Outer ear infections and hearing aids?

If you are prone to acute outer ear infection, hearing aids can be a risk factor, but does not have to be. Outer ear infection, also known as Otitis externa or swimmer’s ear. Can present ear pain, swelling of the ear canal and drainage.  

Without going into too much detail some causes: germs, swimming in polluted water, water trapped in the ear canal after showering, especially in a humid climate. Objects in ear canal to clear the canal is enough to cause breaks in the skin and allow infection to develop.  

Hearing aids should be taken out at night to help prevent outer ear infections. Taking them out allows your ear to breath and dry out. However, if you are prone to infections this might not be enough.   

There are different devices that can help. Having an infection and putting in your hearing aid with the infection still on it will just keep transferring the infection back and forth.    

Putting your hearing aids in a dryer with a UV light will help kill any infection that might be on your hearing aids so your putting cleaner hearing aids back in.  

There is also a hearing aid cleaner that I have had a lot of success with. The hearing aids go in at night, putting the part that goes in your ear canal in liquid that dissolves ear wax and cleans hearing aids. A UV lamp sanitizes the hearing aids and a dehumidification that extracts moisture.  

Call Accurate Hearing today for a FREE hearing test 907-644-6004. We are here to help.  

Donna R DeMarco, AAS, CDP, BC-HIS 

Tinnitus Care Provider Holding a Certificate from the International Hearing Society