My hearing aids didn't last long. Some time last week, they quit working. I just wasn't hearing much from them anymore. Monday and Tuesday were final exams for my classes, so I didn't have time to check in with Hearing Health Solutions, so I put it off.
The week before, the rubber tip of one, and then both, hearing aids came off. I'm still learning about them so I didn't know if that was normal, though they hadn't come off in the first several weeks, so it was a change. I had also noticed that when I put them on in the morning, I could only just hear the music they play. They are set to play music six seconds after turning on, which happens automatically when I take them out of the charger. I could barely hear the music Monday and Tuesday.
So I called to get an appointment to get them checked. I made the call Wednesday, and had the appointment for Friday afternoon, because I had work obligations through Friday morning. Then, Wednesday night, when I took my hearing aids off, the top came off the left one. I searched on the floor, but couldn't find it.
I still wore the hearing aid on Thursday and Friday. It hurt a little in my left ear. I guess the post irritated the skin in the external auditory canal more than the rubber cap. I'm not sure why I bothered with them, because I couldn't hear anything through them. When I made the call of Wednesday, I had to switch my phone to the phone speaker, because the hearing aids weren't working at all.
Friday morning, I turned up the hearing aids, and nothing happened. When I use the app to turn them up, the hearing aids are supposed to beep. They didn't, so I took them out. And the top came off the right one. I searched for it, but didn't find it. Then it occurred to me that the cap might still be in my ear. I got out the brush for cleaning the hearing aids, and dug with the handle into my left ear, and sure enough, I pulled the cap out. I tried in my right ear, and didn't get anything, but I thought I felt the edge of the cap, so I kept trying. Until the brush handle came out red. Yes, I drew blood. So I stopped.
At my appointment to get the hearing aids checked, I told the representative what I had done, and she looked in my ear with an otoscope. She saw lots of wax and some blood. "It's a hot mess in there," she said. "I'm not touching that."
She sent me next door to see an ENT, who vacuumed out a bunch of wax, but didn't find the cap. He also removed wax from my left ear. He said I should keep my right ear protected, not get it wet, and probably not use my hearing aids for five days. He said he doesn't recommend using irrigation at home to clear wax from my ears. He sent me back to Carol, the Hearing Health Solutions representative.
She put new caps on my hearing aids. She said she has seen that kind of damage before, but usually from clients who skipped their six month check in. The general consensus seems to be that I produce an abundance of was, and that my wax damages the hearing aids, so I will need more frequent maintenance. I have to replace the caps once a month, and should get my ears de-waxed before each check up.
With the new caps, I could hear again. It was right back to all the increased environmental sounds, and the oddity of hearing myself speak with that tiny delay because of the mic and speaker in the hearing aids. I guess I wasn't experiencing that for the last three or four weeks, and hadn't really noticed the change, but it was obvious when the phenomenon came back.
So I guess my ears are high maintenance. I've always known I had a lot of wax. A few times, the wax plugged up the canal completely. I've had a doctor clear it out at least twice. And my wax wears out the tips of the hearing aids. Wow. Live and learn. I can hear you now.
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