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Why is my dome sliding out of my ear?

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I wear a Phonak Roger Focus in my right ear for certain things.

I’m wearing a size 1 tube and a large open dome. The dome starts to slide out over time so the bend of the tube is sticking away from my ear.

Anything I can do, to stop the dome from moving? I’m not experienced with slim tubes and domes.

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I had trouble getting a size 1 Siemens life tube to stay in my ear it was because the tube was too long and rigidly shaped so it would move itself back to where it wanted to sit. Unfortunately that was the smallest size but putting a tube twist around it helped to fill the gap between the tube and my ear and stop it moving so much

My experience is with aids, not , but I think the dome size is a trial and error thing. I am currently trying XS, S, and M sized sleeves with my aids. They try to get you to pick the size based on a few minutes in the office. I finally decided to ask for a range of sizes to try at home. So far the M size seems to stay in my ears a bit better. Have not tried the XS yet.

You might try turning the tube counterclockwise just a little at the aid. That would push the tube/dome towards the ear more.

Edited

@Zebras The slim tubes and such can be made to fit perfectly with such a tool:

Slimtube-Bender

It’s a piece of plastic in the form of a hearing aid and a thin wire that goes through the slim tube. The wire prevents the tube from disforming at a bend. (I used to have 13mm flextubes from Bernafon, so I drilled a hole and put a thicker wire into the plastic. That’s why there are two.)

You put the tool behind your ear. You move the tube in the form and shape that your are really happy with. You take them out and use a air gun to heat the tube so that it becomes softer and let it cool in the shape that the wire is. After removing the wire the tube will be perfect.

Of course, if you make it too hot, you will melt your slim tubes. My hear dryer wasn’t hot enough, though, so there is room to experiment.

Funny detail: I got this from my audiologist. When his colleague asked him whether they didn’t need it themselves, the reply was that he hadn’t used it ever. So that’s why those tubes keep creeping out for most of us!

The tool should be easy to make with a wire and a piece of plastic. The easiest way that comes to mind is a piece of eraser roughly cut into shape with the wire stuck through it from top to bottom. Folded at an angle at the bottom to prevent sliding out. Just remember to make it rather light, because your hearing aids aren’t that heavy either.

In reply to @Raudrive

@Raudrive It works the other way around, too! My hearing aid tends to jump over my ear: Dangling there nicely in free space. Especially, when I bend over to pick something up. Turning it in the opposite direction of @Zebras photo it remains behind the ear more often. (With my custom molds I hardly ever have creeping domes, so I do not have a problem with that part.)

However, since the tubes are slowly adapting to the position they are in, I do wonder whether this fix fixes the problem for a long time. With the adaptation the extra pressure exerted will disappear. Maybe, I’ll have to use the tool to fix it for the longer run.

Zebras did twist the tube further than I expected looking at her picture.

The pros have mentioned using heat with good results. It has to be done right.

I like your wire idea.

:joy::joy::joy: I wore my Roger Focus to bed to listen to the radio. I some how changed the battery in my sleep last night. I woke up this morning and there was a dead battery on my bedside table. I don’t remember doing it!! :joy::joy::joy:

Seems like Phonak should put a little more effort into customizing tubes/ wires for differences in peoples’ anatomies. I’m having no end of problems with my RIC dome positioning. The bend in the tubes is completely skewed with my anatomy. I’ve tried 5 different dome types and they always pull out within minutes and end up pointing directly into the skin of my outer ear. I’m currently trying to bend the tube/wire, but it’s difficult to do. Can’t put a forming wire into it like you can with the tube-type ’s.

In reply to @haggis

@haggis You could try tying a wire to it using very thin wire. Then use that construction to get it how you like.

However, I would really like to try it on a older wire first, before I start melting the one in use. Nowadays, I have a heat gun with digital temperature display, but with the paint stripper I once melted the outer connectors of my Bernafon Flex wire. Apparently, they had a lower melting point than the wire. :slight_smile:

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