After a search, it looks like this might be among the most recent discussion of custom moulds. I thought I’d share my experience. I got my first pair of aids, ReSound Quattros in September of 2018. I struggled with all sorts of comfort issues, primarily that whatever domes and wire length my audiologist tried, they wouldn’t stay put. I was constantly having to push them back into my ears. Sport locks wouldn’t keep them in place. She tried different sized domes, including mismatched between my 2 ears. She tried tulip domes. Nothing worked. After about 3 months, I insisted on custom molds. They are silicone. They didn’t slip. I adjusted to the different way my voice (and other sounds) sounded. They didn’t hurt. But they felt like I had acorns stuck in my ears and every chew, every word, every raise of my eyebrows tugged at my ears. They drove me crazy but I continued to try to adjust to them–for nearly 6 months. My audie said there was nothing else to try.
I found another audiologist and asked him to work with me on the problem. He decided to try new custom moulds. He had me talk while the moulding compound hardened. And he pushed gently on what a google search tells me is called the tragus. (My first audiologist had me sit still and not move while she made my first moulds.)
The resultant moulds are MUCH more comfortable. I can almost forget that I’m wearing hearing aids. They don’t tug at my ears with every movement of my mouth.
The moral…maybe? Hang in there on comfort issues and change audiologists if yours says nothing more can be done.
Oh…I learned from reading the forum of these two different ways to let the moulding compound set. I knew enough, from the forum discussion, to tell the new audie that I’d been told to sit still and not talk. That’s when he said “let’s try an ‘open’ mould then.” Second moral? This site has been incredibly useful to me. Thank you to everyone who participates so generously.
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Hot Springs Village, Arkansas
Rotterdam, Netherlands