Fatigue plays a huge roll in hearing, yes. His old hearing aids aren’t doing it, I can think of some ways to help rule fatigue out. But. . . those damn smartguards caused this exact issue frequently and were the first thing to jump to mind. Even without swapping the wax trap type, easy enough to check–just remove them and wear the hearing ids for a day without them. It’s not a longterm solution.
7 Likes
Thanks, @Neville. I did understand the problem with the wax guards, but I was still interested in the role if fatigue, just for my general edification. I know that my own hearing seems to ebb at the end of the day (drives my wife crazy - she doesn’t understand why that could be.)
But that was just my subjective perception, and I wanted to bounce the possibility off you while you were around.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge. @Um_bongo, too.
1 Like
I just checked the wax guards and they are the cerustop version. I will wear the aids without the guards today anyway and see if that makes any difference.
Update: Wore them all day without waxguards. Didn’t experience any worsening of quality as the day wore on. I’ll put fresh waxguards in for tomorrow.
I do visually check the waxguards for wax and change if I notice any. But I havent seen a noticeable amount. I just wonder if sweat on the filter would cause such an issue.
Thanks for feedback so far. Much appreciated.
3 Likes
Yes, sweat will cause such issues.
1 Like
Yup, it’s a build-up of moisture on the filter membrane. Just have your clinician order in new custom tips with the cerustops instead.
When she watches TV in the evening and then turns the TV on the next morning, does she turn it down? Lots of people with ‘normal’ hearing do this. Realistically, it is the cognition that is probably primarily effected by fatigue, which in turn effects auditory processing.
1 Like
I think he said he already has the cerustops.
@Neville: My wife only watces TV in the evening. (BTW she’s booked herself an audiologist appointment because I mumble all the time! LOL)
2 Likes
Ah, so he did. I read wrong. In that case, a bit less simple than just “switch to cerustop”, but there are still options. But the ear canals should be assessed to try to determine what’s going on to propose the optimal solution.
1 Like
After a day with fresh cerustop waxguards, I havent experienced the loss of quality. So maybe it is down to a degradation of the filter over time (due to sweat or whatever) that was not visible to the naked eye. Or maybe it was fatigue and it didnt happen today as the sound was not as muffled as it has been.
I have an appointment with the audi at the end of the week when I will discuss the situation with him. But I am not sure there is much to do apart from changing the filters more often. Or would placing them in a moisture removing environment overnight help? If so, any recommendations for such a product available in the UK?
See if this is available in your neck of the woods. This particular unit is made for rechargeables: Amazon.com: DryBoost UV by Dry & Store | Maintenance System for Your Rechargeable Hearing Aids or Amplifiers - The Perfect Combination of Drying, Sanitizing, and Charging: Health & Personal Care
This is a great idea.
Bet it will help you.
Zebras uses a Dry & Store. I also use one with good results.
A dryer with the UV light would be my recommendation.
I don’t have RIC aids like the OP does but my Dry & Store sure does help with getting moisture out of my BTE/ear mould tubes.
1 Like
Doesn’t the daily exposure to UV light make the plastic become brittle?
1 Like
does uv light on hearing aid cause plastic to become brittle? at DuckDuckGo This is a link to a number of posts about how UV light affects hearing aid plastic.
2 Likes
Using a dryer with UV daily has not damaged any hearing aids I have owned. Maybe I changed aids, tubes, domes or molds often enough that the UV never damaged them, but never got damage from the UV.
In fact the UV stopped a terrible itchy ear canal issue I had with my first hearing aids.
I use the same Dry & Store Professional dryer today with my CI processors. Great for my daily sweating from getting outdoors.
1 Like
Depends on lots of factors such as the type of plastic, additives in the plastic to slow down UV degradation, strength and duration of the UV radiation exposure, wavelength of the UV radiation, and so on. Some plastics are flown on long lifetime spacecraft where they are illuminated by the sun (a strong UV source above the atmosphere) about half the time - they are formulated to withstand the exposure. For some plastic (or plastic like) materials, the UV causes problems for impurities in the material rather than the material itself.
One would hope that the HA manufacturers would use materials resistant to the UV exposure of driers (and full day outdoor exposure at high altitude and sunny locations) and that the drier manufacturers would use the minimum UV exposure needed. That may not be a reasonable expectation …
1 Like
: Wow! Thanks for all this great information! It gets really humid here sometimes, and I worry about moisture in the winter when I go snowshoeing, but I have never had a power dryer.
I don’t know how to make it work, given that my HAs are only out of my ears for 6 hours a day, on average. I’ll read up on the links you sent me, @gfmucci (thank you) and consider the need.
[FYI: I have never had a repair or receiver failure in 15 years of wearing HAs, however I am willing to contemplate the use of a dryer, based on the favourable comments I read on the Forum.]
My old analog Phonak aids turned yellow from beige from the UV light in the Dry & Store.
So far, digital aids seem to do better with UV lights.