Phonak nano CIC

[Hank]

@Um_bongo

Nano/Micro CIC have higher failure rate than other aids, but there’s a bit of luck involved and a bit of a light touch when it comes to handling.

We have a symptom that I call ‘farmers fingers’ essentially when people have worked outside or in more physical jobs, their finger tips de-sensitise and harden. Micro CIC handling is a particular issue for this kind of customer. It leads to shell fractures, battery door failures and insertion issues more than other groups. Even over-enthusiastic ‘cleaning’ can result in things going awry.

This very morning I’ve moved a long term customer away from a CIC to a slim tube micro-BTE, simply because he found the CIC would fail too often. He owns a company that builds large steel framed sheds. He had previously been on a small BTE aid, but had wanted to ‘go-smaller’ (despite advice against) to get an aid that didn’t interfere with his glasses. It’s been a fairly costly couple of years as a result.

The “farmers fingers” is an interesting term. I am a Bricklayer, however I have not worked in the field for many years and as I stated in my post, I do believe that I have been very gentle with the Phonak’s. Is there an equivilent CIC from another manufacturer? I was told by my audiologist that the Phonak nano is the smallest CIC that there is.
Thank you