Why does my hearing aid whistle so much?
A whistling hearing aid can be very embarrassing. The whistling sound is called acoustic feedback and can often be quite a challenge for the audiologist. Most patient’s can hear their own hearing aids whistle. Unfortunately, if the patient’s hearing loss is very severe, the patient may be unaware of the whistling. However, other individuals near them may hear it.
There are two types of acoustic feedback. The first type is called external feedback. External feedback may occur if the ear mold fits loosely and allows the amplified sound exiting the tip of the hearing aid to leak out of the ear canal and find its way back to the microphone. In this case the ear mold should either be adjusted or remade to reduce the leakage of amplified sound. Excessive ear wax blocking the ear canal can increase the chances of external feedback. The second type of feedback is called internal feedback. Internal feedback may occur if the microphone or the receiver of the hearing aid is touching another component in the aid. In this case the components need to be adjusted.