Should my KS10 hearing aids with custom ear moulds have wax guards? (I conclude, yes)

Hearing Aids
#1
  1. I expect that they should, correct?
  2. per this audi (Bryce Altus https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c1dQvUAnZTY) the KS10 should use the same Cerustop wax guard on the black sticks (which I believe would be REF 098-0282), correct?
  3. Was custom ear mould made correctly by Phonak?
    The way the ear molds were made even if wax guards were installed they would be recessed within the ear mould and a bit of a nuisance to replace DIY monthly. As you can see (red arrow) the speaker outlet ends within the mould.
    2022-06-22_16-33-03
    Photos I have seen of custom ear moulds show a wax guard sitting flush with the opening which makes it both accessible And the speaker is radiating sound into the ear canal whereas with mine the sound enters a tiny diameter air space bouncing off of silicone mould for a distance of about 3mm before exiting into air space of ear canal. (Perhaps this is Phonak design intention that it be recessed and that Target software compensates for this aspect of the acoustic environment.)

===== detailed info ==========
{1} Silicone Slim Tip custom molds were ordered by Costco from Phonak and when Costco installed them they did not put in wax guards which might be a mistake on their part. I have flakey ear wax and use a Jodi HA vacuum so believe that ear wax on the speaker is probably not an issue.

{3} As you can see green arrow of photo of my mould the back of receiver and start of ear wire is not flush with back of ear mould. Below and purple arrow is from audi on YouTube and clearly my mould and wax guard relationship are very different! The opening in my mould does not allow for the receiver to go any farther into the mould.
2022-06-22_16-58-21

Given the severity of my hearing loss, perhaps recessing the receiver within the mould is correct, yet want to have more confidence in the hardware fitting. As a very HA knowledgeable friend recently pointed out she thought the ear wire was a bit too long and contributed to one HA slightly dislodging at times. THe wire length also in her opinion put the mics slightly farther to the back of my head and probably had some impact on the processor comparing differences in sound from the front and rear mics as they were not in the sweet spot on the ear. While my aided hearing is “OK” there is huge room for improvement so I want to give both hardware and software best shot at optimizing my hearing.

Thanks for your thoughts/experience.

#2

  1. Yes wax guards should be used, your using a receiver, that’s what they are for.

  2. KS10 are Phonak models and use the exact same receiver.

  3. I wouldn’t like mine made like this, the mold seems a bit short with a lot of the receiver sticking out, but maybe this is your ear canal is very short before the bend, so they had to?

Sure for hard acrylic but not the soft silicone type.

That’s not going to make any difference that you could possibly tell.

Wouldn’t make much difference for your loss,

Well I’d think I’d take your audiologist who fitted them over a “friends” advice, but if your really that concerned you can easily buy some shorter receivers on eBay and try yourself.

Are you doing DIY?

#3

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My conclusions:

  1. Costco and/or Phonak in making silicone moulds erred in recessing receiver within mould AND in my (perhaps most situations) wax guard should always be used to protect receiver from ear wax.
    2 Whenever I have other reasons to do in person session with Costco, I will push on them at their expense to redo moulds which it seems were done somewhat poorly; and will inquire as to whether my ear canal is unusually short.
  2. As with most HA areas, on internet and even here in forum there is often at least somewhat contradictory information on same topic. Only some of this inconsistency can be attributed to “correct” answer changing with newer technology or with audiology research on best practices.
  3. For me who still at times strains with speech comprehension in relative quiet, I prefer to give myself the best opportunity for improvement by optimizing hardware and software so that even minor sub-optimal audi/fitter choices do create more obstacles - trying to find a sweet spot between ‘good enough’ and the ‘elusive perfection.’
#4

Ok so sounds like your on the right track, let us know how you get on, DIY is the way forward for a lot of people who just can’t seem to get the people their working with, to find the “sweet spot” on how they like to hear.

I’ve never seen this done with soft silicone,what I mean here is the wax filter is glued onto the mold, but of course if the end of the receiver is flush with the mold then the wax filter is fitted into the receiver and not the mold as such, however I understand there’s a type of silicone that is very much like acrylic, just a bit softer, possibly the video is showing this?
But ether way you know what you want, so just get the Costco fitter to do a remake (and show them the video you have) of how you want them to be made, Phonak may or may not agree, they’ll most likely get the last say on how they get made from the impression supplied by Costco.

Good luck

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