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KS9: How far should domes fit into the ear canal

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I’m getting a pair of these next week. How far into the ear canal should the domes fit? At the initial testing, they were were only not able to fit deeply. They lodged right at the edge of the ear canal.

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At least the tip of the dome should be well in the ear canal. There are multiple sizes and custom molds are available. What did the hearing aid fitter say?

It’s really hard to discuss this stuff accurately online. It’s hard for me to imagine a hearing aid fitter not getting the dome in far enough. Although the tip will be in the canal, the backend will be visible and near the entrance to the ear canal.

Something to add to this is normally the sound tube or receiver wire is pre-bent. The dome should be pushed in until the pre-bent sound tube or receiver wire touches the outer ear. This pre-bent tube will not allow you to push the dome in too far.

Ack. I have my own tale of woes to add here. My older Phonak Audeo B-Direct aids have a pointier-shaped silicone dome on the ends of the receivers than my newer Marvel aids. The dome on the Marvels is shaped like an open UMBRELLA that sits gently at the ear canal opening cuz it’s too big to be jammed into the canal for a better seal.

I’ve NEVER been happy with how the Marvels sit in my ears. The dome is too wide to shove into the ear canal, so the bent wire sticks out like a goofy loop from my ears, catching on fingers and combs. BUT the larger shape of these domes are actually much more comfy to wear.

By contrast, the Audeo B domes sit deeper into my ear canal and the wires lay flatter against the outside of my ear, but the dang matchstick-hard receiver actually gives me a sore ear canal by day’s end.

I’ve been wearing my Audeo Bs for 2 weeks now while my Marvels are in the SHOP being repaired. My left aid “BaRkS!” with pain by day’s end, but that’s the official dome + receiver combo these aids have been programmed with.

For folks like me with smaller ear canals (to match my tiny, child-sized head) the powerful receivers needed for hearing are just not comfy to wear. It’s like a giant LOG jammed into a bent tunnel that slams up against the wall like a battering ram.

I’ll be glad to get my comfy Marvels back, but the ear wires have never been custom-trimmed to fit more aesthetically. My audi simply balks every time I bring this up - like I’m just being VAIN. So I live with it.

@1Bluejay said:

The dome is too wide to shove into the ear canal, so the bent wire sticks out like a goofy loop from my ears, catching on fingers and combs.

Have you tried different domes or maybe one size smaller receiver wire length?

I would LOVE to try one size smaller wire, and perhaps if this pademic ever ends, I’ll get in to see my audi and sit in the chair till we get this length thing RIGHT.

Yes, I did indeed try out the pointy domes on my Marvels, but I think they’d been set up sound-wise with the umbrella-shaped domes. Despite my being deaf as a cinder block, with aids on I actually have incredibly nuanced hearing (call it my own deformed “reality”?). The Marvel aids with pointy domes sounded flatter, more tinny, and lacked a richness that the umbrella domes seem to offer.

It’s always a delicate balance between the receiver being properly “seated” in the ear canal, overall comfort and quality of sound.

My quest for the perfect-length earwire has me fantasizing about taking a nail clipper and just trimming it off myself at home some day. :neutral_face:

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