An essential component of a hearing aid is the hearing aid batteries. Without power from the battery, the whole device is essentially useless. They're so essential that many individuals who have a hearing aid will also buy a hearing aid battery tester. That way they can tell when the battery is beginning to run out of power. Then they can be prepared with spare batteries when it needs to be replaced.

The length of time that hearing aid batteries will last depends on the style of hearing aid being worn. The batteries for those small hearing aids that go inside the ear canal don't last as long. The reason is that these are smaller batteries and don't have as much of the power producing components.

Older styles of hearing aid batteries used mercury to power the device. But there are newer zinc batteries that are much more effective and therefore more commonly used.

Zinc batteries utilize zinc air. This is a combination of the zinc contained inside the battery along with oxygen present outside the battery. This produces a reaction that powers the battery. They have about twice the life of the conventional mercury batteries.

You'll find that zinc hearing aid batteries have a color coded tab. One purpose for this is to be able to tell what size the battery is. However, it also prevents air from entering the battery until you're ready to start using it.

As soon as the tab is pulled off, oxygen starts to enter the battery. The battery will activate once the zinc and oxygen combine. For this reason the tab should not be removed until you're ready to use it so it doesn't start losing power.

Most hearing aids today use one of four different sizes of batteries that are readily available. Every size of hearing aid has a certain size of battery that fits it. A number 10 battery with a yellow color code is the smallest you can purchase. The largest size is 675 and is labeled in blue. Digital hearing aids that fit inside the ear canal typically use the smaller sizes. The large sizes are used for the behind the ear hearing aids. You can buy hearing aid batteries just about anywhere where they sell hearing aids online.

The larger sizes are longer lasting since there is room to hold more zinc inside the battery. But they do take up a lot more space. Many people would rather change the battery more often and have a less noticeable hearing aid.

Tags: hearing aids, hearing aid batteries, zinc air, Health, digital hearing aids, spare batteries, mercury batteries, Don't Overlook