Phonak Ambra Petite 10 size?

I wear them and they are practically invisible. The only way they are noticeable is if somebody peers ino the ear at a particular angle. They are not noticeable (i.e. invisible) from the front and side, in profile. I have been out socialising and mentioned the aids and people have said what aids ?

talking about this aid right???
http://www.phonak.com/content/dam/phonak/b2b/C_M_tools/Hearing_Instruments/Versata/User_Guide/029_0080_02_User_Manual_Versata_micro_micro_Petite_V2.00.pdf3

What I am confused about is Glucas you say in-ear But this link says its BTE

depending how much hair one has depends its viability. if you wear 2mm hair like mine it stick out like sore thumb based on my link provided.

Question I have, why are you so worried if people even notice if you have an aid?

What people hate the most is having to repeat themselves to you. Or people think you are ignoring them.

When they see the aid the Ignoring issue is understandable. And getting the best aid for your loss is going to alleviate the having to repeat themselves to you.

I say BOLDLY GO FORTH. you will have better luck.

think of it this way, people are wearing devices in their ears all the time in this modern world of tech. People are getting use to seeing other with devices sticking out of other people ears.

I am most embarrassed by not knowing what is going on or not getting the punch line, than how far out my ear my aid sticks.

Heck I would be scared to wear an earpiece that can be easily shoved in the ear canal. If you got hit in the ear you could potentially have the tube pushed in so far as to puncture the ear drum. That is why they make full size soft molds custom fit to the shape of your ear.

I had a full size hard mold when I was younger and a kid kicked me in the ear when rough housing. The mold tore the canal skin but did not reach the eardrum in that it was too big to fit in the canal itself. I would have lost my eardrum wearing one of those universal molds shown in the diagram on the provided link.

those things are not meant for people who will wear the aid all day long. I know manufactures will tell you different in that it affects their bottom line.

the full sized custom mold for the bte saved my ear. i won’t put anything smaller than full ear due to that personal experience.

You couldn’t pay me to put something that small in my ear that could be used as a spear to puncture the drum.

thanks for the correct link sorry for my blunder. still stand regarding the dome fit, in that as the tubing gets harder from exposure to sweat creating the spear.

getting hit in the ear I never envisioned either yet it happened, never know where or when it will happen either.

I been hit in the ear plenty over the years.

AS for the other poster with the custom mold that hadn’t fit there several reason for it. When fitting if you talk it will cause your ear to change shape thus not fitting right. Taking the mold impression out too early. Substandard mold putty when fitting.

in 30 years never had a improperly fitting mold. They been right first time every time. Might have something to do with proximity to MAYO CLINIC.

other advantage I have with full mold is: since it acts as a plug trapping heat in, wax never gets hard in the canal. thus no more build up that can’t be removed with a Q-tip.

I use to get real bad wax buildups before I started using hearing aids with full molds.

I have used drum plug devices in the past. One thing I don’t like about them is if you do not have a round canal the pressure points can cause pain over time. meaning the narrower dimensions of the canal will have more presure than the longer dimensions.

only real draw back with larger non breathable surface area against the skin is it tends to get itchy now and then.

yet because of the full mold keeping the earwax soft it tends to coat the surface of the mold in a thin to thick film which can alleviate the itchiness due to the oils in the wax.

I discovered this, when I would go in to get the tubing replaced at mayo they would put the mold on the cleaner removing all the oils and it would be itchy for a few hours after. once skin and wax oil re-coated the mold it stopped itching for most part.

just out of curiosity how often do you have to replace the drums and what is their average replacement cost?

I can get a custom fit soft mold to last life of aid.

the drum aids in my personal view is entirely a gimmick of manufactures to circumvent the doctors office in that custom molds are usually done in an audiology clinic. See doctors don’t fit based on manufacture insistence, they fit whats best for the client. This would lead to less sales by manufactures.
So to increase sales manufactures try to sell directly to clients and use sales pitch to sell certain product with disregard to the clients actual needs in many if not most… By creating demand where there is none.

Like Mayo clinic doesn’t use the same company to fit molds and aids. the molds, depending the kind, comes from different companies than the aids themselves. So the company that made the aids is not getting the profits that would have come from selling their own molds.

Mayo also pics the best option based on quality and ignore the sales pitch that would normally influence clients.

Manufactures really hate Mayo for this although the would never admit it in public.

I guess what I am getting at is by going through the doctors office you get fitted what is best for you. NOT WHATS BEST FOR THE MANUFACTURER.

I would also avoid the retail outlets in that they are usually influenced by the manufacturer. Meaning that the manufactures dictate to the retail outlets. saying if you sell ours you can’t sell our competitors. I have worked for companies that have taken this approach in order to increase profits. I sat in the meetings in which this strategy was discused. It sickeded me.

This is becoming standard practice almost everywhere I look today. manufacturers DO NOT WANT YOU TO MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION THAT WILL LEAD YOU TO BUYING CHEAPER OR ANOTHER COMPETITOR.

This can be avoided in hospital audiology departments. If you know of an aid that is not standard product at the hospital audiology they will almost always special order the one you want.

Try that at retail outlet they will laugh at you and make you feel like shit.

Asking yourself what this has to do with original poster? well lets see why is that person asking about a specific brand here and not at the audiology department where they are willing to answer it for free.

Most likely in My mind is the OP was looking at the company retail website. And not asking the audiologist at the clinic. The retail website is vague about details in trying to minimize the “informed” decision. Thus causing the OP to come to this site seeking info not shown on the retail website.

thus all the seeming non topic material I was talking about is in actuality very relevant. Just indirectly.

1 custom mold probably cheaper than frequently replaced drum molds over that last life of aid is example of a cheaper option.

Adrien24 I would be curious as to the severity of your loss in that here is a site that gives description of molds and uses
http://smithhearingaid.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=6&Itemid=722

Note that the low profile is not recommended for anyone of severe loss or worse.

in regards to the drum style there is another issue with them in that when placing in the canal the depth may not be the same each time you put the drum in the full mold acts as a stop to prevent from putting the mold too close or too far which changes how the sound reverberates in the space between the mold and ear drum. this can lead to your brain having to relearn everything time you place the mold in your ear.

I am starting to think this is why Mayo won’t openly endorse this style of universal mold.

and then taking in to account of dementia and hearing loss connection… where the brain has to dedicate more brain power of trying to relearn and process hearing… the link was provided by the admin to this article.

Don sometimes what we want is actually bad for us. In most cases personally I usually correct bad choices once better informed to make a better educated decision.

example not being able to use full mold in ear hearing aids instead of BTE.

I hate BTE never liked them.

doctor explained the full in ear not powerful enough for my particular loss.

then taken in to light the connection of increased dementia risk and increased level of loss

I go with the BTE

I am not telling other people “to do” just trying to convince them to do whats best for their hearing first, then everything else second in that, the reason for the aids to begin with is to try and correct the hearing to as close to normal as possible. So as to reduce problems associated with hearing loss.

Also not making the right choice, can actually damage your hearing further, as it did in my case, when they were switching aids back and forth between the ears rather than just using aids in both.

I might add it was doctors in this case that made the mistake. THESE PEOPLE SPECIALIZED IN HEARING AND THEY MADE BAD CALL.

If an entire team of doctor can screw up a choice regarding hearing. then non specialists like us clients are going to make even less informed decisions.

the forum should be used in a manor as to help educate us, so when we actually see the specialist, we know the right questions to ask.

Part of what I am personally doing is trying to broaden the scope of the readers decision process to include more things than say: How does it look? can you see it or not?.

In that hearing is NOT like say getting glasses or buying pair of shoes or deciding what cell phone is best.

A decision on how you treat your ears can destroy what hearing you have left.

Life really sucks without hearing. especially for those that actually knew what it was like to hear at some point in their past.

Corey