You’re planning a very active summer. Plenty of beach time and lots of swimming no doubt. You’ll do some day-to-day jogging and then maybe take in a ball game or two before heading home to up some delicious dinner. Your schedule is going to be rather full. And you want to ensure your hearing aids are up to the challenge.
Summer activities like these can be hard on your hearing aids, but these little helpful devices can be protected without it halting your summer fun.
Summer hearing aid difficulties
Every season is going to introduce unique difficulties when it comes to your hearing aids. In the summer, most of those challenges are weather and climate related.
Summer-related challenges might include:
- Wind: Your hearing aids can be pushed and pulled around by the wind if it’s powerful enough. And if you’re in a particularly dry climate, wind can also introduce dust and debris into your hearing aids.
- Debris, sand and dirt: You’re active in the summer. But when you go to the beach, there’s a good possibility you might get some sand inside of your hearing aid, and that might cause issues.
- Moisture: During the summer, moisture is nearly always a factor, whether from sweat, rain, swimming, or humidity. That’s a problem because moisture can be a major problem for hearing aids.
Part of the reason why these issues are more likely to crop up in the summer is clear: you’re usually outside more. And you’re more likely to experience a sudden rain storm or a strong wind when you’re outside so often.
How to keep your hearing aids working great all summer
Your hearing aids are made to enhance your quality of life, to allow you to do more. So over the course of the summer, the majority of 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 make sure your hearing aids keep working.
Take steps to keep your hearing aids dry
We’ve established that moisture is the enemy of a well-functioning hearing aid (the more advanced the electronics, the worse water is). Keep moisture at bay with these tips:
- Thoroughly dry your ears. Drying your ears completely will help prevent the unintentional transfer of moisture from your ears to your hearing aids.
- Open the battery compartment on your hearing aids at night and let them air dry. This will help prevent damage from corrosion of the battery.
- When you’re performing an activity that will cause you to sweat, use a sweatband. Your hearing aids will stay quite dry because moisture can’t get to them.
- Don’t bring your hearing aids in the water. Beach day? Sweet! Don’t forget to remove your hearing aids before going into the water. Naturally, this is common sense. So lingering wetness in your ears after you get out of the water is the real issue. That’s why you should start thinking about wearing a swim cap and earplugs when you go swimming. This can help keep your ears (and thus your hearing aids) quite dry.
- Keep a microfiber towel handy. In that manner, you can dry your hearing aids all through the day. In this way, you can avoid the accumulation of wetness.
Take measures to keep your hearing aids clean
Moisture and heat can both fuel the growth of bacteria. In the summer particularly, take steps to keep your hearing aids clean. Here are some tips:
- Store your hearing aids in a place that’s cool and dry. Hearing aids, as a rule, don’t do well in the direct sunlight. So don’t put them on your dashboard on a hot summer day. Alternatively, when you’re not using them, store your hearing aids in a dry, cool spot.
- Sanitize your hearing aids on a regular basis. You can do this with specially produced antibacterial and disinfectant wipes.
- Don’t let debris build-up over time. You can take a few minutes to get rid of any debris on your hearing aids while you disinfect them. Sooner or later, it’s most likely also a good idea to have your hearing aids professionally cleaned.
Stay active, remain happy, keep hearing
Your hearing aids are made to accompany you throughout your life, and that’s certainly true of the summer months. So whether you’re planning on going for a swim in the lake, hiking up a mountain, or taking a stroll around the neighborhood, there’s a way to be sure your hearing aids remain dry and keep working.