Squealing HAs

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macgyvergrl

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Does anyone have trouble with the hearing aides squealing when people get near them and when you try to use a hearing aide compatible phone? My husband is having that problem. We talked to the audiologist about it and she said it was because they frequency is so high on them. It is a pain in the you know what because he has to take them out tohug someone and to use the phone.
 
macgyvergrl said:
Does anyone have trouble with the hearing aides squealing when people get near them and when you try to use a hearing aide compatible phone? My husband is having that problem. We talked to the audiologist about it and she said it was because they frequency is so high on them. It is a pain in the you know what because he has to take them out tohug someone and to use the phone.
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Ear molds fit tightly?
 
Make sure they are all the way in, and fitting the way they should. It is hard sometimes for the wearer to know for sure.
 
try using a tiny dash of vaseline on ear mold to fix the squealing issue
 
saywhatkid said:
What I meant was that sometimes they are not in the correct way; i.e. turned a bit, at an angle, etc.
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Oh. Yes they are in correctly I make sure of it cause I check them when he puts them in. The left one is the worst because the frequency is the highest in it.
 
sometimes feedback just can't be avoided. my Supero hearing aid ALWAYs feedback if something is near the hearing aid (my hand, hats, phones, whatever). Earmold would fit fine, but just too high a power I guess. People just learned to not come too close to my right ear and I would have to remember not to cover the hearing aid. Not an issue for me now since I have a new hearing aid with minimal feedback issues (feedback control?).
 
Mine only feedsback if I (or something) covers the mic. Sometimes this happens if someone hugs me and puts their head against my ear, or if I put on a hat (I almost always use a scarf instead of a hat for that reason)

Also - it's not the frequency that causes the feedback, it's the amount of amplification. Frequency is like different keys on a piano - the lower notes are a lower frequency and as you go up the keyboard the frequency (pitch) gets higher. Amplification is the loudness of a sound.

I'd ask your audie if there might be a feedback suppression program that can be adjusted - or if your HA has a mic cover that might need replacing (the cover is like a tiny piece of foam/material that covered the mic on the HA, just like a "speaker grill cloth" covers the actual speaker for audio speakers (tv, radio, computer etc)


For the phone - it's important that he's not putting the phone right against his ear so that it's covering/crowding the mic.
If he has an ITE, CIC etc (non BTE) type - make sure he leaves a bit of "air space" between the phone handset and his ear the HA (NOT like a hearing person would put the phone directly in contact with their ear). If he has a BTE make sure he holds the phone handset close (but not touching) the MIC on the BTE which is slightly ABOVE "ear level". If he's not already doing so, he also should try using the T-Coil setting on the hearing aid as it is almost always MUCH better (espeically if he has moderate to profound hearing loss) than trying to use the phone in "Mic" position.
One thing that you can easily purchase at the audiologist's office is a special foam cushion that sticks on the phone handset that will also help minimize feedback.
Of course - it's also very important that the phone that you have is HA compatible! NOT all phones are and it makes a HUGE difference in clarity, understanding and feedback (HA compatible phones have a handset that is shaped in a way to prevent feedback issues when properly used).

If he's still having trouble with the phone - it might be worth looking into getting a neck loop that is compatible with his HAs and a (landline) phone that has an aux output (looks like a headphone jack on the side of the phone & is more common on cordless phones than corded ones)
 
My HA ALWAYS squeals when I hug someone. At least my HA is on left side, CI on right I always hug Right to Right, I have friends who have HA on their right ear which I can hear it squealing (they are also profoundly deaf). My left HA is maxed out for my >100db loss. I can feel the tube vibrates but I hear nothing!
It will never be fixed/avoided since it's maxed out for my loss, my ear moulds are done regularly (once a year) tubes are fine, the mould seals well, ENT checks my ear every year and says my ears are fine. I just learnt to deal with it.
 
It could be that he may have forgotten to switch modes after using the phone etc or perhaps changed the mode unintentionally. I found mine squealed when it was in the wrong mode.
 
My left HA also whistles whenever anything gets near it. I get new earmoulds every year which fit fine, it's just something that can't be avoided if you need powerful amplification. The only solution is not to let anything get to close to the microphone, whenever someone hugs me I'm always aware that my HA might whistle and my family are used to it.

My right HA only whistles if I put my hand over the microphone because it doesn't need to provide quite as much amplification.
 
Otifoam works wonder. Dab a bit on the ear mold. You can purchase a tube through Harris Communications or request your audi to get a tube for you.
 
OMG I had that same problem with my Siemens way back when I was a kid
that had scared the crap outta of my parents LOL

but now that I have Oticon, the feedback is quieter and doesn't make that noise
 
You may also want to try to get a different of mold...for me, I have to use what's called a skeleton mold which helps. There are over fifty kinds of molds. Also the material makes a difference. Mine's vinyl. If I got a full mold, it always makes me itch plus I noticed a lot more feedback.
 
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