It’s difficult to accept, for many, dealing with and accepting the truth of hearing loss. 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. More than likely, you immediately realized the advantages one gets by using a hearing aid, including the ability to treat tinnitus, hear speech (even among the din of background noise), and the possibility of recovering from mental decline.
But occasionally, amongst all those life-changing advantages, you get one loud, piercing and shrieking downside. You get a loud whistling noise from your hearing aids. Feedback is the more common 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, 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 likely the most prevalent reason for feedback. The sound can escape and reverberate through the microphone of the hearing aid if it doesn’t fit right. 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. With some hearing aid designs, a plastic tube will connect the actual device with the earmold. Over time, this piece can crack, harden or shrink, which unseats the earmold from its correct position. This movement can cause squealing, but you can fix the issue by replacing the plastic piece.
2. Remove Excessive Earwax
It’s ironic to think of something such as earwax, which is perceived by many people to be foul or unwelcome, as beneficial to our bodies, but it really is. This gooey compound acts as a defense against irritants like dirt and prevents them from entering our ears. While your ears will self-regulate how much earwax you hold, through actions such as Talking and chewing, there are times when an accumulation of too much earwax can have negative consequences. When you place a hearing aid on top of an extreme amount of earwax, you’re bound to receive feedback. This is because the amplified sound has nowhere to go because of the blockage from the wax. With no clear place to go, the sound circles and goes through the microphone again. Doing things such as letting warm shower water run into your ears can help eliminate excessive earwax. However, the best idea might be to make an appointment with a hearing specialist about correctly cleaning your ears to prevent excessive buildup and subsequent whistling.
3. Uncover the Microphone
Often the most reliable solution is the most obvious. How often have you seen someone attempting to take a photo with the lens cap on their camera and watched as they became momentarily puzzled about why the picture didn’t develop? The same principle applies here. Whistling can occur when something is covering the device. You could even get the same outcome by covering the microphone with your hand or another object, like if you hug someone and put your ear into their shoulder. Uncovering the hearing aid should suffice in fixing the issue.
Here’s a bonus tip: Consider purchasing a new hearing aid. Some causes for concern are being relieved by modern hearing aid models and manufacturers are integrating new technology regularly. Call us if you are interested in learning about new hearing aid technology or if you are having a problem with your current hearing aids whistling.