You use a hearing aid -- maybe you have for years -- and you know how expensive replacing the batteries can be. Yet, you have to have good batteries in order for your hearing aid to be fully effective.
While you can't dramatically extend the life of your hearing aid batteries, there are some tricks you can use to eke additional use out of the small, coin-like batteries that your hearing aid requires.
1. Store Your Batteries Properly
Before you use your hearing aid batteries, you want to keep them in optimum conditions for functioning properly.
2. Handle Your Batteries With Care
Try to minimize the amount of touching that you do with your batteries. The oils on your fingertips can actually make it harder for the battery to contact the right points inside the hearing aid. Plus, you don't want to transfer grease and dirt from your hands to the inside of your hearing aid. Always wash your hands with soap before handling your hearing aid or its batteries.
When you do take a new battery out of the package, don't handle it excessively but don't immediately insert it, either. Give the battery about 5 minutes to be exposed to air, which will help the zinc air design power up properly.
3. Be Conscious of Your Hearing Aid Use
You should only use your hearing aid at the minimum level you need, because the more amplification you need, the harder your battery has to work. In a similar vein, quiet environments will put less wear on your hearing aid and its battery than a loud situation.
Of course, your hearing aid batteries will last longer if you don't have your hearing aid on when it's not in use. When you're not using it, open the battery door and store it in a clean and safe place. The open compartment door helps keep moisture from building up and putting extra strain on the battery. It will also make it less likely to corrode.
Only remove the battery completely if you won't be using your hearing aid for a long period of time. Remember that the zinc air models are still activated and working, even if they're not installed, so you may not get a full life from that specific battery.
Talk to your audiologist if you have questions about how your hearing aid should work and how to best care for and store your batteries.
Share10 May 2016
When my daughter began having academic problems in school and acting out, I knew that something wasn’t right. Her teachers wanted me to put her on ADD medications, but I didn’t think that that was the right course for us. I had serious doubts that ADD was what was causing her problems. I took her to several different specialists before discovering that her issues in school were actually do to a visual processing problem. The doctor recommended vision therapy, not medication, to help correct the problem and get her back on track. The exercises are really starting to pay off, and she’s showing great improvement.
