Hearing Aid Care Guide

Wipe them down every day after you take them out — a quick once-over with a soft, dry cloth removes oils, moisture, and earwax before they build up. Once a week, do a deeper clean of the vents, microphone ports, and wax guards. On top of that, manufacturers point to a professional clean-and-check twice a year: Signia advises visiting your hearing care professional every 6 months, and Starkey notes that its five-year lifespan estimate assumes clean-and-checks at least that often.

No — and manufacturers are blunt about this. Starkey's use-and-care guidance says "Do not use water, alcohol swabs or cleaning solvents as they can break down or damage your hearing aids," and Phonak states that "Alcohol, solvents and cleaning agents may damage the devices." Phonak also says never to use household detergents or soap on a hearing aid. Use a soft dry cloth, the brush and tools that came with your devices, or wipes made specifically for hearing aids.

Roughly 3 to 7 years, with about five years being the common point where people start weighing repair against replacement. Signia puts the typical lifespan at "about 3 to 7 years" and Starkey calls five years "a sensible time to consider investing in new hearing aids versus fixing our old ones" — while noting that estimate assumes regular cleaning and professional check-ups every six months. Humidity, sweat, and dust all shorten it. Care won't make a hearing aid immortal, but it does move you toward the better end of that range.

The lithium-ion cell is sealed inside the device — it isn't a battery you can swap yourself, and manufacturers generally don't publish a capacity-decline schedule. If your aids stop lasting a full day on a full charge, that's the signal to ask your provider about service rather than assuming you need new devices. Independent all-make repair labs do replace rechargeable cells: HearSource, for example, charges a flat $249 per aid for a complete repair including lithium-ion battery replacement, with a 6-month warranty. That's a fraction of new hearing aid prices, so it's worth asking before you upgrade.

It's a small container or electronic unit that draws moisture out of your hearing aids overnight. Moisture matters: Phonak warns it causes "malfunction of the sensitive electronics," and as an audiologist told Consumer Reports, "General cleaning of devices does not pull moisture out of hearing aids. Dry-aid kits provide an added level of care by drawing out moisture that can affect device reliability." Starkey and Phonak both explicitly recommend asking your provider about a drying system. Consumer Reports puts at-home dryers between $20 and just over $100, with $50–$60 typical. A popular unit runs about $115, with replacement desiccant bricks adding roughly $32 a year.

Roughly every 4 to 8 weeks, sooner if you produce a lot of earwax — and the exact answer depends on your brand. Phonak says every 4–8 weeks (as often as every 1–2 weeks for ActiveVent receivers), Oticon says once a month or whenever they're clogged, and Jabra Enhance recommends every 6–8 weeks. Signia and Widex don't publish an interval at all, advising replacement as soon as the guard looks clogged. If your hearing aids sound quieter or muffled, check the wax guard first — it's the most common cause of reduced volume. One catch: wax guards are model-specific, so buy the one your device actually takes.

They sanitize, but they don't clean or dry — those are separate jobs. UV-C light only reaches surfaces in its direct line of sight, so shadowed areas and anything under a layer of earwax are unaffected. That means you should wipe visible wax off first and rotate the device's position between sessions. Phonak endorses regular UV-C sanitizing as good protection against viruses and bacteria, so it's a genuine benefit — just not a substitute for the brush, the wax guard swap, or the desiccant that actually pulls moisture out.

Whistling (feedback) usually means sound is leaking out and getting picked back up by the microphone. The most common causes are a poor fit (your ear shape can change over time), earwax buildup blocking sound from going into your ear canal, or a loose tube or dome. Try reinserting the hearing aid, cleaning any visible wax, and checking that the dome or earmold is seated properly. If it persists, visit your audiologist — you may need a new earmold or a fit adjustment.

Connectivity hiccups are one of the most common modern hearing aid complaints, and they're usually fixable at home. Start simple: restart your hearing aids and your phone. If that doesn't work, "forget" the hearing aids in your phone's Bluetooth settings and pair them again from scratch. Next, open your manufacturer's companion app and check for a firmware update — these often fix pairing bugs. Finally, a recent phone operating system update can temporarily break the connection until the manufacturer releases a compatibility fix, so keep both the app and your phone software current.

The cleaning basics are the same — daily wipe-downs, keeping microphone ports clear, and avoiding moisture — but with over-the-counter devices you're your own maintenance department, since there's no audiologist doing professional cleanings. Replace the silicone ear tips when they lose their shape or seal, clean the charging case and contacts regularly, and check the companion app for firmware updates, which can improve sound quality and fix bugs. If a self-fit device stops sounding right after cleaning and a fresh charge, contact the manufacturer's support line — most offer troubleshooting help and warranty service by mail.

No. This is the most misunderstood spec in hearing care. An IP68 rating comes from a controlled lab immersion in still fresh water — it describes a test result, not permission for real-world use. Every major manufacturer excludes bathing and swimming regardless of rating: Widex says to "always remove them before bathing or swimming," ReSound says never wear them in showers, swimming, rain, steam baths, or saunas, and Starkey adds hair dryers to the list. Signia frames IP68 as surviving "accidental drops in water, heavy sweat, rain, or even brief submersion — though not meant for swimming or bathing regularly." Treat the rating as insurance against accidents, not a license.

Act quickly and resist the urge to apply heat. ReSound's documented procedure is to leave the aid to dry with the battery out and the battery door open, and to put the hearing aid and battery in a sealed container with a drying agent overnight — while avoiding direct heat or sunlight. Never use a hair dryer, oven, or microwave; heat damages the electronics. If yours are rechargeable, skip the battery step and put them straight into a drying box. Saltwater deserves extra urgency because salt corrodes components, so rinse-free drying should start immediately. If they still don't work after a full overnight dry, internal corrosion may need professional repair.

Work through it in order; most cases resolve at home. Phonak's documented sequence for rechargeable aids is: clean the speaker opening and earpiece and change the wax filter, confirm the aid is switched on by holding the lower button for 3 seconds, charge the battery, then reboot by holding the button at least 15 seconds — and only then contact your hearing care professional. Signia documents a simpler restart: place the aid in the charger for 5 seconds and take it back out. If you use disposable batteries, check the battery and that the door is fully closed first.

Keep the charging case in your carry-on. FAA rules require spare lithium batteries — explicitly including charging cases with their own internal battery — to travel in the cabin, never in checked luggage. Devices with batteries installed should also go in your carry-on. One practical warning worth knowing before a long flight: Phonak notes that most power banks won't charge hearing aids at all, because the aids draw so little current that the power bank shuts itself off. Test yours at home before relying on it.

Carefully, and not with cotton swabs. The AAO-HNS earwax guideline tells patients not to put "cotton swabs, hairpins, car keys, toothpicks, or other things" in the ear — these can cut the canal, perforate the eardrum, or damage hearing bones — and to avoid over-cleaning, which can irritate the canal and actually increase the chance of impaction. Ear candling gets an explicit recommendation against it. Worth knowing as a hearing aid wearer: the same guideline says clinicians should perform otoscopy to check for earwax in patients with hearing aids, so it's a reasonable thing to ask for at appointments.

Less than most people assume, and it varies a lot. The base manufacturer warranty on prescription aids is often one year covering manufacturing and material defects — Sonova's covers the hearing aid and charger but excludes accessories like tubes, earpieces, and external receivers, plus damage from improper handling. Longer terms and loss-and-damage coverage are usually add-on packages arranged where you buy. Two things worth checking: loss coverage typically allows only one claim per coverage period (Jabra Enhance, for example, carries a $195 deductible and can be used once), and Widex states it honors warranties only on products bought from authorized dealers — so a bargain from an unauthorized online reseller may arrive with no factory coverage at all.

Usually yes, but the rules depend on your state and where you bought them. Many states mandate a trial period on prescription hearing aids, and the terms differ more than you'd expect: California requires the warranty statement to tell buyers the aid may be returned within 45 days of delivery, Minnesota gives 45 days to cancel for any reason with the cancellation fee capped at $250, and Florida requires a 30-day money-back guarantee — though Florida's is for a "valid reason" as defined by board rule rather than no-questions-asked. Direct-to-consumer sellers set their own: Jabra Enhance offers 100 days, Eargo 45. For OTC devices, the FDA requires the package to disclose the return policy but doesn't set a minimum length, so read it before you buy.