I am coming to the end of my trial period with my Widex 330’s, RIC. I keep finding them, even with the soft, small ventilated dome to feel itchy and ill fitting, the small metal “arm” for lack of a better term before the ear bud, just doesn’t want to fit in my ear comfortably. And in the classroom, I still have trouble picking up the kids’ voices in the very back of my classroom. I can increase the volume, using my little amplifier but it isn’t terribly helpful. That will increase the sound of the buzzing overhead projector, the kids in the front of the room…but not in the back. I am tempted to push for a repair to the projector because it is so disruptive to trying to hear with that constant buzzing. In the meantime, I am wondering if there might be a more flexible hearing aid “out there”.
Wollaston
Why would you keep them?
Good question, but I lack any frame of reference and don’t know if “this is as good as it gets”. I don’t want to seem like I am dissatisfied if this is all that HA’s can do for me, but my sister, who also wears HA’s is very happy with hers. I meet with my audiologist today and will discuss this with her. For all this money, I want to be sure that I am not making a very expensive mistake.
Have your audi take impressions of your ear canals. Then you can visualize the receiver placement. If your canals are very narrow and tortuous, a RIC device may not be the best choice. You may also want to consider custom earmolds instead of generic domes.
This is a comment to “is this as good as it gets”. It is impossible to answer, because nobody can hear exactly what you can or cannot hear. My own experience is that it took quite a while to get my HA’s to work in a way where I can say that I really love them. Part of my problem, and probably yours as well is that when you are new to HA’s there are a lot to learn and get used to and sometimes it takes a while before you are able to know exactly what you can get and want to get. It appears that some people are lucky and get to the sweet spot sooner than others. You need to be insistent and keep working with your audi. HA’s can only d so much, they are not good at picking up speech over long distances and I doubt you get the issue with hearing the kids in the back of the class completely resolved. When I speak to groups and have to hear from people further back, I walk closer to them. I also turn up the volume, but as you point out, is also turns up the volume of everything else. If the projector can be modified to make less noise that will probably be easier than overruling it with youyr HA’s even if they are perfectly tuned
The Widex receiver design isn’t that great. Try a few others, different length or cranked receivers with different domes may fit far more easily.
Without an audio-gram posted it’s pretty to give advice
It sounds like you have RIC hearing aids. You might try much smaller Open Fit hearing aids instead. My wife also has very narrow ear canals. She wears behind ear Open Fit hearing aids with 4mm Domes and uses HCPB custom DIY silicone rubber ear molds. When her ears itches she cleans the molds with hydrogen peroxide and her ear canals also, with her doctors recommendation. The ear molds cost her $14.77 for 4 ear molds, including shipping at: http://HearingGreen.net They are very comfortable and inconspicuous.