6 Tips for Troubleshooting Hearing Aids

There are many possible reasons why your hearing aid may appear to be dead or malfunctioning; some of these issues are quite easy to fix yourself. Before you contact your audiologist, make sure you have checked for all possible causes that can be remedied at home. That way, if you still end up having to take your hearing aid in for repairs you will at least be confident you’re not wasting their time. So before you panic and head to the audiologist’s office, try these six simple troubleshooting tips:

1. Switch it off and back on again. This seems to be the standard advice for any malfunctioning electronic device – though sometimes it does work – and hearing aids are no exception! It is possible you accidentally turned the device off or that a setting was accidentally bumped and is now causing problems.
2. Adjust the volume. If you are experiencing distorted sound it could be that you have the volume set too high, so try reducing it a bit. If your hearing aid appears to be producing no sound whatsoever, make sure the volume hasn’t accidentally been turned down to zero.
3. Make sure the battery is in properly. Inserting the battery the wrong way around is an incredibly common mistake and one that is easy to make. If you have accidentally done this, your hearing aid will appear dead and not power on at all. Open up the battery compartment and make sure the cell is facing the right way.
4. Try a new battery. If your hearing aid is not performing well, or at all, try putting in a brand new battery. Even if you have recently changed the battery already, you should try this; very occasionally new batteries will be faulty or expired.
5. Check your tubing. If you are using a behind-the-ear hearing aid with tubing, check that the tubing is not cracked, blocked or too rigid. Blockages can easily be cleaned away with warm water (be sure to detach the tubing from the device first, and make sure it is completely dry before reattaching). If you notice any damage to the tube it will need to be replaced, but this is a fairly simple procedure.
6. Make sure you are on the correct setting. If your device has multiple settings or functions, make sure you haven’t accidentally activated a different listening program like the telecoil setting.

If the above troubleshooting tips do not help, contact your audiologist to find out what is causing your hearing aid to malfunction.