For many individuals, acknowledging and dealing with the truth of hearing loss is a tough pill to swallow. Because you recognized that it was best for your health, you made the decision to go and get fitted for a hearing aid by a hearing specialist. Most likely, you immediately recognized the advantages one receives from wearing a hearing aid, including the ability to treat tinnitus, hear speech (even amidst the buzz of background noise), and the potential to recover from mental decline.
But on occasion you get a loud, piercing, shrieking negative among all the life changing positives. Your hearing aids whistle. Feedback is the more familiar word for this whistling. It’s just like what happens to a sound system when you bring a microphone too close, but it’s directly in your ears. Fortunately for you, this is a problem you can fix relatively easily. We’ve put together a recap of three tried-and-true ways to stop your hearing aid from squealing.
1. Modify The Fit of Your Hearing Aid
The positioning of the hearing aid in your ear or the earmold it’s connected to is probably the most common reason for feedback. The sound can escape and reverberate through the microphone of the hearing aid if it doesn’t fit correctly. Depending on how poorly the fit is and how much sound has escaped, the consequences of the leakage can be either a continuous or an intermittent squealing. A plastic tube connects certain hearing aid models with an earmold. Over time, the earmold can become unseated from its proper position due to hardening, cracking and shrinking. This movement can cause whistling, but you can fix the problem by replacing the plastic piece.
2. Excessive Earwax Should be Removed
It’s ironic to think of something such as earwax, which is thought of by many people to be foul or unwelcome, as beneficial to our bodies, but it really is. Dirt and other substances are stopped from getting into the ears by this gooey substance which acts as a defense. While your ears will self-regulate how much earwax you hold, through actions like Talking and chewing, there are times when a buildup of too much earwax can have negative repercussions. When you insert a hearing aid on top of an excessive amount of earwax, you’re bound to receive feedback. This is because the amplified sound has nowhere to go due to the blockage from the wax. With no clear exit, the sound circles and goes through the microphone once more. There are a few ways to get rid of an abundance of wax from your ears such as letting a warm shower run into your ears. However, the best idea might be to make an appointment with a hearing specialist about correctly cleaning your ears to avoid undue accumulation and subsequent whistling.
3. Make Certain The Microphone is Uncovered
Often the most successful solution is the most evident. Have you ever noticed someone attempting to take a picture which didn’t come out, only to find that the lens cap was still on? The same concept is applicable here. Anything covering the device can cause it to whistle. If you cover the microphone with your hand or something else, you get the same result, like if you bury your ear in someone’s shoulder while giving them a hug. Uncovering the hearing aid should be enough to fix the problem.
Here’s a bonus tip: Consider purchasing a new hearing aid. Manufacturers are regularly developing new hearing aid technology into devices, and we’ve already seen modern models decrease some of these causes for concern. If you’re having trouble with whistling from your hearing aids, or you’re interested in learning more about new hearing technology, call us.