If you’re a hearing aid user and you’ve ever been out walking on a windy day or driven with the car window rolled down, you know how annoying the noise generated by wind can be. It’s called wind noise, and it’s loud and constant. Wind noise will be a hazard for any piece of technology that uses a microphone outside, and hearing aids are no exception.
How Does Wind Noise Occur?
When wind blows over your hearing aid microphone, airflow is obstructed and redirected, causing air particles to swirl around your ears. As they swirl, the pressure changes from high to low to high again, and that fluctuating pressure, along with the fast-moving air particles, causes a physical disturbance of the microphone.
Impacts on Different Hearing Aid Styles
Receiver-in-canal (RIC) hearing aids and behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids are especially susceptible to wind noise because the hearing aid microphone sits behind your ear, exposed to the wind when it blows past. In-the-ear (ITE) and completely-in-the-canal (CIC) hearing aids will fare slightly better in the wind, as your head and ear itself can act as windbreaks; however, they will still experience some wind noise.
How Does Wind Noise Affect Hearing Aid Functionality?
The loud sound of wind noise is annoying and, more importantly, can drown out all other sounds, making hearing incredibly difficult, especially speech. Hearing the words your conversation partner says is going to be challenging, and many hearing aid users will find themselves accidentally shouting when they think they’re speaking at a normal level because the wind noise drowns out the sound of their voice.
This can have a significant impact on your ears and brain; overstimulation from the excess noise can be frustrating or even cause a headache. You may feel irritable due to the consistency of the noise. Thankfully, there are measures you can take to reduce the noise.
How Can I Minimize Wind Noise?
Should I Take My Hearing Aids Out?
This may seem like a reasonable solution, but we don’t recommend taking your hearing aids out in the wind. Hearing aids orient you to your surroundings, keep you alert to potential hazards and make communicating with others easier, even with wind noise.
Tips for Minimizing Wind Noise
- Wear a hat. Sometimes the simplest solution is the most effective! A hat shields the microphone from the swirling air and prevents wind from entering the microphone.
- Use a hearing aid sleeve. Accessories like hearing aid sleeves or socks go over the hearing aid to block wind and protect from sweat.
- Use a windscreen. These can be attached to BTE hearing aids.
- Wind reduction programs. Your hearing aids may have a wind reduction program available, or you can create one together with your audiologist.
Also, check out advancements in hearing aid technology. While this solution won’t work when you’re already outside in the wind, you may find that a new advancement could be a significant boon when dealing with wind noise. Advancements in hearing aid microphones (especially adaptive directional microphones), wind noise suppression and machine learning algorithms are all making great strides in helping hearing aid users deal with and minimize wind noise. Call Kampsen Hearing today to find out more!