Persons who use hearing aid devices, can sometimes find themselves stuck with progressively depreciating performance of these useful tools due to a variety of causes. This article offers useful guidelines for diagnosing/resolving hearing aids problems. It ends by offering download access to a one-page (Acrobat PDF) "Troubleshooting Chart For Common Hearing Aids Problems" that makes the process of finding your needed hearing aid solution more straightforward.
The following are common hearing aids problems that users encounter. I suggest possible causes and solutions to each of them using a bullet point approach.
1. If Hearing Aid makes "Whistling" sound, this could be caused by:
a. The earmold being wrongly inserted. Action: Check and re-insert the earmold if necessary.
b. Or it may not be a good fit. Action: In this case, you would need to have the mould replaced.
c. The tube may be cracked. Action: Check the tubing carefully, and if you find any cracks, replace it.
d. Volume setting may be too high. Action: Check volume setting and turn down if necessary.
2. If it makes "scratchy, hissing or frying" sound or keeps going on and off, that could be due to:
a. Dust collected in switch contact/controls. Action: Repeatedly move switch forward/backwards to remove any collected dust etc
b. Poor battery contact. Action: Check that battery contacts.
c. Exposure to humidity, or excessive perspiration causing moisture to clog hearing aid and distort sounds. Action: Use a drying container or hearing aid dehumidifier (e.g. kit using a desiccant like silica which absorbs moisture from the aid).
3. If the hearing aid produces weaker sound than normal, possible causes include:
a. Battery may be weak. Action: Replace battery and check sound again.
b. The earmold may be wrongly inserted. Action: Re-insert the earmold.
c. Wax may be built up in the ear canal; or partially clogging the earmold. Action: Go to doctor for ear check (with ear speculum). Have ear &/or ear mold cleaned if necessary.
d. Tubing may be cracked or with moisture. Action: Check for cracks or condensation. Have tubing cleaned of moisture if possible. If cracked, replace tubing.
4. If the aid produces no sound:
a. Maybe it is not turned ON. Action:Check switch and turn ON if necessary.
b. Battery not correctly inserted - or wrong size. Action:Check battery position/size. Adjust/replace if needed. If it does not go in readily, adjust entry approach or get correct size.
c. The ear mould may be clogged. Action: Have ear mold cleaned.
d. The battery may be dead or its contacts corroded. Action: Replace with new battery. Clean corroded contacts - a pencil eraser can be used. Replace contacts if worn.
e. The tubing may be blocked or bent. Action: Check tubing. Clean or replace if necessary.
5. And if it produces a buzzing, humming, or whining noise, that could be due to:
Mobile phone interference. This is because mobile phones/PCs emit radio frequency and electromagnetic radiation which can cause a "buzzing, humming, or whining" noise.
You will check that the phone is hearing aid compatible by looking for the icon imprinted on it.
In the USA, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) reportedly requires cell phones to be rated as to how much interference they are likely to cause to hearing aids.
The rating scale ranges from 1 to 4. The four possibilities are: M1 or T1 (poor), M2 or T2 (fair), M3 or T3 (good) and M4 or T4 (excellent). Only phones rated 3 or 4 are allowed to be sold as hearing aid compatible (HAC).
Phones that would have only been rated 1 or 2 are deemed unacceptable.
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