Hearing aid molds

Hi,

I received my new ear moulds on Wednesday and I am so happy with them. A huge improvement over my old NHS silicone moulds. They are Egger Thermotec moulds and I had these made privately. Definitely worth the money.

They are a harder material, but soften when in the ear and to body temperature. They also have a very tiny vent and has been manufactured accordingly so I can use these with new hearing aids, such as the Oticon OPN Power BTE if I get them.

They also have thinner tubing, which looks amazing on my ears and means they are barely visible!

See below for photos and comparisons:

My new Egger Thermotec moulds

My old NHS Silicone moulds

New mould in my ear

^^^^ Tori, the links to your pics don’t work. It says invalid attachments.

The new Egger Thermotec moulds look great! How are they better than the old NHS ones? Do they help make the HA sound better, or primarily feel more comfortable?

They are a harder material, so less shrinkage and less slippage. I had terrible slippage issues with my old Silicone ones. And I now have a vent to allow my ears to breathe whereas before had issues with my ears being sore and getting spots. I would ask for new moulds but the NHS don’t like doing them often but I found they didn’t last long before becoming quite irritable.

They are a lot lighter as well compared to my silicone ones, and as you can see, almost virtually invisible in the ear. With the tubing thinner as well and positioned lower than they were on the old ones, it has made it quite invisible and not obvious that I have ear moulds.

I am still getting used to them as quite different but I am so thrilled with them. They cost £300 but so worth it and they are expected to last at least three years. Wish I went private sooner! The NHS even said I couldn’t have thinner tubing due to my aids but I can hear just as well with the thinner tubing, I think it depends on the design of the moulds etc and there is more choice privately.

My audiologist checked against different manufacturers to determine the requirements for my aids and for future hearing aids with regards to thinner tubing and the vent size so he made sure it was suitable for me and my needs.

@torinielsen said:

They are a harder material, so less shrinkage and less slippage. I had terrible slippage issues with my old Silicone ones. And I now have a vent to allow my ears to breathe whereas before had issues with my ears being sore and getting spots. I would ask for new moulds but the NHS don’t like doing them often but I found they didn’t last long before becoming quite irritable.

They are a lot lighter as well compared to my silicone ones, and as you can see, almost virtually invisible in the ear. With the tubing thinner as well and positioned lower than they were on the old ones, it has made it quite invisible and not obvious that I have ear moulds.

I am still getting used to them as quite different but I am so thrilled with them. They cost £300 but so worth it and they are expected to last at least three years. Wish I went private sooner! The NHS even said I couldn’t have thinner tubing due to my aids but I can hear just as well with the thinner tubing, I think it depends on the design of the moulds etc and there is more choice privately.

My audiologist checked against different manufacturers to determine the requirements for my aids and for future hearing aids with regards to thinner tubing and the vent size so he made sure it was suitable for me and my needs.

That works out at $371.00 for molds. Glad you like them. I’ve never paid more then $85 for molds.
They do look invisible which is nice.

@torinielsen said:

Yes, I was dubious on the price intitally as I didn’t know what they would turn out to be like for me but it was so worth it. You can get moulds made cheaper elsewhere like Specsavers or Boots here in the UK though.

The reason I chose my audiologist rather than a chain like Boots or Specsavers was because of the service and care I received so far from them and it just so happened they offered this type of mould and I wanted to move away from the traditional silicone soft mould that I have had for years.

I went to Boots last year and it was awful so I certainly wasn’t going there again! So this time wanting to try again, I decided to go to a private practice rather than a chain. But there are cheaper moulds out there also available, so I think it depends on where you go I guess.

How’re the new molds feeling? Still fitting well? I’ve had bad luck with my molds, I always have to have them remade.

@Zebras said:

How’re the new molds feeling? Still fitting well? I’ve had bad luck with my molds, I always have to have them remade.

Hi,

Yes they fit amazingly well. I’m still getting used to them as I keep thinking I don’t have anything in my ears as they are so light and because they are a harder material to what I had before as well. But I definitely can see they will last me for a long time compared to the traditional softer silicone moulds that caused me issues quite early on and would need to get them redone.

My my ears can breathe more too now I have a vent. And the tubing is amazing. I still can’t get used to how they look in my ears now. I’m no longer self conscious as the tubing I had before was thick and quite obvious.

@torinielsen said:

Hi,

Yes they fit amazingly well. I’m still getting used to them as I keep thinking I don’t have anything in my ears as they are so light and because they are a harder material to what I had before as well. But I definitely can see they will last me for a long time compared to the traditional softer silicone moulds that caused me issues quite early on and would need to get them redone.

My my ears can breathe more too now I have a vent. And the tubing is amazing. I still can’t get used to how they look in my ears now. I’m no longer self conscious as the tubing I had before was thick and quite obvious.

Glad there still fitting well. Hard earmolds seem to last longer which is a bonus. My Grandmas hard earmolds lasted 7 years.