You’re planning a really active summer. You’re definitely going to hit the beach and maybe go for a swim. You’ll do some regular jogging and then maybe attend a baseball game or two before heading home and grilling up some delicious dinner. Your schedule will be quite full. So it’s important that your hearing aids are ready.
Summer activities like these can be hard on your hearing aids, but these little beneficial devices can be protected without it halting your summer fun.
Obstacles of hearing aids in the summer
With hearing aids, each season will come with distinctive challenges. In the summer, most of those tests are weather and climate related.
Here are some summer related challenges:
- Moisture: In the summer, moisture is almost always present, whether from sweat, rain, swimming, or humidity. Moisture can be harmful to hearing aids so that can present a challenge.
- Dirt and debris: In the summer you’re really active. But sand inside of your hearing aid, like beach sand, can lead to issues.
- Wind: A powerful enough wind can jerk and pull at your hearing aids. And if you’re in an especially dry environment, wind can also introduce dust and debris into your hearing aids.
In general, it’s pretty apparent why these issues are more widespread during the summer months: you spend more time outside. And you’re more likely to experience a surprise rain storm or a powerful wind when you’re outside so often.
How to keep your hearing aids working great all summer
Your hearing aids are designed to improve your quality of life, to allow you to do more. So throughout the summer, the majority of individuals want to use their hearing aids as frequently as they can. This means doing a few extra things to take care of the technology and make sure your hearing aids keep working.
Keeping your hearing aids dry
We’ve established that moisture is the adversary of a well-functioning hearing aid (the more advanced the electronics, the worse water becomes). Protect against moisture with these tips:
- Don’t swim while wearing your hearing aids. Beach day? Great! Just take out your hearing aids first. Naturally, this is common sense. So the real hazard is the wetness in your ears that remains after you go into the water. That’s why you should start thinking about wearing a swim cap and earplugs when you go in the water. This can help keep your ears (and thus your hearing aids) quite dry.
- Have a microfiber towel handy. That way, you can dry out your hearing aids all through the day. In this way, you can avoid the build-up of wetness.
- Thoroughly dry your ears. Make sure you aren’t accidentally transferring moisture from your ears to your hearing aids.
- Air dry your hearing aids at night by opening the battery compartment. This will help keep the battery from corroding and will decrease damage.
- When you’re doing something that will cause you to sweat, wear a sweatband. Your hearing aids will stay quite dry because moisture can’t get to them.
Take measures to keep your hearing aids clean
Moisture and heat can both hasten the growth of bacteria. In the summer particularly, take measures to keep your hearing aids clean. You can do the following:
- Disinfect your hearing aids regularly. This can be done with specially produced antibacterial and disinfectant wipes.
- Watch for the long-term build-up of debris. As you’re disinfecting your hearing aids, you can also take the time to clean out any debris that may have built-up. Sooner or later, it’s probably also a good idea to have your hearing aids professionally cleaned.
- Store your hearing aids in a spot that’s cool and dry. Hearing aids, generally speaking, don’t handle direct sunlight very well. So don’t store them on your dashboard on a hot summer day. Instead, when you’re not using them, keep your hearing aids in a dry, cool place.
Stay active, remain happy, keep hearing
Your hearing aids are made to accompany you all through your life, and that’s certainly true of the summer season. There’s a way to keep your hearing aids dry and in good working order whether you’re hiking, swimming, or simply taking an evening stroll around your neighborhood.