Why did my hearing aids suddenly stop working?

The sudden death of hearing aids is not common for people with hearing loss. But it can happen. Your hearing aids can stop working when you are running or while you are gardening on a summer day. Why did your hearing aids suddenly die, and what to do to bring them back to life?

When you look at a hearing aid in its basic function, it might be easier to troubleshoot the sudden death of a hearing aid. They are a piece of electronics. They have a microphone to receive the sound around you, and a speaker (ironically called a receiver) that provides the amplified sound to your eardrum.

Now, let's look at the top 5 reasons that could result in the sudden death of a hearing aid.

1. Earwax Blockage of the receiver of an RIC hearing aid or the outlet of the thin tube is usually sudden. After a hot shower, extensive workout, or on a sunny day, the earwax in your ear canal may become softer and slide down the ear canal, blocking the tip of the receiver of the hearing aid that is in your ear canal. In the case of RIC hearing aids, remove the rubber dome and inspect the receiver tip. Replace the wax guard of the receiver. IN the case of BTE with thin-tube or a power BTE with tube and earmould, you might be able to see the earwax accumulation in the tube of your earmould or the thin-tube. Disconnect the thin tube or the tube and the earmould from the hearing aid, then put the thin tube in warm water for 3-5 minutes. Remove the tube and blow into it from the side that connects to the hearing aid. This should clean up the trapped earwax in the tube. If still blocked, contact your audiologist to replace it for you.

2. Sweat - Body sweat can cause intermittent work and silence of the hearing aid. Often it starts with a crackling sound and hearing aids working on and off for a few minutes before it stops completely. If you sweat a lot, then the receiver or the thin tube of your hearing aids could be blocked by your body's sweat. It doesn't take too much to block the receiver or the thin tube of your hearing aids and give it a sudden stop. To avoid this situation, my best advice is to consider micromoulds for your RIC hearing aids. The air vent in the micromould allows fine air circulation in the ear canal, hence it reduces the chance of blockage of the receiver tip by sweat.

3. Moisture, dew or debris in/on the microphone - Walking in and out of an environment with a big difference in temperature and humidity can create moisture (dew) on the microphone inlet (and even inside) of your hearing aid. Most of the hearing aids these days are rated at IP68 (or at least IP68), which means that they are water and dust-tight; however, walking out of an air-conditioned room in Houston or Miami on a summer day could immediately form moisture on the outer surface of the hearing aid, blocking its microphone (the same can happen to your glasses). Gently clean the hearing aid with a piece of soft tissue, and keep it in an air-conditioned room for a few hours to let the moisture evaporate.

4. Electronic malfunction - Just like your fridge or television, hearing aids can stop working due to an electronic malfunction. Contact your audiologist, and hopefully, your aids are still under warranty.

5. Battery is dead or a faulty charger - The battery-powered hearing aids need a new battery every 5 to 7 days. Just replace the battery and see if they are back to life. In the case of rechargeable hearing aids, you will notice a shorter run time if the rechargeable battery starts to degrade. The charger unit can be faulty too. You should be able to put the faulty hearing aid in the other charger slot to see if the hearing aid can charge up or not. This way, you can pinpoint a faulty charger.

I did check and replaced the earwax filter, but my hearing aid is not working. What can I do?

Here are your options if you need a hearing aid repair:

1. HearingNow patients - If you have hearing aids you bought from HearingNow, please ship them to us for a repair under warranty. Please see the clinic address on our support page. Please make sure to share the tracking number of your parcel with our support email address.

2. Outside warranty - If you bought your hearing aids elsewhere, please use this service to arrange a hearing aid repair..

Hearing Aids Repair and Reprogramming

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