It’s a tough pill to swallow, for many, dealing with and admitting the truth of hearing loss. Nevertheless, you pushed on and went to a hearing specialist for a hearing aid fitting appointment, because you knew that’s what is best for your health. More than likely, you quickly recognized the advantages one gets by wearing a hearing aid, including the ability to deal with tinnitus, hear speech (even amidst the din of background noise), and the potential to recover from mental decline.
But once in a while you get a loud, piercing, shrieking negative amongst all the life altering positives. Your hearing aids squeal. The squealing you’re hearing is more commonly known as feedback. It’s just like what happens to a sound system when you bring a microphone too close, but it’s directly in your ears. This, luckily for you, is an issue that can be fixed fairly easily. We’ve organized a recap of three tried-and-true ways to stop your hearing aid from whistling.
1. Adjust 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 predominant reason for feedback. If the hearing aid does not fit properly inside of your ear, sound can get out and reverberate through the hearing aid’s microphone. Depending on how poorly the fit is and how much sound has escaped, the result of the leakage can be either a continuous or a sporadic squealing. A plastic tube connects some hearing aid designs with an earmold. As time passes, this piece can harden, shrink or crack, which unseats the earmold from its correct position. This movement can cause whistling, but you can fix the issue by replacing the plastic piece.
2. Excessive Earwax Should be Removed
It’s strange to think of something like earwax, which is thought of by many people to be foul or unwelcome, as beneficial to our bodies, but it actually is. This icky compound acts as a defense against irritants such as dirt and stops them from getting into our ears. While your ears will self-regulate the amount of earwax you hold, through actions like Talking and chewing, there are times when a buildup of too much earwax can have negative consequences. When you put a hearing aid on top of an excessive amount of earwax, you’re bound to receive feedback. Because of the blockage from earwax, the amplified sound has nowhere to go and this is the reason for the feedback. The sound circles back into the microphone because it has no definite exit. Doing things such as letting warm shower water run into your ears can help eliminate excessive earwax. However, the best idea could be to speak to a hearing specialist about properly cleaning your ears to avoid undue accumulation and subsequent whistling.
3. Make Sure The Microphone is Uncovered
Sometimes the most successful solution is the most evident. How often have you seen somebody try to take a photo with the lens cap on their camera and watched as they became temporarily baffled about why the picture didn’t develop? The same concept is applicable here. Anything covering the hearing aid can cause them to whistle. You might even get the same result by covering the microphone with your hand or another object, like if you give someone a hug and put your ear into their shoulder. Uncovering the hearing aid should suffice in fixing the issue.
Here’s a bonus tip: A new hearing aid may be the best option. Some causes for worry are being relieved by modern hearing aid models and manufacturers are developing new technology all of the time. Give us a call if you are interested in learning about new hearing aid technology or if you are having a problem with your current hearing aids whistling.
