Hello, I had one of ‘those’ mornings this week: I woke up, started to get ready for a meeting, popped in my hearing aids, but then – silence.

So strange. They were removed and cleaned the night before, as usual, placed carefully by the bedside and then the following morning – hearing aid broken.

Has this ever happened to you? Do you also start to troubleshoot in your head:

Battery inserted – Check.
Hearing aid battery working – Try a new one, still nothing?
Tubing appear to be clear – Check.
Turn off and on again – Still nothing.
Check they’re not a ‘loop’ / ‘T’ setting or another programme – Nope.

Huh.

It’s important to stay calm and try to be methodical. Over many years of wearing hearing aids I have a mental checklist and more often than not, the reason tends to be moisture in my hearing aid. Specifically between the device itself and the mold / impression causing it not to work. Sometimes that moisture is in the tubing, sometimes it’s moisture in the ‘hook’. It’s nearly always one of those mornings that I’m trying to dash out the door or need to log on to my computer in 5 minutes for a meeting!

There are various types of molds / impressions and different factors which determine which ones you wear if you have over the ear hearing devices. Primarily they should suit / coordinate with your level of hearing loss and the device you wear, but you might choose something else depending on:

Comfort
Allergies
Fashion
Materials – your preference for acrylic (hard), silicone (soft) or domes (if suitable)

I’m a pro at fitting new tubing for my silicone impressions these days and I can sort it out in a couple of minutes, but occasionally that still doesn’t fix an issue because there may be moisture in the hooks, or in my case, my devices also have filters. Again, I have learned to check these myself when I find a hearing aid not working. Just as I learned how to replace hearing aid tubing myself, many years ago.

I recently received the worst impressions I’ve ever had made. Now on the whole, throughout my life they have always been great; they’ve fitted as they should and they’ve been comfortable. But on this occasion, they arrived at my house as usual and upon opening them I noticed the surface of them were a little rough to the touch, like very fine sandpaper. I just accepted them as they were, they fitted well and I decided they’d probably be okay. Wow, was I wrong! Within a month, my left ear was so painful with 2 internal blisters that I could no longer wear the impression in that ear. For such a tiny blisters, the pain of wearing it was actually excruciating! I should have trusted my instincts.

Now, had I not known that this was an unusual outcome then I might have given up with wearing a hearing aid in that ear altogether. That’s a big problem. When things aren’t right, it’s so important to get them corrected. Go back to your audiologist and get that issue fixed. Too loud, too soft, too quiet, uncomfortable, hearing aid whistling? No, your hearing aid should not whistle while you wear it. Go back and get these things sorted out, be persistent.
You deserve better.

But I’m curious, were you ever given a run through or a checklist of things to check when they stop working? I know that I wasn’t and it’s through lived experience that I can now fix these issues myself (that, as well as closely watching many audiologists over the years).

Of course, all device models are different and may have different tolerances for moisture, different parts that can get damaged or get blocked / need replacing – and we the wearers become quite expert ourselves; those of us who actually wear them and maintain them every day. It’s great to have each other to hand to get some quick advice, especially when you’re reliant on how to connect hearing aids ASAP. Connect with us here!

Advice from peers is invaluable. Just as our devices are valuable when they are working correctly. I depend on both. Whilst technology is far from perfect and does not ‘fix’ my hearing, it does afford me the life that I know and I’m all about making the best of it!

Continue the conversation with us at Deaf Club.