
Festivities on October 24 included demonstrations, hearing tests, brain processing evaluations, and otoscopy, enabling guests to see inside their ear canals. In addition, leading manufacturers in the hearing aid industry—Starkey, Signia/Siemens, Oticon, Widex, Resound, and Phonak—were all on hand offering demonstrations of their latest hearing aid technology.
Hearing loss occurs slowly and may not be a problem all the time. Difficulty understanding words and parts of conversations in noisy environments or from a distance are the first indication of hearing loss, which now affects Americans as early as in their 40’s. That is the time to get it checked.
Mayor Chirico is tested by Dr. Jing
“People wait far too long to see a professional licensed audiologist,” added Fisher. “The longer your brain gets mixed up information, then your ability to process speech deteriorates. I can help you hear; I cannot fix your brain.”
Fortunately, the evening included some positive news for Naperville’s Mayor Chirico. “Good news for the City of Naperville,” Fisher announced to the crowd just before the ribbon cutting. “Mayor Chirico’s hearing is great and his brain processing is spot on! Dementia is nowhere in sight so he can be mayor for a long time.”
Visit our Facebook page for more photos from our fantastic celebration!
Author: Dr. Alissa Nickerson
We live in a digital age. With a click of a button, you can download your favorite movies. You can order the latest clothing trends. You can even have your groceries delivered right to your door. So what about having your hearing aids delivered to you? Sure, the convenience and relative ease might be convincing. But how do you know you’re really getting the hearing help you need?
The hearing industry has grown tremendously in the last 25 years. We no longer see the “big beige bananas” that plagued those with hearing problems in the past. Now, hearing aids are small, discrete and more technologically advanced than ever. But, it’s not just the hearing aids that help the user. It’s the trained Doctor of Audiology fitting the hearing aids. This is true in not just the hearing industry but many health-related fields. Consider a doctor performing a knee surgery: sure, the prostheses helps the patient, but it will only work well if the doctor performs the surgery appropriately. The same is true for your hearing! Unless your hearing aid is programmed directly for your needs—your physical ear, your lifestyle, your audiometric hearing loss—you won’t be getting the hearing help you need.
In addition to the knowledge the Doctor of Audiology can provide in a professional appointment, there are so many other aspects of hearing health that need to be addressed when you get hearing aids:
- Diagnosis: Before ever discussing hearing aids with you, Doctors of Audiology perform extensive testing to determine the root cause of your hearing problems. In some instances, hearing problems can be easily fixed, such as removing a build-up of earwax from the ear. Without a doctor’s diagnosis, you could be scammed into paying for a hearing aid online that you do not need.
- Programming: Hearing aids are not just volume controls. Hearing aids have to be specifically programmed to help you hear the sounds you are missing. Without a comprehensive test, even the best hearing aids can’t help you because they won’t be programmed to your needs.
- Fit: The fit of the hearing aids has to be customized to you. If you buy online, there is no guarantee that the hearing aids will fit your ears.
- Repairs: Hearing aids can, and do break, just like any piece of technology. When this happens, it’s important to have a professional nearby to help you with issues.
So are you really getting a bargain online? Is it really convenient if you aren’t hearing your best? I’ll let you be the judge. The Doctors of Audiology at the Hearing Health Center are here for you— we look forward to evaluating your hearing and balance problems.
Anyone that has a behind-the-ear hearing aid will use either a dome or a custom mold- this is the piece of rubber or plastic that goes directly into the ear. These pieces of your hearing aid live in a wet, humid environment- so it’s important to know when to change them out! Additionally, sometimes the dome or ear mold just doesn’t fit right, which will not only affect the quality of your hearing, but it will also affect your experience with the hearing aids themselves.
DOMES
The dome is the rubber tip that sits inside the individual’s ear canal. Domes are usually clear or black, and can range in a wide variety of sizes- one for every possible ear canal! As the dome is the first point of contact with your ear canal, it can very easily become blocked with wax or debris, and prevent sound from coming out of the hearing aid. We see a lot of patients whose hearing aids have “stopped working”- when upon closer inspection, they just need a clean dome! When the dome becomes plugged, you can use a cleaning tool with a brush on the end to brush off any debris or wax. So, when should you change your dome with a new one? You should change your dome if it is ripped or yellow. If you see that your dome is ripped or has turned a yellow color, it is time to visit your audiologist and change your dome- or, change it at home!
CUSTOM EAR MOLDS
Many patients with behind-the-ear hearing aids have custom molds that fit into their ear.
You may need to get a new ear mold if:
- Your ear mold is not fitting right or coming out of your ear.
- Your ear mold is ripping or very discolored.
- You are getting feedback or whistling from your hearing aid. If your ear mold is not fitting in your ear correctly, sound may be leaking out of your ear and getting picked up by the microphones of your hearing aid.
In any of these cases, call your audiologist to see if it’s time for a new ear impression!
The Jam’s Danielle Robay sits down with Dr. Ronna Fisher from the Hearing Health Center to get details on a particular hearing loss, and to make people aware of these happenings at an early age.
Watch the video here: http://www.wciu.com/videos/thejam/early-hearing-loss-concerns
Technology requires special care during the summer months, and your hearing aid is no exception. You need to maintain your hearing aids as you normally would, but because of the added humidity in the air and the heat of June, July, and August, you’ll need to take extra care when you’re having summer fun. Take care of your investment and your health with these four tips.
Tip 1: Remove your hearing aids before swimming.
Anytime you’re around water, it’s best to leave your hearing aids behind. You do need to consider your own safety though. If you won’t be able to hear warnings, it might be safer to leave them in. If they do get wet, use a lint-free towel to dry them off, remove the battery, and place the aid itself in a hearing aid dryer or desiccant jar.
Tip 2: Protect them against sweat and humidity.
After a workout, remove your hearing aids and wipe them off. Even water-resistant sets are vulnerable to the bacteria which grows faster when it’s hot and humid. Use disinfectant towelettes and a dry and store solution designed to keep your aids clean and dry. Ask your audiologist about getting your set of hearing aids professionally cleaned more often in the summer.
Tip 3: Keep your hearing aids secure.
Summer activities are often much more risky than those you undertake the rest of the year. Use special clips to keep your hearing aids attached to your clothing or your glasses. If something does come out of place, it won’t go too far.
Tip 4: Get hearing aids suited to your lifestyle.
Talk to your audiologist about the style of hearing aid that fits your needs. Hearing aids that reduce wind noise because they sit completely in the ear canal are ideal for golfers. If you wear a helmet that reduces the effectiveness of your aid, your audiologist has solutions. Take care of your expensive equipment by following proper care and use.
Walter Jacobson sits down with Dr. Ronna Fisher of Hearing Health Center.
Visit our website: hearinghealthcenter.com
Scientific evidence shows that there is a difference between what causes problems with hearing speech while in a noisy area versus the causes of problems hearing sound. Exposure to loud noises effects the brains ability to listen selectively to speech. Click here to read more about why you may have problems hearing someone talking in a noisy area, but still have normal hearing.
The ear is a dark, warm, moist place…the perfect environment for growing fungi, germs, and bacteria. Hearing aids reside in this environment 13 to 16 hours/day.
Guess what? Every time you remove your hearing aid from your ear, it is loaded with fungus, germs, and bacteria. Reinserting your hearing aids without cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting them can irritate the lining of your ear canals causing redness, swelling, itching, pain, terrible odors, and infections.
HOW DO I CLEAN, SANITIZE, AND DISINFECT MY HEARING AIDS?
1. Wipe with a non-alcohol sanitizing wipe (like Audio Wipes). Let it air dry.
**Pro Tip!** Never use alcohol on hearing aids or ear molds. It will ruin and erode the surfaces and special plastic materials used in the manufacturing process. Alcohol will also damage the delicate components of the hearing aid.
2. Keep your hearing aids in a drying system (Dry and Store) or the new (PerfectClean) designed specifically to sanitize and pull out the moisture inside the hearing aids that accumulated from your ear. Drying systems use desiccants and heated moving air to dry the hearing aid inside and out. The built-in ultraviolet light sanitizes and kills germs while removing moisture.
Using a drying kit will:
- Increase the life of your hearing aids
- Prevent costly repairs
- Increase battery life
- Maintain peak performance of your hearing aids
- Relieve itchy ears by killing germs
-Dr. Ronna Fisher, Au.D.
Earbuds are tiny, lightweight, inexpensive portable speakers. They are by far the most popular choice for private listening.
Harmless, Right?
Wrong!
Twenty percent of teenagers have a moderate to severe, permanent and irreversible hearing deficit usually seen in 70-year-olds. Why? Earbuds!
How Can Earbuds Damage Hearing?
Any sustained sound that exceeds a certain volume level (measured in decibels, dB) will cause hearing damage. Anything over 85 decibels (traffic noise, vacuum cleaner, noisy restaurants) is harmful. It doesn’t matter if the sound is pleasant (music, sporting events) or irritating and cacophonous (sirens, chain saws, lawn mowers).
Any loud sound for a long time kills the tiny hair cells that respond to auditory stimulation and damages the nerve fibers that send those sounds to your brain.
Earbuds makes the problem worse because:
- They are nestled inside your ear canals very close to your eardrum and inner ear.
- The sound is concentrated. Close proximity in an enclosed environment increases power of the sound about 10 times. And it’s aimed right at the organ of hearing.
- Unlike the old Walkman, whose battery died after a few hours, listening devices today (iPods, MP3 players) can remain powered for 24 hours. You can listen for long periods of time without taking a break. The ears don’t have a chance to recover from the onslaught of harmful sound.
Which are Worse: Earbuds or Headphones?
The short answer is earbuds, because of the deep insertion into the ear canal sending stronger waves that quickly damage the nerve fibers. But headphones today, like Beats by Dre, which are made to fit snugly over the ears and boost the base, can be just as damaging depending on the volume and duration of exposure.
Most MP3 players can produce volumes up to 120 decibels. Listening at that level can cause irreparable hearing loss in less than 15 minutes.
And if you ever have ringing in your ears after loud exposure to sound – it’s too late. Your hearing may recover, but the dead hair cells and nerve damage never will.