A wax guard, also known as a wax trap or wax filter, prevents the permeation of earwax into the hearing aid. Wax guards are pretty similar to the sink strainer in your kitchen sink. Like blocking food from going down and clogging the drain, the wax guard blocks earwax from getting into the hearing aid components. If the guard is not in place or wax gets pushed past it, the chemical composition of earwax can damage the sensitive electronic components located inside of your hearing aid.
We recommend that you lightly brush the wax guard off with your cleaning brush each morning before wearing your hearing aids for the day. Cleaning the wax off in the morning tends to be easier as it’s had a chance to harden up overnight and is much easier to brush off than warm, pliable earwax. If the wax guard becomes full of wax the hearing aid will likely sound muffled or will not produce any sound until the wax guard is replaced with a fresh one. The frequency of changing your wax guard would depend on the amount of wax you produce. Some people may change their wax guards once every six months while others may change it every few weeks- it just depends on the individual hearing aid wearer!
If you’re running low on you wax guards give us a call at 907.789.6780!