Renovator
01-18-2011, 11:27 PM
OK, it is nearly three months since I started wearing these magnificent things!
As for daily maintenance, here is what works for me.
Before I insert my aids, I carefully clean my ear out with a Q-Tip. There are differing opinions on this, some say it builds up wax deep inside by pushing what wax there is in further with the rounded end, I can just picture a kind of ridge of wax build up that could occur deeply in the ear canal. Fortunately, for me, I don't produce much ear wax, so that, for me, is not an issue. Nothing should be inserted into the ear canal unless a physician states that what you are doing is OK.
http://www.hearingaidforums.com/picture.php?albumid=22&pictureid=65
I have a photographer's Lupe (like a jeweler might use to look closely at a gem or a photographer uses to look at fine detail).
I carefully remove the silicone dome and use the lupe (with good lighting) to look down in the receiver opening where there is a small white insert and six very tiny holes. That white insert is the wax shield which serves to keep ear wax out of the receiver. Typically, like right now, I can see just a bit of wax on the upper edge of the receiver, but none down inside that white insert. I have a small black brush with short, firm black bristles on one end (about 1/4" long) and longer bristles on the other end (about 1/2" to 5/8" long, or about twice as long as the short bristles). I think this brush came with the HA's.
I take that brush and, for this tiny fleck of wax on the upper edge, I will use the short bristles to clean off that little piece. While I have the lupe to my eye (holding it in my right hand and holding the hearing aid in my left hand), I scrutinize the wire extending to the receiver and also the little 'keeper-loop' that is hanging out the other side of the receiver. If there are any wax particles on those wires, or where those wires meet the receiver, I will carefully wipe the wax off the wires with my thumb and index finger and use the short bristles to wipe any wax away that is visible in the tiny cracks and crevices where the wires meet (enter) the receiver. The grooves around the circumference of the receiver (which serve to secure the dome in place) may get some wax in them and I may see a bit of wax on the outer cylinder of the receiver itself - which you may not even see unless you are using a lupe!
I then move onto the open dome. Usually, that is where most of my wax ends up. I carefully brush the dome all different directions, being sure to wipe clean the inner portion that sets onto the outer portion of receiver. When I look at the dome through the lupe, I can see extremely tiny wax droplets around the different portions of dome. I use the short bristles to wipe away the tiny droplets from the flat surfaces and from the entrance to the opening where most of the wax will be. The one I am looking at through the lupe right now has wax that is almost covering three of the six small holes in the dome outer opening. When I look at the three petals that form the dome and the perimeter which is attached to the three petals, I can see bits of wax, here and there.
I carefully wipe off the wax using both the short and long bristles, gently, by kind of brushing off the wax (kind of flicking the wax off the dome). I use both the shorter and the longer bristles to get the wax out of the interior of the opening where the dome fits snugly over the cylinder of the receiver.
Once I am certain that I have removed all wax and that there are no holes covered with wax or wax flakes, I carefully insert the dome back onto the receiver.
There, I have cleaned my hearing aid, now I need to do the other one in the exact same manner. This might take about 5-10 minutes, and you will get quicker at it, once you know where to look and which ends of the brush work best, where.
When the dome gets to the point where it is turning a yellowish color and/or when the dome does not feel like it attaches snugly to the receiver or when the dome gets kind of out of shape (like the one in this picture), I then replace the domes. The domes seem to last between four to six weeks.
As for daily maintenance, here is what works for me.
Before I insert my aids, I carefully clean my ear out with a Q-Tip. There are differing opinions on this, some say it builds up wax deep inside by pushing what wax there is in further with the rounded end, I can just picture a kind of ridge of wax build up that could occur deeply in the ear canal. Fortunately, for me, I don't produce much ear wax, so that, for me, is not an issue. Nothing should be inserted into the ear canal unless a physician states that what you are doing is OK.
http://www.hearingaidforums.com/picture.php?albumid=22&pictureid=65
I have a photographer's Lupe (like a jeweler might use to look closely at a gem or a photographer uses to look at fine detail).
I carefully remove the silicone dome and use the lupe (with good lighting) to look down in the receiver opening where there is a small white insert and six very tiny holes. That white insert is the wax shield which serves to keep ear wax out of the receiver. Typically, like right now, I can see just a bit of wax on the upper edge of the receiver, but none down inside that white insert. I have a small black brush with short, firm black bristles on one end (about 1/4" long) and longer bristles on the other end (about 1/2" to 5/8" long, or about twice as long as the short bristles). I think this brush came with the HA's.
I take that brush and, for this tiny fleck of wax on the upper edge, I will use the short bristles to clean off that little piece. While I have the lupe to my eye (holding it in my right hand and holding the hearing aid in my left hand), I scrutinize the wire extending to the receiver and also the little 'keeper-loop' that is hanging out the other side of the receiver. If there are any wax particles on those wires, or where those wires meet the receiver, I will carefully wipe the wax off the wires with my thumb and index finger and use the short bristles to wipe any wax away that is visible in the tiny cracks and crevices where the wires meet (enter) the receiver. The grooves around the circumference of the receiver (which serve to secure the dome in place) may get some wax in them and I may see a bit of wax on the outer cylinder of the receiver itself - which you may not even see unless you are using a lupe!
I then move onto the open dome. Usually, that is where most of my wax ends up. I carefully brush the dome all different directions, being sure to wipe clean the inner portion that sets onto the outer portion of receiver. When I look at the dome through the lupe, I can see extremely tiny wax droplets around the different portions of dome. I use the short bristles to wipe away the tiny droplets from the flat surfaces and from the entrance to the opening where most of the wax will be. The one I am looking at through the lupe right now has wax that is almost covering three of the six small holes in the dome outer opening. When I look at the three petals that form the dome and the perimeter which is attached to the three petals, I can see bits of wax, here and there.
I carefully wipe off the wax using both the short and long bristles, gently, by kind of brushing off the wax (kind of flicking the wax off the dome). I use both the shorter and the longer bristles to get the wax out of the interior of the opening where the dome fits snugly over the cylinder of the receiver.
Once I am certain that I have removed all wax and that there are no holes covered with wax or wax flakes, I carefully insert the dome back onto the receiver.
There, I have cleaned my hearing aid, now I need to do the other one in the exact same manner. This might take about 5-10 minutes, and you will get quicker at it, once you know where to look and which ends of the brush work best, where.
When the dome gets to the point where it is turning a yellowish color and/or when the dome does not feel like it attaches snugly to the receiver or when the dome gets kind of out of shape (like the one in this picture), I then replace the domes. The domes seem to last between four to six weeks.