4 Common Hearing Aid Repairs

Hearing aids are miracles of modern technology. Not only are they small enough to fit perfectly into the human ear, but they are also able to detect and amplify sounds. Despite being of a tiny size, hearing aids are made up of a complex circuit and many complicated parts, performing a variety of sophisticated tasks every single second.

Seeing as hearing aids work so hard and are constantly turned on, or at least for the most part they are, it’s only natural that sometimes problems occur. Of course, the first step when you’ve noticed that your hearing aids aren’t working properly is to take some basic steps, such as cleaning them carefully to remove any dirt or debris from them. (Ideally, you should be cleaning your hearing aids every day to remove any wax build up, which should help to prevent problems in the future.)

If cleaning your hearing aids doesn’t fix the problem, it’s important to know what the next steps should be, as well as to understand what the most common problems are and how they can be fixed. With that in mind, below is a guide to four common hearing aid repairs.

1. Tubing too long or too short

Has your hearing aid made the inside of your ear – your ear canal – sore? If it has, then the chances are that the tubing is either too short or too long and for this reason, it is causing pain and irritation within your ear. This can lead to an infection if it breaks the skin, so it’s important that you get this dealt with as quickly as possible. Don’t try and shorten or lengthen the tube yourself, instead take it to your local hearing specialist to deal with.

2. Tubing has twisted, split or become squashed

Is your hearing aid no longer working properly? Does the tubing look a little strange to you? If this is the case, then it could be that the tubing has twisted, split or somehow become squashed. This isn’t something that you can usually fix yourself; it’s something that requires the help of a qualified hearing specialist.

3. Internal fault

If your hearing aid has begun to not work as effectively as it did before – maybe it’s tinny, or it keeps cutting out – it could be because there’s an internal fault with your hearing aid. Often, an internal fault is caused by wax or moisture getting through the wax shield and finding its way into the inner workings of your hearing aid. Sometimes these kinds of issues can be fixed via hearing experts, other times it’s just not possible, and a replacement is needed. Whether your hearing aid is fixable will depend on what the issue is.

4. Hearing program isn’t loud enough

Has your hearing aid become quieter (or louder) than it usually is? If you’ve noticed problems with the levels of sound that you are getting, then it could be that you have accidentally switched to the wrong program. The fix for this is easy – switch back over to your original program. If the program isn’t working properly, then you may need to take your hearing aid into a specialist hearing center so that they can determine what exactly is wrong and fix the issue.

There you have it, a guide to four common hearing aid problems and how to repair them.