Hi, I’m new to the forum. I have a tent-shaped hearing loss (~50db loss on the low end, ~67dB loss on the high end, ~20dB loss in the middle) in my right ear and I’m struggling to find a good solution with various RIC hearing aids with standard domes. Would a tent-shaped hearing loss benefit from a custom mold? My biggest issue is with hearing/understanding folks in a noisy restaurant. I just tried the Jabra Enhance Pro 20s with a number of different domes last night and was unimpressed with the results in a restaurant last night (I tweaked just about every parameter in the Jabra app). Also, all the Jabra domes in various styles and sizes hurt my ears after a few minutes, to the point I feel like I’m developing an earache (a problem I didn’t have my old Kirkland (Rexton) KS7 sleeve dome.
What about the softer, more flexible, silicone double-dome “power domes” ?
My audiogram is far worse than yours, and these work the best for me cuz my ear canals swell UP and DOWN throughout the day. I totally empathize with the discomfort ANY mold can cause. If it’s hurtin’, it can’t be right in size or material used.
One of the Costco audiologists was nice enough to give me the entire assortment of Jabra Enhance Pro 20 domes to try out over the next couple of weeks. This included some double/power domes, which was the first dome that my audiologist wanted me to try. I’ve also tried all the Jabra single domes and tulip domes in different sizes. They all hurt after a few minutes.
The “sleeve” type dome I have on my old KS7 is a dream, but Philips and Jabra don’t offer that style of dome. Hence, part of the the reason for me asking about a custom mold. I am going to try the Rexton Reach, since they seem to offer a sleeve-type dome that looks very similar to the sleeve dome that I have on my KS7 (unfortunately, the KS7/Rexton click domes apparently don’t work on the newer Rexton Reach).
To make things even more complicated, the Costco I usually go to is now a pilot store for the Sennheiser hearing aids (who also doesn’t offer a sleeve style dome). That Costco store just stopped selling the Rexton Reach a few days ago to make room for the Sennheiser hearing aid. However, I can apparently still get the Rexton Reach at a different Costco across town that isn’t part of that pilot program and my usual Costco store can make tweaks to the Rexton Reach program and support me with replacement domes, etc.
It drives me nuts that so many of the domes out there are not interchangeable amongst different brand hearing aids.
The key that is very important is once you find the domes that works for you is to get your aids adjusted for your hearing loss again using those domes. Domes can definitely effect your hearing aid fitting.
Totally get that craaaaazy frustration! CVKemp gave valuable advice so be sure to get the aids adjusted to them. Even different ear wire lengths need tinkering adjustments for optimum settings.
I’ve also tried different shape domes on my receivers, but find they are not always completely interchangeable. I was able to use an Oticon dome on my Phonaks, but other domes would keep falling off the speaker tip. I guess it’s trial and error. But PAIN is not the outcome you want.