What causes a hearing aid to whistle?

If your hearing aid is whistling it means that the sound is escaping rather than being directed fully to your inner ear. Another term for whistling from a hearing aid is feedback. There are a few things that can cause a hearing aid to whistle but the first thing to do is make sure that you have inserted the hearing aid correctly. When inserted correctly, the earpiece, whether it is an earmould or an open fit hearing aid with a wire, should feel secure inside your ear. If this doesn’t stop the whistling then it may be that wax is preventing the sound from passing through and therefore the sound is bouncing back out again. It could also be caused by discharge or an ear infection. You can read more about ear wax removal here.

So what if your hearing aid is still whistling?

It may be necessary to connect your hearing aids to the hearing aid software and reduce the whistling. If your hearing aid continues to whistle then you may require a new mould with a tighter seal. This is particularly the case for people with a severe to profound hearing loss. In order to reduce the hearing aid whistling, we can make custom ear moulds in a range of different styles for you. If you already have an earmould, it may be necessary to change the shape or style of the mould, for example, if you have a mould with a vent, the vent may need to be blocked. For a mould with gaps also called a skeleton mould, this may need to be changed to a shell mould, especially if your hearing aid was recently turned up.

 If you have an open fitting hearing aid with a wire and a dome rather than an ear mould, it may be that the shape of your ear isn’t really suitable for that style. It may also be that you are only borderline suitable for an open ear fitting hearing aid and that is why your hearing aid is whistling. We can make custom moulds for open fit or life tip hearing aids.