Speaker turns itself on unexpectedly during calls

Hi there,

I have an iPhone 8 and am having a problem with the phone settings during a call. When I'm on call, the speakerphone is turning itself on in the middle of calls and conversations. It seems worse in the last month after some recent updates. Also, it switches to the dial pad and there's beeping on in other cases. I hold the phone far from my ear to avoid this, but it keeps happening.

It's jarring and loud as well as disruptive to conversations. I read up on this and turned off the settings that automatically turn the speaker on. Still, the back and forth switching keeps happening. I want to be able to lock into 1 mode (i.e. it's up against my ear) and can't.

Thanks for any tips.