I’ve had hearing aids for around 20 years. I have Phonak Audeo P90 RL aids. I recently had feedback issues in 1 aid and a visit to the dispenser diagnosed it as due to a build up of wax in my ear. This is the 1st time that I have experienced such a problem in all of those years.
I’m curious how often most have their ears professionally cleaned as well as how often wax guards are replaced.
For me, never and have worn HAs for 30+ years but some people need their ears cleaned more regularly.
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Same here, 30 + years, and never had my ears professionally cleaned… But, having said that, I know my private A.uD does a roaring trade in cleaning ears, I saw the machine in the office, and asked… Cant recall exactly how many they did a month, but it was a lot! Cheers Kev 
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For me, never and have worn HAs for 64 years.
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For me, I used to until I finally learned how to do it myself. Same with changing the wax guards
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For me, usually once per year
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After a couple of complete blockages–I thought I was going deaf–I learned to use a ear cleaning kit. When I washed the ear out it the shower, a big orange blob came out, and I could hear.
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Could you recommend a good kit?
Would you mind sharing your cleaning process. I seem to be blessed with an overabundance of wax and need to change wax guards nearly bi-weekly.
I’ve tried lots of different things over the years. The stuff Dr Cliff recommends might be good but I haven’t tried it yet. What I do now is keep a small bulb in the shower and lightly and carefully flush both ears with warm water a few times a week. Works for me.
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Thank you for that information. It’s much appreciated. A person at the Veterans Administration clinic that I receive my aids from commented that he directs a small stream from the shower into his ears to clean his ears.
I just go to the drug store and buy one of those kits that have a bottle of oily peroxide and a bulb to wash out the ears. Follow the directions.
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For me never, I was taught how to keep my esrs clean by my mom and grandmother a very long time ago how to keep my ears safely clean. Every time i have a doctor’s appointment or go to my audiologist i am told how clean my ears are.
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If you got your aids from the VA, ask audiology to refer you to ENT for ear cleaning.
ENT put me on a 6 month cleaning schedule.
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Thanks for that. I’m hoping to find a method to clean them at home so as to not rely on them. The VA here in Spokane has been great to work with and they have daily walk-in service should the need arise.
For me, I need to see ENT for a professional cleaning once a month! I used to be able to flush my ears to self-clean them but that no longer works. Like you, I can tell there is a wax issue when the aids start squealing for no apparent reason.
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I suggest you look at this:
Ear wax: Everything you ever wanted to know (or did you really?)
You can find it on this site. It basically shows what best dissolves ear wax. The most effective is in commercially available ear wax removers in the USA. Because I don’t find it comfortable for my ENT to remove wax, I plan to use this to remove most wax buildup before I see him and let him remove whatever wax is left.
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Good video. It changed my mind as to what I’ll use to clean my ears in the future. Looks like I’ll be giving distilled water a try.
I think the video found distilled water and Debrox type wax remover to be similarly effective, but indicated that distilled water is purchased in a large quantity so it will lose sterility once opened. Debrox is a safer option. Only 5-10 drops are used per application, so a container lasts long enough to not be costly. I use Debrox type cleaner.
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Understood, thank you.