Did you know that a frequent reason for calls to hearing aid clinics is issues with Bluetooth connectivity?

Here are my top three troubleshooting tips:

#1 For cochlear implants, when you change the batteries, or for hearing aids, when you close the battery door or pull the hearing aids out of the charger, make sure your Smartphone is nearby. When you turn on the hearing aids, they are in pairing mode for only 1-2 minutes. The transmission range is about 30 feet between the hearing aids or cochlear implants and the phone, so make sure the phone is at least that close. If your phone wasn’t nearby when your HA or CI was starting up, you can just grab your phone and then turn your HA or CI off and back on again, and that will often solve your problem!

#2 If #1 doesn’t work: on your Smartphone, turn Bluetooth off and back on again. On an iPhone, you will see “My Devices” below the Bluetooth on/off toggle switch. Your hearing aid or cochlear implant will not be listed there; go to settings/accessibility/hearing devices. If you click on the arrow beside “hearing devices,” you will see if your hearing device is connected. If not, turn the HA or CI off and back on again.

#3 If that doesn’t work, re-start your phone. We should restart phones periodically–at least once a week. This helps to preserve memory, prolong battery life, prevent crashes, and keep things running more smoothly. Smartphones control many different things at once; the overlap between these functions can cause glitches in the connectivity with your hearing aids. By re-starting your phone once a week, you will close out any apps that are still running in the background, as well as remedy any glitches in the code that may have arisen since the last time you started up your phone. Once your phone has re-started, try #1 again.

How often do you shut down and restart your phone?

Related post: A tip to save battery power in your hearing aids