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Subject : New earmolds needed for Phonak Audeo YES (RIC / CRT) hearing aids… posted by adrien24 on Tue Jul 20, 2010 10:36 am |
| Hello! I have Phonak Audeo YES IX hearing aids. Previously, I've had the microPowers. These are both RIC/RITE/receiver-in-the-canal hearing aids. I need ear molds that can fit power receivers. I have problems in general with ear molds. The ear molds I used to get with the regular BTE hearing aids were a soft material (silicone) and these always irritated my ears. I use acrylic for my Audeo YES hearing aids because the material doesn't irritate my ear. But, I had to have a canal lock put on them (I actually started with acrylic with my microPowers), because it was clear they would slip out of my ear partially without the lock. And I promise you it was not because of a bad fitting that they were slipping. The slipping became a problem, especially as I chewed and talked; I have TMJ issues and the TMJ/jaw issues make the hearing aids slip more I think (my current theory). Anyway! I have also tried soft ear molds which were a disaster as not only did they break/rip, they also caused skin irritation. My skin would itch and itch and be red. Similar to what happened with BTE hearing aid ear molds. It seems there's always an advantage and disadvantage with each type of material. The acrylics slip and the soft silicone irritate. This is true for me at least. I noticed recently that I will need to get new hearing aids as my earmolds with the canal locks have started slipping and whistling a little. Grrrr... Oh!!! I should mention that when I switched from microPowers to Audeo YES, I also had moved and thus was seeing another audiologist. At first, I received ear molds that were acrylic and similar to my microPowers ones, however they were much longer and thus went into the ear canal more and didn't have a canal lock. My issue with those was that, at least from what I remember, since they were hard acrylic and long in length, there was less movement "allowed" (by the jaw, etc.) before the earmold was affected and moved; however, they were longer and feedback wasn't so much an issue. I asked my audiologist to order duplicates of the microPower ear molds with the canal locks as those were still very comfortable. After a long journey, I finally was mostly satisfied, but to be honest it had been such a long road that I just was too tired to try other options. I didn't know if there was anything else worth trying or if I gave up on the longer acrylic ones too soon. Oh, I talked to another audiologist and she recommended asking my current audiologist to try the power domes because they mold to the ear better. It makes sense to me because of the flexibility. The audiologist did say a drawback was there were no vents. I'm thinking I may try this and/or the longer acrylic molds. In the past, I was always wary of the non-custom ear molds, because they were always deemed inferior (in my mind), but perhaps that isn't always true. I have heard of people wearing these domes with success. I've been a hearing aid wearer, pretty much for life, and like everyone else, I still hate ear molds ;-) Any suggestions? If you would like me to clarify about anything or any experience, etc., please let me know. Thanks! |
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Phone: (508) 875-8662 Fax: (508) 875-0145, Email: hoha@charter.net |
