You’ve got an active summer planned. Some beach time and lots of swimming for sure. You’ll do some regular running and then maybe take in a baseball game or two before going home and grilling up some tasty dinner. Your schedule is going to be quite full. So it’s essential that your hearing aids are ready.
All of these experiences can present unique challenges for your hearing aids, but there are some easy ways you can protect these little, helpful devices and enjoy your summer at the same time.
Challenges of hearing aids during the summer
Every season is going to introduce unique challenges with regards to your hearing aids. Climate and weather are the greatest obstacles during the summer.
Summer-related challenges may include:
- Moisture: During the summer, moisture is almost always a factor, whether from sweat, rain, swimming, or humidity. Moisture can be harmful to hearing aids so that can present a problem.
- Wind: Your hearing aids can be pushed and pulled around by the wind if it’s powerful enough. Depending on the climate, powerful winds can also introduce dust and debris into your hearing aid.
- Debris, sand and dirt: In the summer you’re actually active. But sand inside of your hearing aid, such as beach sand, can cause problems.
For the most part, it’s quite apparent why these problems are more prevalent in the summer months: you spend more time outside. And you’re more likely to encounter a sudden rain storm or a strong wind when you’re outdoors so often.
Keeping your hearing aids at optimum performance through the summer
Your hearing aids are designed to enhance your quality of life, to allow you to do more. So over the course of the summer, most individuals want to wear their hearing aids as often as possible. This means doing a few extra things to take care of the technology and ensure your hearing aids keep working.
Take steps to keep your hearing aids dry
We’ve established that moisture is the adversary of a well-functioning hearing aid (the more sophisticated the electronics, the worse water becomes). Keep moisture at bay with these tips:
- Have a microfiber towel nearby. That way, you can dry your hearing aids all through the day. In this way, you can prevent the accumulation of moisture.
- Air dry your hearing aids while you sleep by opening the battery compartment. This will help counter damage caused by corrosion of the battery.
- When you’re doing something that will cause you to sweat, use a sweatband. Your hearing aids will stay quite dry because sweat can’t get to them.
- Don’t go swimming with your hearing aids in your ears. Going for a swim? Sweet! Just take out your hearing aids first. Obviously, this is common sense. So lingering moisture in your ears after you get out of the water is the real concern. That’s why you should start thinking about using a swim cap and earplugs when you go swimming. By doing this your ears and thus your hearing aids will remain quite dry.
- Thoroughly dry your ears. Drying your ears totally will help avoid the unintentional transference of moisture from your ears to your hearing aids.
Routinely clean your hearing aids
Heat and moisture can both fuel the growth of bacteria. So you should also take a few steps to ensure your hearing aids are remaining clean over the summer months. You can do the following:
- Store your hearing aids in a place that’s cool and dry. That’s because hearing aids (generally) don’t do well with exposure to heat and direct sunlight. So keep them off of your dashboard on hot days. Alternatively, when you’re not wearing them, store your hearing aids in a cool, dry place.
- Routinely sanitize your hearing aids. This can be done with specially made antibacterial and disinfectant wipes.
- Don’t let debris accumulate over time. You can take a few minutes to remove any debris on your hearing aids while you sanitize them. Occasionally, a professional cleaning is needed.
Stay active, remain happy, keep hearing
Your hearing aids will be there for you for a lifetime and they will improve your summer months especially. So whether you’re planning on swimming in the lake, hiking over a mountain, or going for a stroll around the neighborhood, there’s a way to make sure your hearing aids stay dry and keep working.