Problems with custom earmolds

Hearing Aids
#1

My trial is up tomorrow on my Phonak Audeo V 90 Super power with custom earmolds.My Audiologist has tried three different sets of custom earmolds all all three have caused nothing but pain and have sore in ear.Before I got the Phonak I had Reston with custom earmolds and had no problem from the very first fit.The problem with the Rexton was my hearing,that is why I went to the Phonak?As you know each time I was fit with new earmolds had to redo REM,with casused me to have to get use the new sound.My hearing is not very good .Any experience any of you have had along this line would be app

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R. 40 55. 70. 95. 90. 90
L. 30. 50. 75. 95. 80. 80
SDS
R 36. 80
L 20. 85

#2

Can you use the old molds from your Rexton HA’s?

#3

Wish I could.Very different.

#4

OK, somebody correct me if I’m wrong here, but custom molds should be completely separate from the brand of hearing aid. This is kind of like saying I’m giving up on this Honda Civic because the tires give too rough a ride. The custom mold is to the aid as the tires are to the car.

Seems to me they’re making your molds wrong. Were your previous molds from the same audi? And if so, have you asked him if they came from the same supplier?

Also, when I had trouble with my molds, my HIS extended my trial. Ask your audi if he can extend your trial so you can have a chance to actually test out the aids without focusing on the ear pain.

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#5

Blue crab the Rexton earmolds came from Rexton,Phonak made earmolds for the Phonak hearing aid 3 different times.Trial has been extended 2 times each time I got new molds.Just don’t seem to be getting anywhere very frustrating.

#6

Phonak’s super power ear mold has the receiver built into it, so it cannot be swapped with other brands of ear molds.

How do the ear molds differ from each other? Was your old ear mold hard like the new one, or soft silicone? Did it stick out of the ear as much or was it a deeper fit? Is it any easier or more difficult to insert? Do you have any unusual points of interest about your canals? They are not post surgical or anything like that, are they?

Historically I have had good results with Phonak custom molds, but lately I have been having a few issues similar to what you’re describing. Nothing as severe as what you’re describing, however.

#7

Right on JustionHis,just got back from my Appointment,Audi.was very nice we are going a new direction.As you said the super receiver is built in to the mold…and they are just to large for my ears,so he is going with Phonak Brand with the reciver built in the the hearing aid part that goes behind my ear,its larger but will allow earmold to be smaller that goes in my ear.Also have a 60 day trial.You seem to know a good bit ,how to you thing that will work.Also earmolds are going to be soft this time.

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#8

I think that sounds like it will work better for you.

#9

Keep in mind as you use this forum that Justin and Um_Bongo are the professionals here. The rest of us are just a bunch of knuckleheads simply speaking from our own experiences, which is sometimes helpful, sometimes not. But in prioritizing the advice you receive, those guys are tops. :cool:

And I just learned a fascinating bit about custom molds.

#10

I am using hard Phonak Slim Tips and they work quite well for me. Every size dome just kept sliding out of my ears.

#11

JustinHis,the new AIDS I’m getting are the Phonak Bolero V 90 SP with a tube that looks a lot different that the wire that I had before.Also the ear pieces are soft.From a performance standpoint how do they compare to the Phonak Audeo V90 superpower …I suppose what I’m asking do you think I will be able to hear with the new AIDS as well as I did with the old.The receiver now will be behind my ear instead of in my ear.I hope you know what I mean.

#12

Yes, from a performance standpoint they should work just as well as the Audeo V90s.

I have never understood why companies name different form factors different things. For instance, Oticon Alta2 Pros are available in a tiny designrite, a minrite, a rite, a minibte, a bte, a power bte, a power plus bte, an iic, a cic, an itc, a half shell, and a full shell… but they are all called Alta2 Pros because the guts are essentially the same no matter which form factor…

Phonak V90s are all the same chip, but they call the ric versions Audeo and the BTE versions Bolero and the custom versions Virto. I am not a linguist, so what the heck is a Bolero? What is Virto? What is an Audeo? Do those names translate into something meaningful or do they somehow inspire a visual of what it is? Silly.

Haha, I am flattered that someone here thinks I am one of the experts.

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#13

I used custom earmolds for 8 or 9 years. I and the audiologist tried to cut them down, all sorts of things to no avail. Now, because of my persistence in the matter, I use a soft pre formed mold that fits in my ear and is comfortable. Maybe you do not need those custom ones, and they are also much cheaper. And, I have to wear mine all the time, so I know from whence I speak!

#14

Rick 25 could you give more information on the soft pre formed molds!

#15

I just saw this now. Your audiologist should be able to hook you up with the. They are a preformed soft disk with thin tubes that fit in my ears very comfortably. I have a severe to profound hearing loss, and the doc thought I need thicker tubes, but they work great. I would be more careful about windy weather, though! I hope you have gotten some relief by now!

#16

Perhaps I should start a new thread since this one is old, but figured I would start here as I got here by searching for relevant topics.

Interested in any recommendations for my situation. My mother recently got KS8 hearings aids. She has what I think is considered severe loss especially in one ear. She has very small ear canals and the receiver is a 2m if that is of any help. She started with size 6 closed domes, and had problems getting them in and slipping out. We went back and tried click sleeves. They were better, but also tend to slip out. Not as much as the domes. Now we are on her first try with custom ear pieces. We were surprised at how large, hard and bulky they are. We had expected something smaller fitting in her ear canal. They stick out of her ear a lot more than any of the others. Is this normal? If this is the best that they can do with custom ear molds I think she will return them and go back to the sleeves. Any comments would be appreciated.

#17

@graeck1, You didn’t mention if your Mom has tried shorter or longer receiver wires, and/or “sport” (sometimes called “concha”) locks to help keep the receivers/domes in her ears. Sometimes it is just a matter of playing around to find the right fit. Also, “molding” the receiver wires to to fit closer to the head or around the ears by using gentle heat from a hair dryer sometimes helps. Just a thought. Hope you can find a solution.

#18

Initially she had longer lead receivers, but that made the lead stick read far out of her her so the tech went to the shorter lead. Yes she had the concha lead, retainer, as you call them. This week we went back as the custom ear molds were considerably worse than the click sleeves. She was also getting a lot of feedback from the right one. Her right ear has the worse hearing loss. They are ordering new molds with concha leads. They said that her ears are difficult due to the small ear canal. So for now she is using the click sleeves. She is much happier with them when she gets them in correctly. We also complained enough about the feedback that the tech did a critical gain analysis and pulled the gain back in areas where feedback was most likely. That made a big difference. We will try the new ear pieces when they come in, but I think we will end up back with the click sleeves in the long run. I think part of the fitting problem is my mother getting them in her ear correctly. Small tilted ear canals and a lot of the time when I check she is not getting them into her ear canal enough. It usually takes a pull on the upper ear and I pull down and then a push up to get them in correctly. Hopefully with practice she will get it. The custom ones mostly just sit in the ear with only a little bump starting to go into the canal. Not sure if the impressions were deep enough to make a good ear mold.
Thanks for the feedback.