my experience with EAS

hi all, it's been almost 5 months since i've been activated. i have AB (sky m90), and in that time, with the residual hearing in my implanted ear, i've gone through 3 different acoustic parts + the earhook itself. just wanted to give my 2 cents on the different parts i've used thus far.

• the earhook by itself -- electric-only stimulation, used for the first complete month of my activation as we were waiting for whatever residual i had to settle into what it would be. i had no t-mic as it's still on backorder at the time of posting, so was relying on the two mics on the processor itself.

  • voices were higher-pitched than i was used to with my HAs and it was quite jarring after i was able to understand speech. to be fair, this was the beginning stages of my journey, and everything was new.
  • my autosense currently is electric-only, and it has normalised to the point that even without my HA on the other side, i can understand who is speaking if i am already familiar with their voice. i do not receive lower-frequencies well, and so male voices still sound different than they did prior to implantation. this is not a big setback and not super distracting.

• acoustic power dome -- this was the first iteration of my acoustic component. used after we tested the residual i had in the ear. i believe i used this for 2 months. mapping had an acoustic + electric program and an acoustic + electric omnidirectional program.

  • getting low frequencies worked amazingly! even though autosense (electric-only) remained my main program, streaming via bluetooth used the acoustic component and i was able to switch to my other acoustic/electric programs as needed.
  • unfortunately, bass was only received well when the dome was seated just right in my canal, which was very difficult and had to be adjusted constantly or i just wouldn't be able to hear those low freqs. the dome irritated my ear canal heavily and caused much more earwax than normal to be produced in that ear. otherwise, it did the job.

gratefully, after i spoke with my audiologist about my grievances with the dome, she reached out to AB and then Phonak on my behalf to see if they could make a custom earmold for my CI. as they still had my mold "template" from my HAs in their files, Phonak was happy to make an acrylic slimtip for my receiver.

• acoustic acrylic slim tip mold -- the fit was decent (no canal lock, just a "shell" if that makes sense?), but as the receiver wire was meant for the dome, it extended far past my tragus and caused the processor to fall off my ear easily when my head was tilted to the side. this was used for about a month.

  • i gave it a 2-week trial, but i noticed almost immediately when streaming that i could not hear low-frequencies like i did with the dome. i'm not sure if it was my residual being lost (i was having headaches around this time and slightly before), or if it was the receiver wire having gotten messed up when we were switching out the dome for this mold. at this point it was just decoration, as it wasn't even suitable for retention.
  • it was also impossibly difficult to clean due to the lack of clearance between the receiver itself and the shell; unfortunately, i could not move them away from each other as it was such a precarious attachment. my audiologist had used a special tool to remove the receiver from the shell, and as such i could not separate the two to stick into an ultrasonic cleaner. i did not like the difficulty of cleaning it.
  • otherwise, i cannot give it a decent review since i could not experience the acoustic part of it. regardless, it was nice to not have an irritated ear canal all the time.

my audiologist was still in contact with Phonak to troubleshoot the length of the receiver wire since i'm sure it could've been damaged quite easily with the way it was having to fold, and they had actually suggested they create a silicone slimtip in the hopes it could get a deeper fit.

• acoustic silicone slim tip mold -- this one has a canal lock! i have been using this for less than a week at the time of posting and is the current iteration (and possibly now my permanent until i've completely lost any remaining usable residual hearing). it's warm, fits well, but a little tricky to get in at first due to its grip and non-slipperiness.

  • audiologist had to adjust some things in my programming to allow me to hear bass again. it may or may not have been the wire, but i believe i could have just lost some more residual hearing these past few months.
  • fit is great, wire still sticks out a bit, but not as severely as with the acrylic earmold. my processor no longer sits flush/parallel to my ear (more at a diagonal/angle), but it's not very noticeable or problematic with typical use. moreso when i'm moving my head, then the processor will fall off. however, with the uneven pressure on my still-healing scar, it does become bothersome and uncomfortable by the end of the day.
  • the silicone seems to fit too well in the sense that when my heart rate is high (working out), my pulse can be heard and felt on that side of my head, which is quite jarring. not necessarily a deal-breaker as it's not common my heart rate will get that high, but something of note that could just be a "me" thing.
  • i no longer have to adjust the mold to seal well as it does so as soon as i get it on. canal still gets itchy but it could just be that i'm still getting used to it or that my hair is bothering that area. given that i've enjoyed it within the first few days rather than be bothered by it, i am very grateful for Phonak and AB to have done this for me.

i've only heard of skeleton molds being used, and when i asked my audiologist about it, she mentioned AB had produced them for retention rather than for EAS. i'm so thankful that they've gone through all the trouble to make me these molds and to have recommended something that would work for me better, and i couldn't be happier with this acoustic slim tip! not to mention there's no wax filter to change out like with the acrylic slim tip haha! i wouldn't have known the molds were possible if my aud had not reached out and asked.