5 Reasons Your Rechargeable Hearing Aids are Running Out of Battery Way Too Fast

Hi guys. Rachael Cook, doctor of audiology at Applied Hearing Solutions in Phoenix, Arizona, and in today's video I'm gonna be telling you why your rechargeable hearing aids keep dying so fast. Coming up. If there's one thing that we learned from the Costco Kirkland Signature 10.0 fiasco that occurred in late 2022, it's that rechargeable battery hearing aids as well as disposable battery hearing aids are not perfect if you got new hearing aids. In the past six years, you were faced with a choice: lithium ion rechargeable hearing aids or disposable battery hearing aids. While disposable battery hearing aids were the only option over the previous 60 years, once rechargeable hearing aids hit the market in 2016, they have since accounted for nearly 80% of the hearing aids dispensed today, and it's no surprise as nearly every electronic device such as laptops, cell phones, and headphones are available almost exclusively as rechargeable devices. Rechargeable hearing aids remove the inconvenience of buying, storing, and changing disposable batteries.

Not only are they incredibly convenient, but they also offer increased ease of use to those with limited vision or dexterity. While most rechargeable hearing aids today have a runtime somewhere between 12 and 50 hours, you may be wondering why your rechargeable hearing aids don't seem to get you through the whole day anymore. That's why today I'll be telling you the five reasons your rechargeable hearing aids are dying so fast, and if there's any way that you can fix it, and if you're having the same issue with your disposable battery hearing aids, I've got some solutions for you in my last video that will be linked in the description below. But before we do that, if you could please give this video a thumbs up. It brings videos like these to a wider audience, and be sure to hit that subscribe button with notification bell so that you never miss any one of our newly released videos.

Rechargeable hearing aid batteries first launched with nickel metal hydride batteries that were reliable but couldn't hold a charge for a full day of use. This led to the development of silver zinc rechargeable batteries known as Z power that could hold a charge for much longer. An additional benefit of silver zinc batteries was that hearing aid models that used this type of battery could even use disposable hearing aid batteries interchangeably if their rechargeable batteries lost power. While this power option was excellent, in theory, it was a disaster in execution as their reliability was very poor resulting in them being pulled from the market after only 18 months, however, not before many hearing aid users decided to completely write off the idea of using rechargeable hearing aids. Fortunately, hearing aid manufacturers have now switched over to the ultra popular and ever reliable lithium ion rechargeable batteries. These batteries can be found in nearly all rechargeable electronics and for good reason. Lithium

ion aid batteries pack an impressive amount of power into an incredibly small size offering anywhere from 12 to 50 hours on a single charge. But what does it mean if your rechargeable hearing aids are still dying faster than you expected? There are many variables that can contribute to hearing aid battery drain, starting with Bluetooth streaming. The ability to wirelessly transmit audio from your electronic devices directly into your hearing aids was first launched as a feature in 2017 and has frankly revolutionized the hearing aid industry. Hearing aid users can now stream music, audio books, podcasts, and even phone calls straight into their hearing aids from nearly any Bluetooth enabled electronic device and can even use their smartphones as a remote control. Once you try this feature, it's hard to go back as the sound quality and volume of streamed media is essentially unmatched, but with its perks come some disadvantages, including increased battery drain.

Streaming audio from your cell phone, laptop, or TV requires a consistent Bluetooth connection between the device and your hearing aids. Keep in mind that most hearing aids will typically drain a battery at the rate of 1.2 to two milliamps per hour. However, when you start streaming, this amount of drain can increase to six milliamps or more, which can be over triple the amount of drain. Now for those that take a couple of calls here and there throughout the day or like to listen to music on their walks in the morning, it's unlikely that this extra power use is going to be significant enough to drain your batteries entirely before you go to bed. But for those on endless work calls or who spend a large amount of time streaming television shows or movies into your hearing aids, that continuous Bluetooth connection has the potential to drain the batteries before you're done with the day.

Unlike disposable batteries, that can be changed at any time, if your rechargeable hearing aids run out of juice, they must be given time to recharge because unfortunately, lithium ion rechargeable batteries cannot be exchanged for a disposable hearing aid battery when it runs out. However, lithium ion batteries are known for their quick charging abilities and for most hearing aids, a 15 minute charge can give them three hours of additional runtime if you're not streaming. The second reason your rechargeable hearing aids are dying way too fast is that you're using a CROS transmitter. A CROS transmitter is used in situations where someone is deaf in one ear, but still has hearing in the other ear. While a CROS device looks no different than a standard hearing aid, it uses the microphone input from the poorer hearing side and wirelessly transmits it to the hearing aid on the better hearing side, an incredible option for those who may not be willing or able to receive a cochlear implant.

CROS transmitters allow those with single-sided deafness to hear what's being said on their poor hearing side without having to always turn their head to look who's talking. However, CROS devices utilize either near field magnetic induction or 2.4 gigahertz Bluetooth streaming to send the information from one side wirelessly over to the other side. This continuous streaming consumes battery power much faster than normal and may impact your ability to wear your devices for a full day. Some rechargeable hearing aids with a CROS transmitter may only be able to provide you around 11 hours of use on a single charge even without streaming external audio from your smartphone. For some users, this isn't a problem, but depending on how long you're awake each day and how much Bluetooth streaming you plan to do a rechargeable hearing aid and CROS transmitter may not be the best option for you.

If you need to use a CROS transmitter and you want to use rechargeable devices, make sure you're able to trial this out yourself and for your own lifestyle before committing. The third reason why your rechargeable hearing aids are dying way too fast is due to the use of excessive digital features. The switch from analog to digital hearing aids resulted in a significant increase in hearing aid features, including automatic program switching, steady state noise reduction, impulse noise reduction, feedback cancellation, and the list goes on. While these features are awesome and can significantly improve your ability to hear, they can also drain your batteries like crazy. For instance, a patient of mine wanted fully directional microphone settings with the maximum amount of noise reduction in one of his programs. This program drained his rechargeable hearing aid batteries nearly twice as fast as his regular program settings resulting in only nine hours of use. With that much drain, it's best to use digital feature programs periodically or switch to disposable battery hearing aids.

The fourth reason why your rechargeable hearing aid batteries are dying way too fast is due to the age of the batteries. Lithium ion batteries, while extremely reliable, do reach an eventual lifespan. Generally after three to five years of use, battery capacity is slowly lost over time, resulting in a lower amount of stored charge. If you have a smartphone, you've likely experienced getting a new phone with a battery that seems to last forever, but that over a few years, that battery seems to be running out faster and faster. The same goes for rechargeable hearing aid batteries. So what can you do? Well be sure to express any battery drain concerns to your hearing healthcare professional. Some hearing aid programming softwares share battery health insights and can make recommendations for when a battery is in need of replacement. In the event that your reports or the hearing aid programming software suggest replacement, some hearing aid brands can have the batteries exchanged in office and others, they must be sent back to the manufacturer for replacement.

For this reason, it is critical that you be aware of your hearing aid repair warranty and consider sending them in for an end of warranty refurbishment. This is when the hearing aids are sent to the manufacturer for deep cleaning, inspection, and replacement of any failing or malfunctioning parts before your hearing aid warranty expires. This often includes lithium ion battery replacement, which should, in theory, provide you with three or more years of optimal battery capacity. You can still have this service completed on hearing aids that are no longer under warranty just at a higher price point, so be sure to ask your provider. And the fifth reason why your rechargeable hearing aids are dying way too fast is that you might just have bad hearing aids. Just like the Kirkland Signature 10.0 devices that were discontinued due to rechargeable battery issues, you may just have low quality rechargeable devices.

We will likely see more issues with this due to the release of over the counter hearing aids made at a significantly lower price point. If none of the other reasons that I mentioned in this video are the reason that your rechargeable hearing aids are dying way too fast, then you probably just have bad low quality devices. All right, there you go. Those are the top five reasons why your rechargeable hearing aid batteries are dying so fast. Overall, modern lithium ion rechargeable devices are extremely convenient and reliable and do make a lot of sense for a large majority of hearing aid users, hence their growing popularity. However, in the event that your hearing aid wear time is being cut short day after day, be sure to talk to your hearing healthcare professional to see if there is a solution for this or if maybe rechargeable hearing aids just aren't the right option for you. That's it for this video. If you liked it, go ahead and give it a thumbs up and share it with someone that you feel could use it. And as always, make sure you hit that subscribe button with notification bell so that you never miss anyone of our newly released videos.