No, only mammals sweat. But over the course of this hot and humid summer, I’ve felt like my hearing devices are definitely damp. That’s because the ear sweats. Sweat encourages wax, or cerumen.

If you’re very hard of hearing, like me, your hearing aid may have a custom-made ear mold rather than a free-floating dome. Early signs of too much wax include small dabs of wax on the mold when you take it out. Eventually the wax may muffle sound if it covers the eardrum. There are various commercial and home remedies for earwax, but your ENT or an ENT nurse practitioner can do a more reliable job. Never poke at it. You’ll just drive it in deeper.

Wax is actually a good thing. It serves to clean, lubricate, and at least partially protect your ear canal from bacteria and fungus. If you have have too much wax, however, it can cause tinnitus, vertigo, itching, pain, external otitis, and even hearing loss,

Moisture in the ear can damage the hearing-aid’s delicate components. The website Ear Gear sells hearing-aid protectors, which look like mittens for your hearing aids. The common-sense advice your audiologist gave you also helps: keep your hearing aids clean, use a drying box or humidifier at night, and of course take them off before you shower or swim. I’m even careful with mine when I’m around water, on a boat for instance — especially now that I have a cochlear implant, which doesn’t fit as snugly as a hearing aid. Ear Gear also mentions the Ingress Protection (IP) rating, which measures how well a device keeps out water, debris, and foreign substances. Ask your audiologist about this if you’re concerned.

Here’s a link to an informative story in the Atlantic about sweat in general. There’s even a whole book about sweat. The Joy of Sweat, by Sarah Everts.

For more about hearing loss, read my books: “Shouting Won’t Help,” “Living Better with Hearing Loss,” and “Smart Hearing,” available at Amazon.com.