Hearing aids are very complex electronic devices, and they have to be carefully cleaned and maintained throughout their lifetime. Since hearing aids spend so much time in your ears, they are exposed to warmth, moisture, dust, and many other potentially harmful particles every day. While modern hearing aids come with many protective features that improve their durability, every San Diego hearing aid owner should prepare for an occasional issue that requires a repair.

Hearing Aid Repairs: A Step-by-Step Guide

hearing aid repairs and maintenance

Hearing aids can stop working for a wide range of reasons, and most patients who come to our Carlsbad or La Jolla offices for hearing aid repairs don’t know what’s causing their device to malfunction. A majority of the time, hearing aid repairs can be quickly and easily completed at home. If basic troubleshooting doesn’t solve the problem, the next step is visiting a San Diego hearing instrument specialist at your audiologist’s office. Many hearing aid repairs can be completed in-house, though we may need to send some devices to the manufacturer for more substantial hearing aid repairs.

  1. Check your settings: Make sure the hearing aid is on, the volume is turned up to a normal level, and the device is set to “microphone” rather than “telecoil.” Sometimes, removing and reinserting the device may be all you need to do.
  2. Clean thoroughly: Using a dry, soft cloth and a hearing aid cleaning tool or kit, carefully remove all earwax, dirt, moisture, and other particles from the device’s exterior, tubing, wax filter, batteries, and battery compartment.
  3. Check and replace parts: Clogged tubing, old filters, and dead batteries can cause your hearing aid to distort or weaken sound or stop functioning all together. If any components of your hearing aid haven’t been replaced in a while, try new ones.
  4. Schedule an appointment: We understand how important your hearing aids are, and we will get you into the office as quickly as possible. During this appointment, we will perform a series of tests on your device to diagnose and fix the problem. We may also perform a quick examination on your ears to ensure you’re not experiencing an earwax blockage.
  5. Send to manufacturer: If the problem affecting your hearing aids isn’t something we can resolve in-house or must be done by the manufacturer due to the terms of your warranty, we will have to mail it out for repair. We will talk with you about your temporary treatment options in the event that your device must be sent to a third party.