You’re planning a really active summer. You’re certainly going to go to the beach and maybe take a swim. You’ll take in some live entertainment, you’ll get lots of exercise jogging or perhaps playing some tennis, then it’s time to get to the grill. Your schedule will be quite full. So it’s crucial that your hearing aids are prepared.
Summer activities like these can be hard on your hearing aids, but these little beneficial devices can be protected without it halting your summer fun.
Obstacles of hearing aids during the summer
With hearing aids, every season will come with distinctive obstacles. In the summer, many of those challenges are weather and climate related.
Summer-related obstacles might include:
- Wind: A strong enough wind can tug and pull at your hearing aids. Depending on the climate, powerful winds can also introduce dust and debris into your hearing aid.
- Moisture: Whether it’s from humidity, swimming, rain, or simply sweat, moisture is just about always present during the summer. That’s an issue because moisture can be a major issue for hearing aids.
- Debris, sand and dirt: In the summer you’re really active. But sand in your hearing aid, like beach sand, can cause issues.
Generally, it’s fairly obvious why these problems are more widespread during the summer months: you spend more time outdoors. And when you spend more time outside, you’re more likely to experience a powerful gust of wind or a flash rainstorm.
Keeping your hearing aids at peak performance through the summer
Your hearing aids are made to improve your quality of life, to allow you to do more. So throughout the summer, the majority of people want to use 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 continue working.
Take actions to keep your hearing aids dry
We’ve established that moisture is the adversary of a well-functioning hearing aid (the more advanced the electronics, the worse water is). Protect against moisture with these tips:
- Thoroughly dry your ears. Drying your ears totally will help avoid the accidental transference of moisture from your ears to your hearing aids.
- Don’t bring your hearing aids in the water. Beach day? Great! Just take out your hearing aids first. Obviously, this is common sense. So lingering wetness in your ears after you get out of the water is the real concern. That’s why you should consider wearing a swim cap and earplugs when you go swimming. By doing this your ears and thus your hearing aids will remain nice and dry.
- Have a microfiber towel handy. You can use this to routinely dry your hearing aids. This stops wetness from accumulating when you aren’t watching.
- Use a sweatband when you’re working out. This will help keep sweat out of your ears (and away from 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.
Take measures to keep your hearing aids clean
Moisture and heat can both hasten the growth of bacteria. So you should also do a few things to make sure your hearing aids are remaining clean over the summer months. You can do the following:
- Watch for the long-term accumulation of debris. As you’re sanitizing your hearing aids, you can also take the time to clean out any debris that may have built-up. Eventually, it’s most likely also a good plan to have your hearing aids professionally cleaned.
- Disinfect your hearing aids regularly. This can be accomplished with specially produced antibacterial and disinfectant wipes.
- 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 direct sunlight and heat. So keep them off your dashboard on hot days. Instead, make certain they’re nestled away someplace cool and dry when you’re not using them.
Stay active, remain happy, keep hearing
Your hearing aids are designed to help you throughout your life, and that’s definitely true of the summer months. You can keep your hearing aids dry and in good working order whether you’re hiking, swimming, or just taking an evening stroll around your neighborhood.