I recently purchased Phonak Audéo Marvel RT M90 aids and have tried to persevere using domes, however I feel I am missing out on the clarity they offer. I have no idea what sort of mould I ought to have, and I will miss the air in my ears! My previous NHS ones had a silicone mould in one ear and an skeleton mould in the other. Any advice greatly received!
Pending on your hearing loss different domes and or earmolds can be used properly.
Some members do pretty good with domes that by the book should be wearing molds. Size and shape of your ear canal are important.
Sharing your audiogram would help us help you.
Widex do a custom tip for the ric-it’s see through, nearly as small as a dome and the receiver is protected inside it, you still get fresh air in your ears! They give you more clarity as you have recognised.
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Thanks for sharing your audiogram.
I am not an expert by any means, rule of thumb concerning earmolds is 40 dB loss in your lower frequencies out to 2000 hertz.
Your hearing loss is well within the area of needing custom earmolds but you might have really easily fit ear canals for domes. Maybe power domes (double domes) would be a possible. You will for sure need very little venting for best hearing aid performance.
Good luck
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I have tried all the various domes available, this is why I am now looking to go down the moulds route. Thanks for replying.
Do a web search for earmold types. You should see many styles and different materials they can be made of. Your loss doesn’t need the full shells, something smaller and discreet should work well for you.
This is Widex custom tip-Hopefully phonak do similar. Took us from 93% speech recognition to 100% keeping the all important discreetness, they can’t be seen from the front and fit deep in the canal. Hope you find a good option for you and hopefully image is attached.
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Yup, phonak has same stuff, I think they call it slim tip. Vent can be up to 3mm, or open, aka 4mm vent.
Hi
Can you add your audiogram to your profile? What you need by way of ear moulds depends to some extent on how much power you need.
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i am unsure how to do that, it is attached to a post in this thread, thanks.
https://www.hearingtracker.com/audios
And here’s a handy how-to: How to add your hearing test / audiogram to Hearing Tracker
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Thank you, I think I have added it…
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I have added it now thanks!
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Encased or solid sleeve mold (Phonak cShell or solid slimtip). The slimtip can be removed from the receiver whereas the cShell cannot, but the cShell often offers a nicer fit (wire more flush to the head). The encased mold would be hard acrylic, the sleeve mold might be available in both hard or silicone.Whether you can have it just be a canal mold versus needing a canal lock or a skeleton lock will depend on the shape of your ear and whether the canal alone offers sufficient retention. Size of the ear may also limit choice a bit.
In short, this is a decision to make with your audiologist.
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Hi Neville, would the hearing test and the ear impression provide enough information to make a decision about which type of earmold would be best?
No.
At least not with 100% hit that it really be the best solution for your ears and loss.
For example, look at my audiogram. EVERYONE’s first thought is ‘closed mold, minimal vents’, but they just don’t work, they distort the sound. I wear open fit domes. So completely the opposite, and I get the best results with them.
And results my fitter and I were aiming for is to get at least same WRS with aids as on the test.
Closed mold just couldn’t deliver that, at its best it was noticeably worse than initial screening test.
And it was REM fitted.
Open fit was also REM fitted, and instantly delivered expected results.
Granted, formulas were different, first was common one, NAL-NL2, but open fit was chosen since it removes bass, and also formula NAL-NL1 which also puts less emphasis on the bass, and it worked.
So even if you have results on paper, how your brain processes the sounds it gets (and words and tones are definitely not the same stimuli), what bothers you or not, best result might not be the starting solution.
In short, your audiogram might give your fitter idea with which earmold to start, but which will be the best for you, really depends on your brain, hearing loss causes, ear canal sensitivity and whatnot else.
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Audiogram, impression, visual inspection of the ear, and discussion with you, sure.
But your loss looks like BTEs and silicone earmolds. Any reason you want to avoid that?
I am using Phonak P90 R with domes. As I strive for perfection which is unattainable I’m wondering if I should spend the money and to give custom molds a chance. Thanks to all for your help and advice.
I’d recommend it. cShells with UP receivers if you are sticking with the RICs. Do you get real-ear measurements to confirm the fit?