Why do I hear better when I press my finger to my ear?

Audiologists and Hearing Aid Dispensers
#1

I know this may seem strange, but I recently got Phonak Audeo Smart 3 hearing aids with increased sound recover. I hear ok with them, but when I press my finger in front of the ear opening, wow, I can hear not only speech and the tv, but background music in commercials, my cats meowing and even the refrigerator running! I am using closed domes. I have tried open domes and power domes and now I am back to the closed domes.

How, why can I hear better this way? Any thoughts?

Would custom ear moulds give me this great sound ?

Please give me your opinions.

#2

You may be at the upper end of these instruments’ capabilities.

Sounds like if gains are set high, the feedback suppression functions may be at their limits (i.e. going berserk).

Your thought of custom (maybe even somewhat occluding) earmolds sounds good.

But for a quick check have them switch to an Audeo Smart IX with similar programming. This is based on much better technology and might handle the feedback a lot better.

#3

I dont get feedback, that was not what I posted.

#4

If you are pressing the receiver deeper in the canal, you are pushing the receiver nearer the eardrum and getting better perception of the gain applied. If this is the case, increasing the prescribed gain will give you this perception without having to stick your fingers in your ear.

If you are putting your finger on the skin at the front of your ear and getting this effect, then a well fitted custom tip should give you the same effect.

#5

As you are pushing the closed dome further into the ear, it reduces the volume of air between the dome and the eardrum. The same sound into a smaller volume will be louder.

#6

I am certainly not an expert but I think you need power domes or custom moulds. These will keep the low frequencies in your ears and increase the loudness. By pressing your fingers to your ears you are blocking the escape of the low frequencies.

I have come to believe that the type of accoustic coupling you have (domes, moulds or whatever) is of much greater influence over your hearing that the hardware. I read posts of people switching brands and types of HA’s due to sound quality without experimenting with different sizes or types of domes.

Just my two cents worth.

Gilbert

#7

Gilbert is correct. I expected better sound quality from my Phonak Audio IX and tried several types of domes in an attempt to improve the quality but nothing worked. The domes never fit comfortably. I just got my custom earmolds yesterday and they made a world of difference in the quality of sound. I now hear a more full and robust type of sound. Before, the sound had a tinny sharp quality to it. Voices sound a little muffled now, but I will go in for another adjustment which should take care of that. For me, custom earmolds make such an immense difference that I am sorry I waited so long to try them.

#8

Three years ago I changed over to occluded custom molds and speech recognition improved a lot. Last week I had them remade because the old ones were becoming loose. The result is they feel very tight but the occlusion has been reduced by a detectable amount. It took about a week for me to be able to tolerate the very tight and deep molds. I use Miracell Pro Ear lubricant on the molds, it helps a lot. Pro Ear is not available from the Miracell web site. You can only buy it from a audiology store.

#9

Hi, @ Gilbert, thanks for your evaluation about the issue Colleen had with putting her finger against her ear, I understand your response, the receiver can be a significant part of the equation, just as a speaker in a stereo system. I just posted a question in the General Q&A forum about if All HA’s are created equal. Seems to me if many HA’s employ amplifiers made by the same manufacturers there should be an even playing field. Different HA marketers add their own accessories/hardware to offer improved performance,am I saying that right? I still have a problem of top brand HA’s out preforming each other when the basic function is amplifying sound and controlling the result with equalizers. Why do some HA’s sound better than another. Can it be that the Audi doesnt tweak properly, can a shady Audi steer a client to a specific brand via tweaking?
Gilbert, thanks for your input

CJQ

#10

+1

Without knowing your audiogram or situation better it sounds to me like getting more low frequency benefit from the aids when you plug your ear. With your ears unoccluded you vent off low frequencies and these sound contribute to loudness perception as well as “balance” of sound. You might find the sound “fuller” with more low Hz energy. Custom moulds or more occluding domes will accomplish this also.

Settings can have a vast impact on sound quality, esp if not set “properly”. Whats more, correct for one person might not be the same as correct for another even with the same audiogram.

Different hearing aids sound different from one another. I’m not sure that you can effectively judge one hearing aid sounding “better” in a single environment or over a very short period of time though. While its true all companies are reaching for the same goal of amplifying speech sounds to achieve audibility, and while it may also be true they share some similar components that doesn’t mean they arrive at the goal in the same manner. Hearing aids are vastly more complex then the days of microphone + amplifier + speaker = HA. As such there are sound quality differences between companies, even between hearing aids within a company.

As for a hypothetical “shady Audi” influencing your choice through settings, I would would find this unlikely, albeit possible. Anything they’re putting on your ear is something they should want to sound good, anything less is counter productive. The only reason I can see something like this would be to set a less expensive aid less optimally in order to say “look how much better this one sounds”. Even that find that unlikely, doing something akin to this with different brands would be even more unlikely.

#11

My symptoms are red spots, swelling and it isnt bleeding, but it looks red. It hurts when I move it. It is my middle finger, the third finger. It even hurts in my little finger in the middle, but it is not that bad, compared to my third finger. Anyone know what it is?

#12

You clearly need to wear CIC hearing aids.

#13

You can try asking your audiologist if they can make your custom earmold’s canal more longer. Rather than cutting it off short, leave it long. One of my mentor’s clients has the same issue as yours, COLLEENS. When the client got his new earmolds back (longer canals) he started to hear better.
That’s one way my mentor tried…

#14

This is because by closing of the opening of the ear canal, you are trapping more low frequency energy in the ear canal and most things will seem louder, but will be tilted toward the low frequencies. Even with closed domes some of the low escape. You might try standard earmolds at least of medium depth with variable vents so you can experiment with just how much of a vent you prefer. Earmold acoustic does influence the net resulting sound to the eardrum a great deal. Keep in mind, however, that you will also hear more background noise in general with smaller vents. Many people also experience occlusion which can make you own voice sound very loud, as if you’re talking with your fingers in your ears!