Water is Not Your Hearing Aid’s Best Friend!

2021-01-25 When you have a hearing aid, you have to make sure you are careful when you are around water. This can be difficult in the summer months, when the call to the seashore beckons. Yet for those that spend all their days in a warm climate, this could be a daily occurrence. Thus, it is vital to know if your hearing aid is water resistant.

“Are there even waterproof hearing aids?”
They do exist, but even these devices may only be approved up to a certain level of water. A rogue ocean wave may spell doom to even the hardiest of hearing aid models. To learn more about your hearing aid and if it is water resistant, be sure to ask your audiologist.

“I’m not a beach person so this doesn’t apply to me!”
Not so fast! Your hearing aid may still come in contact with some water. Even the small bit can damage a unit that is not properly suited for water. Due to the small size of the current hearing aid models, they can easily become an after-thought. However, there are steps you can take to minimize the damage if your unit accidentally gets wet.


Remember these steps!
1. Turn off your hearing aid immediately!
2. Take out the hearing aid’s battery.
3. Shake the hearing aid to try and get all of the water out from the battery’s housing.
4. Find a clean and dry cloth to thoroughly dry your hearing aid battery. No water should be present when reinserting the battery into the device.
5. Keep the battery component open and place your hearing aid in a dry area. If you can place the hearing aid in a warm area, all the better!
6. You want it to dry out completely… but just make sure it doesn’t get too hot. Melting will be more catastrophic than the water damage!
7. Once fully dry, reinsert the battery to your device.

“Did I save it?”
If you follow these steps, your hearing aid will have a much better chance of working optimally once again. If it is still malfunctioning, you need to take your hearing aid to your audiologist. Only a trained hearing specialist will be able to assess the damage and tell you if the unit can be salvaged.