Jordan I find your comments really helpful. Thanks !
DaveL
Mississauga
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With my old Widex HAs, I got into the habit of always putting the left HA in first. When I got new L90s I occasionally experienced the highly variable battery usage you described. I also noticed that the app sometimes had more difficulty connecting with the right HA. Something clicked in my brain and I wondered if it might be important to turn on the master before the slave, so I started always putting in the right HA first. I’ve not seen any incidents of variable battery usage since, and it’s been a couple months. Most days the right is 3-5% lower than the left. I’m currently at 46%/46% while 12 hours into my day, with probably 2-3 hours of TV streaming.
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Just an observation I wanted to share: It seemed like the performance of my Lumity 90’s wasn’t as good as it was in the beginning, three months ago. I thought it was either my imagination, or that I had gotten used to the hearing aids and didn’t notice the difference as much anymore.
I had received a couple of packages of Phonak Cerustop wax guards with my new aids and was curious about how to change them. Historically, I’ve never had a problem with wax, and I only changed my wax guards every few months, but I thought it would be a good time to learn how to change the Cerustop guards (super simple) even though I didn’t think they were ready to be changed.
The old guards didn’t look blocked, but after I put the aids in with the new wax guards I was astounded by the change in sound quality. It was back to how I remember it the first time I put the Lumity 90’s in my ears!
Perhaps these wax guards need to be changed more often, or I wasn’t changing my wax guards often enough on previous hearing aids. I don’t know, but I’m going to be much more aware of the sound quality and how it relates to clean wax guards.
I was pleasantly surprised that the Cerustop wax guards weren’t as expensive as the old Cerushield wax guards. They were $25 for 80 Phonak brand Cerustop wax guards on Amazon. At that low price, I can change them as often as I feel is necessary.
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I’ve used Phonak hearing aids for about 20 years; 3 pair. The Cerustop wax guards baffle me. I often change them and find that the Cerustop isn’t in straight; I must have put it in crooked last time around.
I complained to my audiologist from day one. Told him there are a number of complaints on this forum. He called Sonova/Phonak’s head office which is only 3 miles from my home. The person who helped him said they have had no complaints.
My habit is to change my wax guards every week. Every time I change them I notice an improvement in my hearing aid’s performance.
I use a plastic anchor to position my hearing aids in place. I have closed domes. The anchor makes it really hard to change the cerustop wax guads.
I’m old; vision issues (farsighted, and correction for astigmatism, and reading); dexterity. These are the worst wax guards I’ve used.
My audiologist says I don’t have wax issues.
Thanks for the amazon suggestion.
DaveL
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Yup. It’s a good idea to change the wax guards regularly. Especially if you work out or are in a hot and damp climate. I have checked my wax guards using a high power magnifying loupe a few times to see if they are blocked up and you would be surprised how tiny the sound hole is and how little wax it takes to block them up.
Another thing I do when my hearing is off is to check my ears to see if my ear canals are partially blocked with wax. I do this using a fibre optic ear cleaning camera I bought on Amazon. You basically connect it wirelessly to your iPhone and download their app. I looks like a pen and has a tiny light and camera at the end. You stick this carefully into your ear and watch the live video feed on your iPhone. Lets you see inside your ear and inspect your ear canal and ear drum. It was quite cheap ($30-$40) and a good way of checking your ears. It comes with tools to remove the wax but this is something you may want to have a professional do. At least you can see if you need to book an appointment.
Jordan
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@DaveL I can understand how having vision and dexterity issues would make it difficult to change this type of wax guard. I have custom molds. Perhaps I just got lucky on my first try, but I found the Cerustop easier to change than the Cerushield. (No vision or dexterity issues)
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@JordanK I’m going to get a high power magnifying loupe if I can. It would be interesting to see what is actually in the filters!
I’m also going to check out the fibre optic camera. I had no idea anything like that was available! I’d also like to know exactly what is inside my ear canal…
Thanks for the suggestions! Heading to Amazon…
Joni
Hi @jonifoz I did get my Lumity 90 RLs last Tuesday 3/7. I like them but adjustments are needed. Speech is not good. I was interested in your post about wax guards. I had P90s. Are the wax guards different for Lumity. I have wax guards from my Paradise but if not compatible, that’s good to know. Thanks.
I have an Audi appointment tomorrow so hopefully we will get the improvements required for speech.
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Hi @Sequoia_Woman!
So glad you were finally able to get your new Lumity! I, too, have had a couple of adjustments made and with each adjustment they get better.
I don’t know what your old wax guards were. I had the Marvels, which used Cerushield. The Lumity uses Cerustop. I’ve attached a photo of the package.
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Both my wax guards for Paradise & Lumity are the same. CeruShield Disk. I’ll ask Audi tomorrow. I am just looking at what was in my bag when I bought the aids.
UPDATE: I just looked up Cerustop wax guards. These are different. Mine are in a disk. When I had Resound Aids I had the stick kind. With your Marvels , was this wax guard the same or did you have the disk type.
@Sequoia_Woman I had the disk type CeruShield with my Marvels. Yes, the CeruStop are the stick type.
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Further complication: The wax guards (HF3) for the Phonak Activevent receivers is different than the CeruShield and Cerustop.
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Thanks JordanK!
Great idea
DaveL
Mississauga
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This is what you can see with the ear cleaning camera. I won’t show you the “before” picture because it was gross. Here is my clean ear. Bear in mind every time you put on your hearing aids you are pushing any wax in the canal towards your ear drum and eventually it does get partially blocked.
Sorry to go a bit off topic…
Jordan
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Google Bebird R1 and see here:
Also scroll up in that thread. There are nice pictures.
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Amazon in the U.S. has something like that available. Only $27!?
