You’re having a Zoom call with your granddaughter and you’ve been waiting for it all week! You’ll have a great time and get caught up with your beloved family members.
But when the call starts, you are horrified to realize, you can’t hear what your family members are saying. You’re wearing your hearing aids but you still can’t hear anything.
You can’t believe how discouraged you are.
Modern marvels muffled
It’s well recognized that you can attain crystal clear sound with modern hearing aids. So when that doesn’t occur, that can be very frustrating. Hearing aids are supposed to help you hear better, right? But, lately, every time you’ve used your hearing aids, everything has sounded muffled and distorted (and that’s definitely not an improvement over your normal hearing). The issue might not be the hearing aid at all.
Why do my hearing aids sound muffled?
So why do voices sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher if your hearing aids are working properly? Well, there are a couple of things you can do to try to fix the issue.
Earwax
You’d be rich if you had a nickel for every time earwax caused trouble. The issue with your hearing aid may be a build-up of earwax against the microphone. Amplification is muffled when earwax hinders your hearing aid’s ability to detect sound.
Here are some indications that earwax could be the problem.:
- Visually look over your hearing aids. Don’t just put your hearing aid in without taking a good look at it. If you see earwax, try to remove it.
- Power-up the hearing aid. The issue is likely to be the microphone (probably wax buildup) and not the speaker if all of the start-up sounds are normal when you turn on the hearing aid.
It’s also possible that earwax has built up not on your hearing aid but inside of your ear. In those situations, be certain to clean out your ears in a safe way (a cotton swab, by the way, is not a safe way). If the muffled problem persists after you’ve cleaned up your hearing aid and your ears, you’ll need to continue troubleshooting.
Infection
Infection will be the next thing to think about if earwax isn’t accountable. This could be a common ear infection. Sometimes, it may be an inner ear infection. In both situations, a hearing evaluation is suggested.
Swelling of the ear canal and middle ear can be the result of both kinds of infection. This swelling blocks the transmission of sound and, therefore, the sound you’re hearing is muffled. Treatments might include some antibiotics. Once the infection has cleared, your hearing will usually return to normal.
Batteries
It’s also very possible that your hearing aid batteries are in need to be charged. Hearing aids can sound muffled when the batteries get low so be sure to watch for that. This is true even if your batteries are rechargeable. It’s possible, in many cases, that your hearing aids will become crystal clear again after you change the batteries with new ones.
Hearing loss
It could also be feasible that your hearing loss has changed and your hearing aids need to be adjusted to make up for that. If you haven’t had your hearing tested in the last year or so, think about making an appointment. While you’re here getting your hearing aid reprogrammed we can also do an inspection and cleaning.
Don’t let it linger
It’s certainly a smart plan to come in for a consultation if you’ve tried all this and your hearing aid still sounds muffled. If your muffled hearing lingers, you could find yourself using your hearing aids less (or cranking up the volume on your TV again). And all of that could start causing hearing damage again.
Letting it linger is not a wise idea. Make an appointment with us so you can get back to hearing before that big family get-together. If you can actually hear what they’re saying you’ll enjoy yourself a lot more.