#69

If I get custom molds and don’t like them can I go back to domes or are custom molds permanently attached?

#70

In most cases you can go back to domes. I know Oticon has a couple of high powered molds that have the receivers embedded in them.

#71

I have the 85dB earmolds, and they are embedded.
I believe all the 3D printed earmolds are sealed receivers.

#72

Yes, but you can switch back to the receivers you have in your ears now. Easy switch, but you should change the settings in your HA with the audiologist’s SW in doing so.

WH

3 Likes
#73

What aids are you wearing?
Receivers or behind the ear?

It’s simply replacing the receiver or the sound tube for behind the ear aids. So moving a different direction from molds is easy.

#74

Original post said More1.

WH

1 Like
#75

Behind the ear of More 1. Fill in fill in

#76

I looked again at the manual. Those are likely MicroShells. For customized earpieces they also have LiteTip, MicroMold, and the VarioTherm versions of them. The custom earpieces appear to not include the receiver.

#77

Yesterday as an experiment I decided once again to try 12mm domes on the grounds that if fingers in the ears made an improvement then the 10mm domes probably weren’t sealing in my ear canals. As before, they felt a little tight. I could perhaps get used to that, but worse, my ears felt occluded, and eating crunchy toast while trying to listen to the radio over my breakfast, I could hardly hear anything over the sound of chewing.

So are occluded ears and noisey chewing an ineveitable consequence of good fitting and acceptable lower frequencies?

(My audiogram is reasonably flat up to 1kHz but then drops off. Above 3kHz I have practically nothing.)

#78

@philip.leriche: Let me tell you about my one and only experience with occlusion. As I have posted elsewhere, I started to wear hard acrylic moulds 16 years ago. They gave me very good performance, and very good acoustic coupling up until recently. As I get older, I find that I am losing body fat, and my ear canals have changed shape.

I was no longer getting the tight acoustic seal from these molds of mine that I was getting previously. I discussed this with my audiologist, and he took an impression and sent away for a new pair of molds. What I received back was what Oticon calls Mini Fit Power Molds, I believe . They have my usual 100 dB speakers in them, but they are made of clear acrylic an are of a different shape than my old molds. The new ones project farther into my ear canal than the old moulds used to. The improvement in my hearing has been amazing.

I have a much louder acoustic signal delivered to my ear with these new PowerFit molds, and sounds are much crisper and more distinct. I can make out the consonants and soft sounds a lot better with these molds, than I did previously.

But back to occlusion. When I first took delivery of these molds, my experience was just like yours.

At first I found that chewing was tremendously loud, and I could hardly stand the loudness of my own voice when I talked. But within two or three days everything settled down, and I became used to it. I didn’t have to have any adjustments done: I just let my brain do the adjusting. I am very happy right now with the performance that I’m getting from my More1 hearing aids and these new power molds. They are excellent. I could not ask for a better.

I may, however, be getting a pair of Real hearing aids if the DVA accepts my request for early replacement of my hearing aids, because I have no spares at the moment. I will post on this if it develops into something concrete.

As for occlusion, to answer your question directly, yes, I think that your experience with chewing is normal, but I think that if you are patient and just keep wearing the new molds for a few days, you’ll find that your brain takes care of it, all on its own.

As usual, this is only my opinion, and your mileage may vary.

1 Like
#79

HMm; I had not heard about this before and I have had 4 or 5 custom molds in the past. All of them would work themselves out of my ears when I chew/eat, so I always reverted back to open domes. Maybe I will give custom molds another try?

3 Likes
#80

I guess im fortune in one aspect, that in my bad ear i have so much loss that it always feels occluded. So using a mold with zero vent is a non-issue for me.

#81

Ask for better hearing aids first.

Yours are quite old. You should get the NHS Oticon Engage which are MFi HAs.

#82

I have, when I had molds and never had back out issues.

2 Likes
#83

Absolutely!
The change from open domes to earmolds totally changes the acoustics.
Even a difference in venting creates a need for adjustment.

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#84

These are mine, they are custom, and sealed:

image
image1280×723 94.3 KB

1 Like
#85

You can get both molds where the receiver is encased and molds where it is removable. A 100 dB receiver will pretty much always be encased. Building the receiver into the mold allows them to deconstruct the receiver block which is more forgiving for space and fit, and so an encased mold will often offer a slightly sleeker fit in the ear, although Oticon in particular makes nice custom tips. Some ears require encased molds because of shape/size. Tips with removeable receivers have the obvious benefit of being able to swap the receiver at the clinic rather than sending for repair. Hollow tips are also less occluding for people with good lows who want a pretty open fit but more feedback control than an open dome can offer.

4 Likes
#86

One more question; Keep your mouth open how wide?

  • Wide enough to say “Ha”?
  • Wide enough to eat an apple?
#87

Standard bite block is maybe an inch or a bit more? Finger mobility may vary, but if I curl my finger and place it prependicularly between my teeth that seems about right. If that makes sense.

4 Likes
#88

Thanks @Neville for clarification.
Musta had my finger in my mouth when I posted!