Advice on Needed on Oticon More/Intent 105db Receivers & Ear Molds

Hearing Aid Self-Fitting and Adjusting [DIY]
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My last audiograms have been disappointing, and I was screened as a potential cochlear implant recipient. But that thanks to my proactive and intense self-programming, it was determined that my hearing and speech comprehension with my hearing aids was superior than what a cochlear implant would provide. This said, after my last test, I was encouraged to get custom ear molds and 105db receivers. I know it takes some time for the brain to adjust, but I am not exactly thrilled with the results: occlusion is more than I would like, eating is noisy, and I lost that Oticon transparency–that natural feeling. My few questions are:

1/ Is there a way to get a more natural sound with ear molds? Or it is just about getting used to this? At this point, I am actually considering going back to 85db receivers, and even using a less than perfect prescription.

2/ I’m due for new HAs, and seriously thinking of getting the Intent 1 to replace my current More 1. To those who made the switch, can I expect a modicum of improvements?

For the first time in years, I feel kind of down about this hearing loss situation. Each new hearing aid has been an improvement, but the switch to custom molds seems like a real step backward when it comes to a natural transparent feel.

Thank you all in advance. This community has really made an enormous difference in my life and dealing with profound hearing loss. Special tip of the hat to @Volusiano whose invaluable contributions taught me so much.

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Here is something to think about that has been on my mind lately:

If you are someone who has a significant enough hearing loss to require hearing aids, you are not the expert on what things should sound like.

Let me say that again - you are not the expert on what things should sound like.

We tend to place absolute trust in our own senses, to believe completely in our own experiences. But you and I are here because we can’t hear normally. Our memory of what we think something used to sound like does not invalidate the test that shows that our ears cannot hear the very thing that we are insisting on.

We have to understand that there is a difference between “right” (correct, measurable, repeatable) and “good” (whether or not we like it).

In my day job, I have to teach people how to print accurate colors on high-precision printing devices. Every week I have to hear someone say “that red is not right”, or “this isn’t our corporate color”, or “that doesn’t look like what is on my screen” - and every week I have to teach them that the color they see is measurably right, and it’s their perception that is “wrong”.

Every time I have gotten new hearing aids, I have started out with “that doesn’t sound right”. Every time I have gone back and asked the audiologist to change my settings so that they sound like I think they “should”. And every time, after getting the adjustments that I asked for… I have gone back and asked for them to be set back to my prescription - because I realized that by dialing back to what I “liked”, I was losing sound that wasn’t there for me before. Sound that made what I was hearing sound “wrong”.

And in every case, after being distracted for a few days by the “wrongness”, I adjusted to it and it became my new normal. I have had my current aids for about 5 months now, and while there are still some things that don’t sound “normal” to me, I would bet I would be even less satisfied if I went back to my old ones at this point.

The point is, I haven’t had “normal” hearing for at least 30 years. Some in this group never did. Normal hearing wasn’t what I was hearing before I got these new hearing aids - I got these new aids because I don’t have normal hearing.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I wish people would give the process a chance, understand that your brain is an amazing tool and will do a lot of work toward adapting to what you give it to work with, and accept that what we want and what we need are often not the same thing. It’s illogical to give an audiologist potentially thousands of our hard-earned dollars because we recognize that we have a problem - and that they are (theoretically, at least) an expert in that field… and then ignore their expertise and advice because we don’t like it.

My dad used to tell me “You don’t get to blow out the candle and curse the darkness”.

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Yes absolutely, you need the correct sized vent, so you could use the same size you use on your 85db or slightly smaller to cover for any feedback issues.

Why? Your doing DIY right, so no need to have less then perfect, remember only you know how you like things to sound, no one else can possibly know.

As for the Intent being better, again only you’ll know this after a decent trial, no one else can say for sure they’ll perform better then what you have,only you can.

This is a fitting issue, obviously, the acoustics have to set right, sometimes a work in progress to get right, are you having any feedback issues, or only the occlusion effect (booming sounds, head in a barrel etc) I would definitely talk to your audiologist about your concerns with the custom molds they made, as this is usually an easy fix.

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There is no feedback, but one detail my wife noticed is that I talk a lot quieter since I got these. My voice feel both unnatural and kind of loud.

I agree, and I have been giving the process a chance for nearly 20 years now. I know how the brain adapts. I guess this time the process has been so unpleasant that it has affected my very mood.

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Just a thought… Oticon have 100db receivers that can be used with domes (which is what I assume you have been using). Only the 105 need Customs. There isn’t that much difference in power between them.

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So… in the end I returned my custom molds. Not only did I find them exhausting and unpleasant, but the receiver wire also cut into my ear painfully.

I ended up getting a pair of Intent1 with 100db receivers and Power Domes. Still working on tuning these.

Thank you all for input