Actually these are two types of hearing aids.
Receiver in Canal (R.I.C.) has a wire between the hearing aid and the receiver, or tiny speaker in the ear canal.
Behind the Ear is larger and more powerful I think for people who have greater hearing loss.
I was confused when I got my current hearing aids. I thought they were behind the ear; they’re not.
I hope that someone else contributes that knows more than I.
Mine is the first one. The RIC and the wires is a little long.
Here is a picture from Phonak showing different wire lengths. The left is too short; the right is too long and the middle is correct.
“it’s written on the receiver, a number 0 to 4”
I had no idea!!! Thanks for this info @tenkan – and thank you @MtnPhotog for starting the convo!
Thanks Gilbert!
My ears are larger. You can’t see my hearing aids from the side.
DaveL
Toronto
MntPhotog, I actually think the wire on your aids looks FINE - but I’m no expert. Mainly I think you got an awesome fit for the blasted curve of the wire, which nearly everyone will agree is IMPOSSIBLE to re-shape into a curve that fits one’s ear perfectly.
For many years, my audi insisted on putting long wires on my aids - hoping that would help seat the speaker deep into my ear canal and I’d hear as best as possible. However, it is a fact that no matter how long/short the wire, those speakers are going to work their way backwards OUT of the canal if you wear silicone tips. Chewing, talking, articulating, all that is going to make the tip slip and slide out till one nearly has feedback. Didn’t matter when I had long wires, they’d slip and slide out till I could hang a shirt on that goofy wire that stuck like a loop outside my ear.
Now I’ve got shorter wires, so even as the speaker works its way backwards out of my ear canal, it never looks GOOFY. I have resigned myself to pushing the speakers in 100s of times a day - like pushing glasses up all day.
I’m also active outdoors and have hat & sunglasses or reading glasses to contend with. My aids are positioned maybe 1/16th of an inch further back than yours? But I still get LOTS of hair rustling, and as a woman, my hair is not going to be any shorter. I want to scream with annoyance when that hair rustles, but all I can do is lift the hair up and hope it won’t settle on top of the mic.
It’s a challenge, but from the photo you post, you have a FABULOUSLY fitting wire!
P.S. I am not able to wear custom molds cuz I’m allergic to the material, so the softer silicone domes is all I can work with.
I got my Philips 9030s at Costco (Canada) in January. When I went back for my follow up visit, I mentioned that the wires felt tight and I was pushing the receivers into my ears regularly. The technician popped in two longer wires and they are perfect now. We also decided to use different size domes in different ears because I have a bony growth in one ear (who knew!) and the receiver/dome seemed a bit tight in one ear. Going down a size is also perfect! I’m happy now.
Great. Glad you found a solution that works!
