50+ Lifestyles

Hearing Aid Batteries

Dr. Alison Soto
Audiologist
Parker Audiology, P.C.

 
Hearing aid batteries have a long history. Decades ago they contained silver. Then they changed and contained a fair amount of mercury. When Zinc Air batteries were developed, shelf life improved significantly, however there was still some mercury inside. In January, 2011, hearing aid batteries became 100 percent mercury free. Since then, some people have noticed some changes in the battery performance of their hearing aids. Unfairly, people have blamed the hearing aid manufacturer. In reality, it may be the battery itself, due to the new federal regulations that mandate mercury free batteries.

Here is a suggestion to get more life out of your battery. When taking the battery out of the package, please remove the sticker and wait at least two minutes before putting it into your hearing aids and closing the battery door. This ensures that the battery is fully activated; otherwise the battery will not last nearly as long. Despite best practices, I have observed new mercury-free of batteries are more variable.

Zinc Air batteries come with paper stickers which maintain their long shelf life. Once you remove the paper sticker, a chemical reaction starts, and you cannot reapply the paper sticker to “save” the battery life. The battery will be dead in a few weeks even if you do not use the battery.  If you are using the battery, then power is being drawn, but some power is used, even if you are not using the battery. Rechargeable options are available (at additional expense) from some hearing aid companies but have historically been somewhat unreliable.

Here is some additional information about hearing aid batteries:
Hearing aid batteries come in four sizes. The size affects the length of battery life. A smaller hearing aid requires a smaller size of battery. Batteries are sized by color.  See chart below:

Length of                  2-3 Days              5-7 Days            10-12 Days          12-16 Days
Battery Life