Saving your Hearing Instruments in Case of Contact with Moisture

Over 48 million people in America use hearing aids to rectify their hearing loss. Some of these users are overly comfortable with wearing their hearing instruments to the point where they sometimes forget to remove them prior to taking a shower or going swimming. This can result in moisture getting into the hearing aids, which can cause anxiety due to the potential damaging effect of moisture on the delicate inner circuitry of hearing aids.

In case your hearing aids are wet, you need not panic. A few simple steps can help save your hearing aids from a trip to your audiologist. The first and most obvious thing to do is remove your hearing instruments from water as soon as you can. The more water that gets lodged into your hearing aids, the worse your chances will be to revive them.

The moment you retrieve your hearing aids, turn them off and make sure you remove your hearing aid battery from inside the hearing aids. After removing the batteries, close the door that holds your batteries. If your hearing aids have tubing, make sure you remove the tubing as well as the batteries.

After the battery door is closed and the tubing is removed, you can proceed to dry your hearing aids with a clean and dry towel. Place your hearing aids in a well-ventilated area that has sunlight so that you can air dry your hearing aids. If you are unable to find a sunny, breezy spot, just get a bowl and fill it with plain, white rice that is uncooked. Place your hearing aids deep into the rice and wait for a few hours to enable the rice to absorb the excessive moisture from the hearing aids.

As a last resort, if you find that your hearing aids are not working, take them to your audiologist. If you have a hearing aid warranty, you can send them to the manufacturer and get a replacement pair.