Questions about Earmold Types and Venting to Reduce Feedback

The 16-4 rule sounds good. Mold depth would seem to be very important. Not only for a proper seal but to hold the mold steady.
I should be getting my earmolds any day now. Lloyd’s did mention having them made extra long for greater depth.
Good luck with your new molds.

Let me know how you make out with the molds…

Will do.
Lloyd’s called yesterday to verify the power slim tube length, said the molds look good. The molds will be mailed today so should be here later this week.

The new molds came in today.
They look great.
Initial fit is tight. I hope not too tight.
The sound from the Naida V90 aids is very impressive. Very full and natural. Absolutely zero feedback but really never had feedback issues with Phonak aids before.
Now it’s time to start taking notes and getting some word recognition back.

The molds are night and day different than any domes I have used.
I don’t use audiologist.

OK, I understand now…

Have worn the new molds for 6 hours now, no pain.
There are new ear sounds while chewing and walking.
Also hearing new low frequency sounds. Like engines rumbling. That I like a lot!

Well, I got my new molds today, and I would love to say they are perfect, but unfortunately they are not. There was some kind of mix up on the right mold and instead of a 2.5 mm SAV it came completely sealed. That is the bad news. The good news is that it fits really good. It does not move around even when eating. I have not had feedback with the right ear, and with a sealed mold, of course I still do not. It is kind of occluding though. They are going to remake it with the proper vent. Hopefully the fit on the replacement is as good as this one.

The left ear is pretty much all bad news. The vent came as ordered, and when she did the critical gain test, it predicted feedback, and sure enough I had some. She reduced the vent size and I went home with it. However, I am still getting some feedback, and the worst part is that the mold moves around in my ear all the time and especially when I am eating. It sounds like it is sticking and unsticking to my ear canal and makes noises each time it sticks and unsticks. The right one is totally silent. I am assuming this is not normal? And it is not being created simply from the higher gain in the left ear?

My thoughts are to request a new one that fits tighter and deeper or both? Comments?

Have you noticed a difference in sound quality?

I would think the good fitting right ear mold that’s missing the vent could easily have one drilled into it. The left mold sounds like it’s loose causing the feedback.

The sticking and unsticking sound happens to me sometimes. Not all the time. Chewing and walking cause it. You might try a tiny bit of Vaseline and see what that does.

Hang in there.

Your comfort experience with your right ear is pretty much my experience with both ears. I don’t have any sensation in eating, yawning, or whatever (except maybe a little “eek” on pressure equalization of whatever since I chose to wear completely occlusive molds). The only thing that I notice is a change in the perception of the sound of my voice but I don’t mind it for the benefit of noise control that I get in return.

Hope if you have a money-back, satisfaction guarantee that your provider can fix you up so that both molds fit and work as well as your right and are properly vented for your prescription. The only time I get feedback is on inserting and removing my molds if the HA’s are on and the receiver opening comes close to my ear lobe skin before inserting into my ear canal. Guess any receiver sound then gets reflected off my lobe skin surface, picked up by mics, and briefly get amplified into a high-pitched squeal. If I can remember, I try to turn volume of HA’s off for insertion or removal - wonder if such feedback is detrimental to receivers over long term?

@Sierra said:

When I am outside walking down the street, the road noise from vehicles and wind in the trees seems significantly increased. Hard to say at this point if I could call it an improvement.

Depending on your preferences (and your hearing spectrum), you can shut down unpleasant noises pretty well if your molds are fairly occlusive. With decent low-frequency hearing, the proximity of my ears to our stove exhaust fan was always an annoyance. With my molds and turning up noise control to the max while cooking, I can make the fan sound much less annoying - and if there is no speech, automatic noise control will kick in because of the loud fan noise and do almost as good a job even if I don’t anticipate the noise by making a smartphone app adjustment in advance.

@Sierra said:

The noise I hear in my left ear when I open and close my mouth kind of sounds like Velcro being pulled apart.

I can get the same sound but only when I get to an extreme yawn, mouth-opening that involves clenching my cheek muscles, sorta making a grimace. Opening my mouth as wide as it will go causes no Velcro sound - there is some sort of mild, soft bone-conduction sound from my jaw movement. I think after a while in every day life, some sounds are there only if you concentrate on them, otherwise you factor them out by habituation just like folks stop feeling the wallet in their back pants pocket (but try switching pants side, etc.!).

It sounds like you are headed in the right direction. The extra sound level is most likely the molds. I would guess the gain in the aids is actually less now.
Clarity is something I really noticed moving away from domes.
Do you have a word recognition problem? The molds should help from what I am seeing.
Good luck with your new mold fitting.

Just got up from our dinner. With the chewing thing and associated noise, I have a hard time carrying on a conversation. I would be far better off simply taking the hearing aids out for dinner. Just too much noise and stuff going on to make any sense of what I am hearing. If I leave my mouth somewhat open, everything improves, but it is kind of hard to eat a meal without chewing and without closing your mouth.

Raudrive, my speech recognition was pretty good without hearing aids, and hearing aids have probably improved it some. When watching TV I turn the volume way down from where it used to be. It is at the point that I annoy my wife with having the volume too low for her.

I wonder if it could be the material your molds are made from? Mine are made from ~hard silicone (not squishy). Crunchy foods like chips might be a tad crunchier but with my mold material I don’t notice ordinary foods and chewing.