According to the National Institutes of Health, a hearing aid is a tiny electronic device that a person wears behind or inside the ear. It enables a person with hearing loss to communicate, listen and participate in daily activities. A hearing aid intensifies sound vibrations entering the ear. Checking your hearing aid daily is important to ensure it works correctly. There are several ways to successfully check a hearing aid.
Step 1
Remove your hearing nightly. Detach the ear hook from the ear mold. The ear mold is the piece that fits inside the ear. The Texas Center for Hearing advises individuals to thoroughly clean the ear mold by using a wax remover. Occasionally, ear mold tubing becomes clogged with wax that can cause the device to malfunction.
Step 2
Check the external areas of the hearing aid for holes, cracks or tears. Search for loose connections, loose tubing or broken parts. This step helps to immediately identify hearing aid defects that may result in a malfunction. According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, visit an audiologist to determine the remedy for external defects.
Step 3
Detach the hearing aid battery and check it with a battery tester. According to the University of New Mexico, signs that your battery may have a malfunction include low voltage, leakage or corrosion on battery contacts. Corrosion and rust occur when moisture or humidity becomes trapped inside battery compartments. This can give hearing aids a whirring noise or provide weak amplification. Use a cotton swab, dipped in rubbing alcohol, to rub the battery compartment interior until it is clean. Allow your hearing aid to dry out overnight in a room temperature environment. Return the aid to the audiologist or manufacturer if malfunctions persist.
Step 4
Examine your hearing aid for condensation accumulation. Moisture deposits in ear hooks or ear molding tubing can black out sound completely. If condensation is present, blow it out with an ear mold dryer. According to the Texas Center for Hearing, use the blower until all forms of condensation disappear. Repeat the process on a regular basis to keep your hearing aid in optimal repair.
Step 5
Test your hearing aids daily. Conduct a sound check to make sure it works properly. Detach the ear mold and listen to it through a stethoscope. According to the University of New Mexico, hearing aid stethoscopes fine tune the device and allow various sound checks. Practice using regular speech patterns to test the hearing aid frequencies. Your hearing aid is working properly if you can hear sounds as you normally do.
Things You'll Need
- Battery tester
- hearing aid stethoscope
- Rubbing alcohol
- Cotton swab
- Ear mold blower
