Tulip domes

Hearing Aids
#1

I have had Rexton BiCore aids for about a year and a half now. I started out with open domes and got comfortable with those pretty quickly.

Recently I went back for adjustment as I was starting to have some trouble hearing again. She recommended switching to tulip domes to keep in more sound. They did help with that, but the small ones were too small and the large ones seemed maybe too big, or I just didn’t put up with them long enough.

But aside from diameter, the other thing I noticed was that the orientation of the dome mattered. The tulip slits at top and bottom was best - but over time they would rotate away from that position, and it felt like they almost folded up? Muffled somehow.

I mentioned this to the hearing aid fitter and I got the feeling nobody had ever said such a thing before. Are my ear canals freakishly shaped or has anyone else experienced this with sound changing depending on the dome’s orientation?

#2

I wear large (12mm) tulip domes and very early on in my hearing aid wearing experience discovered orientation definitely matters. I found the most comfortable orientation through trial and error.

I think I may also have freakishly shaped ear canals. I have to make sure the domes are in as deep as I can get them to get past a bend in the opening of my ear canal. I do this by reaching over my head with the hand opposite the dome that I’m inserting to gently pull up on my outer ear to straighten the canal as I’m inserting the dome. If I don’t get the domes in far enough, the sound is muffled.

Each night before putting my hearing aids in their charging case, I carefully wipe down both sides of each dome petal with a small alcohol prep pad. I replace the domes about every 12 days, because after that amount of time, they seem to loosen a little and will rotate too easily on the receiver allowing the orientation to get out of whack during the day.

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#3

I experienced this too.
The 12mm tulip domes folded up when i took down the HA at night, but i did not noticed the sound maffled, still annoy me.
What i am doing now is change the tulip to an 7mm Sealing domes that is a component when purchasing Resound HA.
I feel better now.

#4

Thank you both for the reassurance that I am not imagining this about the tulips.

Now I just need to figure how to make them work for me, or something else that isn’t the open basket domes. Open and tulip are all they have mentioned to me at Costco, maybe next time I’m there I should ask if they offer other options. I know I can buy other styles elsewhere, but not knowing what type or size I want, that could start to add up cost wise. Does anybody sell a “one pair of every type” kit? Probably not, that’s what your audiologist is for.

#5

I love my new round black domes for the Rexton Reach. I would ask about them when you go in. I’m pretty sure they’re closed. They stay put for me. I think the sound is excellent.

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#6

Finally made it in to ask about different domes. I’ve got two sizes of vented click sleeves (I think that’s what they are called) and the medium size of the round ones.

I tried the round ones yesterday evening and by bedtime the right ear canal was hurting. Today I’ve got the smaller of the two click sleeves and they seem to be a good match - not falling out and not hurting. I want to say the round ones held in a little more sound? But these could still be enough of an increase over the open ones.

There is more noise than I would like when I move my jaw but it’s not as loud as it was with the tulips. The open domes were basically silent movement-wise which I guess comes from having less material and thus more flexibility? I’m still trying to figure out if the orientation o with these.

They’re quite busy, so I’ve got 2.5 weeks until I can get the official fitting and REM etc. Should be able to choose the right ones by then!

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