New to hearing aids: supposed to be this painful?

It’s considered a RIC (receiver in the the canal) although technically it’s ALSO a behind the ear devices. But I’m talking about a slightly more traditional BTE device that connects via a tube to an earmold rather than via a wire to a speaker block (which is also sometimes housed in an earmold). For some people the speaker (receiver) block itself just cannot fit in the the ear comfortably. Some manufacturers have slightly smaller/shorter speakers than others. Or if you’re currently in an 85 you could try a 60. But sometimes it’s just an anatomical limit and to avoid having an earmold that fits really awkwardly you need to get that speaker out of the ear.

In any case, your clinician should be able to take a look and give a solution, but don’t settle for discomfort. You need to be able to wear it 8+ hours a day every day.

You might consider an Urgent Care clinic visit so that a doctor can look into your ears with an otoscope. If you have a red spot or general redness in your ear canal, or a scrape or anything in the sore ear, it’s best to know about it before continuing to wear a hearing aid in the sore side. I suppose it might be okay to wear an aid in the not-sore side, so as to have some improvement meanwhile. Your hearing aid for the left ear might have been pressing into your ear canal due to awkward fit. Sometimes, I have to reposition my right hearing aid because that canal is smaller.

Thank you for taking the time to explain all of that so clearly. I really appreciate it!

Oh goodness, that hadn’t even crossed my mind. I’ll see what I can do this week! I had maybe one day where my ear felt fine (probably the day I actually got the hearing aids) but after that it’s been pretty rough. Hopefully I’m not the cause, by putting them in wrong. I’ll look into this! Thank you Attila!

Check to make certain the lines that run from the aid to the speaker are long enough. Sometimes with deep set speakers the line can tug and cause pain. Try pushing the Sid’s farther toward in your ear as a simple test. Or use this guide

https://www.google.com/search?q=oticon+measuring+guide+for+lenght&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari8

@Madelinehearinghelp said:

Thank you for your reply! Sorry if this is a silly question, but what is occlusion

Thats what happens when your ears are sealed off and cant “breath” as well as normal. Kinda like inserting your fingers in your ears and talking. Your own voice sounds nasally and you may have feeling like your ears are plugged. With proper venting in the custom mold it can be alleviated but the more extreme your loss, the smaller venting you will need to stop the sounds escaping/leaking out

Ohhh I see! I am definitely experiencing occlusion. Sometimes it sounds like my voice is coming from a tin can. How ‘natural’ is audio supposed to be when you have hearing aids?

My audiologist also started me off at lower than prescription, and for the first few days it was great, but now I feel like all the background sounds are amplified when it’s voices that I need amplified instead.

Hmmm. “Worst case scenario” describes custom molds? I guess those of us who use them would say it is the “best case scenario”. I tried domes and for 3 months I had an ear infection. Did not realize that for my particular situation I should only wear custom molds. This may be a similar instance, and also not “worst case scenario” in my book. With that much pain anything would probably be better. Just my humble opinion.

Hi,
I had the same problem when i got my Oticon engage hearing aids for my reverse slope hearing. I was told that i have very small ears and so was given guide wires on my HA’s, to try help keep them in. This would help for a day or two, but they would still continually fall out and i would find myself readjusting multiple times throughout the day.
I was then told that the only other thing to do was get ear molds taken, but the same thing would happen.

I then decided to go and see another audiologist, for a second opinion, he told me straightaway that ear molds are not a suitable option for someone with reverse slope hearing as they completely block the ear, preventing me from picking up the low frequency sounds even more, and just hearing the amplified high frequency sounds.
He also told me the pain i was experiencing was from trying to push the domes into my ear canal too far, in order to try and get them to stay in. He tried me out with slightly bigger domes, and that has greatly helped. I now don’t feel the need to constantly readjust my HA’s and am not feeling any pain.

I’m not sure if this will be helpful, but for you next appointment, you could perhaps discuss the use of the guide wires, or slightly bigger domes, as both options greatly improved my hearing aid experience.
Hope this helps.

I know you said you have an appointment on the 25th, but I’m wondering if you have had any improvement meanwhile? Getting the right fit and tuning adjustments and such can be challenging!

You’re welcome!
Not hearing as well as before can be caused by buildup in your hearing aids’ wax filters - it can cause decreased volume and, eventually, a hearing aid that seems “dead” despite a full recharge or fresh disposable batteries. The wax filters are typically at the front of each receiver, behind the domes. They should have given you wax filters when they gave you the hearing aids. If you don’t already know how to change the filters, manufacturers usually have online support (including videos) for maintenance tasks on specific models of their products. Wax production varies from person to person, and can even differ between left and right ears, so changing your wax filter is a fairly inexpensive way to see whether the filter is clogged.

I hope this is helpful! Hang in there!!

You have 2 problems. Besides pain, you have reverse slope hearing loss. Current hearing aid software does not have good settings for it. They add too much volume “gain”? to low frequencies loss. I just got Oticons. First setting was what audiologist called for beginners. She did lower some setting even for that because my own voice was too loud. Next visit she increased volumes and tweaked the word recognition. It was not good. I was back to asking people to repeat what they said and had trouble hearing the TV. Also the actual pleasing that I felt with the first setting was gone. Audiologist has now set my aids back to the original setting that I liked. She doesn’t understand reverse slope recommendations, but she achieved what I need for now. When I find a way to get to a reverse slope specialist in Brooklyn I will go there. AND by next year at this time, maybe all programs from all makers may be better for reverse slope. A change is coming from NAL, National Acoustic Laboratories, they are putting out a new recommendation, NL-3 that will take reverse slope into account and give it the special treatment that it needs.

Narrow ear canal HA wearer here… Get custom molds. It’s a pain to get them but you won’t regret it. They are made with hypoallergenic material so little chance of irritation there. Call your AuD today.
Also, persist. Once you get molds/domes you finally settle on, wear the aids. It is uncomfortable for a while and your ear canals do stretch a bit.
My guess is that the material of the domes is irritating your skin.
Good luck,
Liz

I have narrow/small ear canals. I have ear moulds.
I also have reverse slope.
My voice is nice and loud and boomy.
The worst is when I wear a hat with a brim.
My voice is deflected into my aids.