Protect your devices from cold, snow, and other seasonal hazards.
Winter brings cold and wet weather, which can harm hearing aids. The extreme temperatures and excess moisture can affect the quality and performance of your device. While not everyone with hearing loss uses hearing aids, these tips can help wearers know how to care for them now that Old Man Winter has arrived.
How to care for hearing aids in the winter:
- Bundle up outdoors
- Consider a hearing aid sweatband
- Remove devices during winter sport activities
- Don’t leave them in your car
- Be vigilant to remove moisture
- Have extra batteries available
- Avoid dangerous noise exposure
- Know how to troubleshoot
Below, learn more about these tips for caring for hearing aids in the winter.
Bundle up outdoors
Make your favorite winter hats and scarves a regular part of your attire when you venture outdoors this winter. In addition to keeping you warm and cozy, they’ll help shield your hearing aids from frigid temperatures, snow, or sleet that can wreak havoc on batteries and devices.
Consider a hearing aid sweatband
Moisture-repelling and absorbent hearing aid sweatbands can help keep your device dry in the winter elements. They slip over your hearing aids while still allowing you to operate the controls on your device while it’s in place.
Remove devices during winter sport activities
If you love hitting the slopes to ski, snowboard, or sled during the winter, consider removing your hearing aids beforehand and storing them in a warm and dry spot. This precaution can help protect them from the wet combination of a snowy environment and perspiration from exercise.
Don’t leave them in your car
Drastic temperature changes are another common culprit for hearing aid damage, which is why it’s best not to leave hearing aids in your car or store them in a cold place. Going from cold to warm environments can cause condensation to build up, which in turn can cause corrosion or damage to the microphone or receiver. Severe temperature dips may also reduce battery life and performance.
Be vigilant to remove moisture
Sometimes a little dampness is unavoidable. If you’re worried that your hearing aids have been exposed to a lot of moisture, take steps immediately to avoid damage. Make a habit of wiping down your hearing aids regularly, both externally with a soft cloth and inside the battery compartment with a dry cotton ball. Using a dehumidifier overnight can help extend the life of your hearing aids by removing any condensation you weren’t able to wipe away.
Have extra batteries available
The cold and wet weather may cause hearing aid batteries to drain faster than usual. To help ensure that your devices are powered up when you need them, consider having an extra supply of batteries on-hand this season.
Avoid dangerous noise exposure
Winter weather noises from snow blowers and other noisy equipment can reach unsafe decibel levels. If your device features a noise reduction setting, turn it on when exposed to loud noises that you can’t avoid and limit the exposure as much as possible.
Know how to troubleshoot
If you notice static, poor reception, distorted sounds, noise cutting in and out, or another malfunction, a few troubleshooting tips you can try:
- Turn them off and take out the batteries
- Clean the hearing aid and battery compartment
- Try fresh batteries
- Put them in a dehumidifier for as long as the instructions advise
- Place them inside a bag full of uncooked rice, which can absorb moisture overnight
- Leave them to air-dry for 24 hours on top of a newspaper
If these strategies to care for hearing aids in the winter don’t work, pay a visit to your audiologist or hearing healthcare professional for help.
To discover how a captioned telephone for hearing loss can help you catch every word over the phone, call 800.2339130 or visit CapTel.com today.
