Ask Anna: I miss my analogue hearing aids
April 26, 2016
Why World Day for Health and Safety at Work Matters
April 28, 201610 care tips for your child’s hearing aid
As a parent of a hearing impaired child, taking good care of your kid’s hearing aids automatically becomes part of your daily ritual.
Besides the hygienic aspect, protecting these valuable devices also prevents damage and allows them to have a longer life cycle.
Here are 10 care tips for your child’s hearing aid:
1. Clean your child’s hearing aid daily
Clean the housing with a lint-free cloth or use the small brush provided in the hearing aid hard case. Detergents, alcohol and soaps should never be used for cleaning. Cleaning using water only is recommended for the earmolds when they are disconnected from the hearing aid.
2. Protect the hearing aids against extremely low and high temperatures
Extreme temperatures can damage the internal components of a hearing aid. Therefore avoid longer exposure to colder weather and to sources of heat, such as hair dryers, the stove, heaters, open flames, hot cars and even direct sunlight
3. Don’t let your child swim or shower with the hearing aid
Your child’s hearing aids are water resistant and dust tight. However, hearing aids often have some level of water resistance. For example, with the IP68 rating in the Phonak Sky V hearing aids, it means they can be immersed in water 1 meter depth for 60 minutes. However, extended periods of water submersion on a continual basis will lead to a high level of moisture and water condensation, which over time damages the electronic components. What to do if your hearing aids get wet.
4. Keep your child’s hearing aid away from dirt
Ensure you and your child have clean fingers when touching the hearing aid, so that the tiny microphone input does not get blocked with dirt.
5. When applying hair spray, the hearing aids should be removed
This is especially useful tip for teenagers. Spray and other cosmetic items can damage the devices, so they should always be removed before use.
6. Store and ventilate the hearing aids in a safe place when not in use
Before bed time, put the aids in their storage box, remove the batteries and open the battery door for some ventilation overnight. If your child is old enough, get them used to doing this task daily.
7. Keep batteries and devices out of reach from babies, toddler and dogs
Smaller children and dogs are very curious and quite often tiny batteries and the aids end up in their mouths and hands. In fact, one of the most common accidents with hearing aids is a pet thinking it’s lunch. Therefore, besides getting hearing aids with tamperproof battery doors and mini earhooks for smaller children, it’s important that hearing instruments and their batteries are always stored in a safe place.
8. Avoid dropping the hearing aids
Yes, this is definitely a hard rule when it comes to children. Even if housing materials are getting steadily robust, hearing aids can still get damaged if they hit hard surfaces. When cleaning or changing batteries, hold the hearing aids over a soft surface. Explain to your child the importance of taking good care of their devices and attach them to a pediatric clip to hold them in the ears.
9. Consider to get a hearing aid dehumidifier
Children usually lead a much more active life than adults – playing on the school yards, having their sports lessons or jumping in mud puddles. Therefore sweat, humidity from their surroundings and ear wax build up moist, which can easily be removed by a dehumidifier.
10. Visit the hearing care professional regularly
Seeing a hearing care professional on a regular basis does offer some advantages: as a parent you can be confident that the hearing aids get checked and cleaned properly, prolonging their life span, and your questions can be answered by a professional.
Do you have any other care tips for your child’s hearing aid? Share them with us in the comments!
