Hearing Aid Must-Haves: Accessories to Enhance Your Hearing

When you have some degree of hearing loss, hearing aids can be beneficial. But because you wear them every day, all day, they need to be cleaned and maintained on occasion to extend their usefulness. You may also find that you need a little extra assistance in certain situations, even with your hearing aids.

This is where hearing aid accessories come in. Not only can they prolong the life of your hearing aids, but they can also allow you to have a better listening experience. Let’s look at the top must-have hearing aid accessories you can buy to get the most out of your hearing aids.

Cleaning Tools

All of our hearing aids come with a cleaning brush, domes, and wax guards — all of which are helpful with removing stubborn wax and dirt. It’s important to note that the type of wax guard you use will depend on the brand of hearing aid you have. For example, Phonak hearing aids should use their CeruShield disks, while Widex models should use the brand’s Nanocare wax guards.

Carrying Case

Because you can’t (and shouldn’t) always wear your hearing aids, you need to have a special carrying case to keep them safe when not in use. These cases can keep your hearing aids clean, and some are even waterproof, which is perfect when you’re traveling or going to the pool or beach.

Extra Source of Power

Whether you have rechargeable hearing aids or hearing aids with disposable batteries, it’s always a good idea to have an extra source of power handy. A good way to keep spare power on hand is by carrying around a portable charger. This way, you can charge dying hearing aids in a pinch, especially if you’re traveling and do not have access to a plug. The Phonak Power Pack can last up to seven days, and the charging pads for the Signia Styletto hearing aids or the Signia Active Charger and Portable Charger for AX make charging on the go easy and reduce the wear done to the hearing aid’s charging port.

It’s also a good idea to stash an extra charging cord in the car, your purse, or a bag. You never know when you may need to give your hearing aids a quick charge when you’re out and about.

Hearing Aid Dryers

Hearing aids are tiny little computers with many electronic processors that any amount of moisture can easily damage. Sweat, rain, and snow can all take a toll on your hearing aids. Luckily, there are ways to dehumidify hearing aid devices to prolong their lives.

Each hearing aid manufacturer has a rechargeable case that doubles as a little hearing aid dry box. For example, Widex has the PerfectDry Lux dryer that dries and cleans the hearing aids, while Signia has the Dry&Clean charger, and Phonak provides a Charge and Care case. Regardless of the hearing aid brand you have, you can keep them dry and operating at peak performance with an appropriately made dry box.

TV Assistive Listening Device

Suppose you’re having trouble catching everything that is said on your favorite TV show or news segment. In that case, the best option is not to turn up the volume until everyone in your house begins to complain but to set up a TV-specific assistive listening device. This type of device uses Bluetooth technology to allow you to stream audio directly to your hearing aids. This way, you can minimize background noise and personalize your TV-watching preferences without disturbing anyone else in the household.

No matter the hearing aid model you have, there’s likely a TV assistive listening device that is compatible. For example, there’s the Widex TV Play for the Widex Evoke 110 or the Signia Streamline TV Connector for the Signia Styletto Xperience. There’s also the TV Connector from Phonak. Whatever the hearing aid manufacturer has decided to call this device, they all do the same thing: allow you to hear every word and sound on the TV.

Companion Microphones

Being in a loud environment (such as a restaurant) or being far from the speaker (such as in a classroom) can be especially challenging for someone with hearing loss. Thankfully, hearing aid manufacturers recognized a need for additional assistance and created companion, or remote, microphones to improve speech understanding in situations where the speaker is hard to hear with just hearing aids.

The mic can be worn around the speaker’s neck or set on the table near the person (or people) speaking. The microphone, such as the Phonak Roger Mic, transmits the speaker’s voice directly to your hearing aids so regardless of what is happening around you, you can listen closely to the speaker.

Choosing Your Hearing Aid Accessories

Keeping your hearing aids working long after you get them requires taking care of them with the right tools. And ensuring you enjoy every moment involves having all the right hearing aid accessories. Choose all the ones that match your lifestyle and help you forget you’re even wearing hearing aids.