Children and hearing aid care
Checking your child’s hearing aids
It is important that your child hears as well as possible through his/her hearing aids at all times. Wearing a hearing aid when it is not working properly can be worse than not wearing the aid at all.
As children grow older and more experienced with their hearing aids they can learn to detect problems themselves. Until they are able to do this, however, your child will rely on you to check their hearing aids for them.
How often should I check my child’s hearing aids?
It doesn't matter whether you check them in the morning or the evening, but ideally they should be checked every day.
You and your child can follow these simple steps to check how well the hearing aids are functioning.
Visual check: earmould
Is the earmould clean?
Wipe it over with a tissue or a damp (not wet) cloth to remove any grime. If a behind-the-ear earmould is very dirty, remove the earmould from the hearing aid and wash it in warm, soapy water. Take care to remove all water from the tubing of the earmould before putting it back on the aid. Puffing air through the tube will help remove moisture. Air puffers are available from your hearing centre.
Is the hole in the earmould blocked with wax?
This will stop sound coming out. Pick out any wax with the wax tool (available from your Australian Hearing centre).
Is the tubing kinked or twisted?
This will affect the passage of sound through to the ear. It may be necessary to get the tubing replaced at the Hearing Centre.
Are there any holes or splits in the tubing?
This will make the hearing aid whistle and will stop some sound reaching the ear. Take the earmould to Australian Hearing for repair.
Is the earmould inserted correctly?
The only part of the mould that should be sitting out of the ear is the tubing. The rest of the mould should be flush with the rim of the ear.
Visual check: hearing aid
Are there any cracks in the hearing aid itself?
This may make the aid work intermittently. Take the aid to your Hearing Centre for repair.
Have any of the switches broken?
Take the aid to your Hearing Centre for repair.
Is there any corrosion on the battery or in the battery compartment?
This will look like powder. Throw away the leaking battery and try cleaning the battery contacts carefully with a cotton bud dipped in methylated spirits, or bring the aid in to Australian Hearing to be repaired.
Are the hearing aids on the right earmoulds?
The hearing aids may be set differently for each ear. Your Australian Hearing audiologist can mark them for you to make it easy to tell them apart.
Listening check
Listen to how the hearing aid sounds. As your hearing is most likely quite different to your child's the aid may sound very strange to you. However, you will soon learn what a normally functioning hearing aid sounds like, and learn to tell when there is a problem. If the hearing aid is very powerful you may need to check it on a low volume setting for your own comfort.
To perform a listening check you will need to obtain a stethoclip or a special earmould (ask your Australian Hearing audiologist how to obtain these). A stethoclip is like a stethoscope used by doctors but it has a piece of tubing which connects to the hearing aid enabling you to listen to the aid.
The more you listen to the hearing aid the better you will become at detecting any problems with the sound quality.
When listening to the aid, talk into it—try counting. Listen to your own voice and take note of the sound quality when the hearing aid is working well.
What to listen for
Is the hearing aid working?
Switch the aid off and on a few times, and change the battery if necessary.
Is the volume control effective?
Is the control moving as it should? Is the volume softer/louder than normal?
Is there any static or distortion?
If a problem is identified during a listening check you will need to take the aid in to the Hearing Centre to be tested and repaired.
Speech detection test
Another way of checking that the hearing aid is working properly is to carry out a speech detection test. This is a very quick check that can be done when the hearing aids are first put on each day. Your child needs to be old enough to do this task and your audiologist will demonstrate how it works.
Make some speech sounds such as ahh, ee, or, oo, mmm, sh, ssss while standing behind your child. Your child needs to acknowledge or repeat the sound. How much the child hears when the aids are functioning properly will depend on the severity of their hearing loss. Check with your audiologist how many of these sounds your child should be able to hear.
If your child is not able to do this as well as they usually can it may indicate a problem with the hearing aids, or possibly even a change in their hearing.
Other devices
Other equipment that your child uses to help them hear should also be checked on a regular basis.
Better safe than sorry
If you are not sure how well the hearing aid is working please bring it in to your Australian Hearing centre and let them check or repair it for you. Remember, a poorly functioning hearing aid can be worse than one that doesn’t work at all.
Encourage your child to become responsible for their own hearing aids from an early age, and to tell someone (parents, teachers, and so on) if they are not working properly.
Last Reviewed: 17 August 2005
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