Give your hearing aids a spring clean

Cleaning out the cupboards, window washing, dusting, gardening, washing the car are all activities that seem to keep us busy each spring.

The spring season is an important time of the year that triggers renewed energy urging us to clean up clutter and unwanted items that have accumulated during the winter months, and start a fresh.

You may not realise but your hearing aids could use the same attention. Proper hearing aid care helps maintain optimum hearing, extends the life of your hearing aids and ensures healthy ear hygiene.

Debris, oil, moisture and earwax can build up on your hearing instruments, clogging the parts that release sound to your ears. This can affect the hearing aid’s performance which is why it is really important to clean them daily and if it has been more than six months since you have had a professional hearing aid service, I would recommend you book to see your hearing professional for a good spring clean!

If you would like some assistance regarding cleaning them yourself, I have noted some useful tips below:

ITE (in the ear) model and RIC (receiver in the ear) model

You’ll want to concentrate on cleaning the sound outlet area and the microphones, with the use of a soft-bristle brush and any other specific tools you have. Hold the hearing aid firmly and gently sweep the bristles over the outlet area. Angle the brush downwards so any particles will fall on the ground instead of inside the holes. Change the wax guard if your aid is fitted with one. Then, finish by wiping the device with a clean, dry tissue.

BTE (behind the ear) model

Cleaning this type of device is similar, but there is the additional earmould to also clean. This needs to be removed from the hearing aid and washed in soapy water. Rinse thoroughly using luke warm water and then using your puffer blow air through the tube to dry. Refit the earmould to the hearing aid.

Avoid contact with harsh products

You should avoid using any hair products while a hearing aid is in situ, as this can create a sticky surface and increase accumulation of dust and debris buildup. These products can also cause damage to the plastic, volume control or program control of the hearing aid. Before using any body products, including face washes and creams, it’s best to remove your hearing aid and place it in a safe, dry location. Hearing aids also need to stay out of contact with direct heat, so always take it out before drying your hair with a hair drier.

New Technology Advancement For Profound Hearing Losses

World renowned hearing aid manufacturer, Siemens, has just released a new hearing aid for people whose hearing is severely impaired. The hearing aid is so thin that it can fit behind the ear of a hearing-impaired baby.

The new device, known as 'Nitro', is one-third narrower than its predecessor, and reason being because that it is equipped with high-performance microchips.

The new device offers an unprecedented sound volume even at the high amplification required for severely hearing-impaired users.

An important feature of hearing aids is that they sufficiently amplify speech to make it easily audible, but at the same time offer a sound experience that is as comfortable and balanced as possible.

The hearing aid receives sound waves through two microphones. The microchips split the sound waves into individual frequency ranges, on the basis of which they create a finely tuned sound no matter what the acoustic situation. The system automatically offsets audio feedback that creates an annoying whistling sound.

Although hearing aids generally have trouble dealing with a babble of voices such as occurs at parties, the new system can also handle such situations by making background discussions quieter so that the wearer can concentrate better on what his or her interlocutor is saying.

The technology within the hearing aid enables it to process a broader range of frequencies and split sounds into as many as 48 individually optimised channels.

Although this results in a huge number of calculations, it does not cause any noticeable sound delays, because the system processes 250 million commands per second. This makes listening with a hearing aid much less strenuous than was previously the case.

The signals from the two directional microphones are individually processed in parallel, enabling the system to more quickly eliminate audio feedback and identify sound sources so that irritating background noises can be filtered out.

Siemens engineers enabled left-ear and right-ear hearing aids to exchange data for the first time in 2004. This allows users to recognise differences in the signals received at each ear so that they can localise a sound source, for example.

I hope I have not bamboozled you with all of my technology speak. Suffice to say, this hearing aid is a fantastic advancement in helping those who have a profound hearing loss. The latest microphone technology in this device reduces listening fatigue substantially and right now no other hearing device for profoundly hearing impaired people can offer a comparable performance.

The key features to take from this new hearing aid are:

• A third thinner than its predecessor
• Very high sound volume and high amplification
• Comfortable and balanced sound experience
• Twin directional microphones: giving you more balanced hearing
• Feedback management to filter out unwanted sounds
• Wireless connectivity: compatible with a range of accessories allowing sound from audio sources directly to your ears