Switching from Acrylic Ear Mold to Silicone

Here is what they look like:

The left one is an earbud mold for headphone, but shows how opaque they can become. The R one is clear and almost invisible initially. Probably worth replacing every 3-4 years.

@jcech said:

because you want them to stay in play and be as comfortable as possible. Hard molds don’t do either.

@jcech: I beg to differ. My experience has been the complete opposite of tour description over a period of 16 years.

Members reading this post should take it for what it is: a single person’s subjective opinion. (IMO)

Not sure what you are referring to as a difference of opinion. That molds are used because they stay in position better? That silicone is softer than hard acrylic? That they stain and gradually become less clear? Or what???

I have worn both and domes as well. IMO and my smaller canals, domes do not work adequately. They constantly changed position in the ear and that changes how well you hear. I found myself constantly pressing them back in.

Hard acrylic was NO different and also more uncomfortable to me.

As you can see from the picture I posted, the silicone molds fit the shape of outer ear better and this holds them in place easily and because they are soft, they are very comfortable. Unless you have tried all three, how you can say one is better than another.

@jcech said:

You use molds vs domes because you want them to stay in play and be as comfortable as possible. Hard molds don’t do either.

@jcech: This is what you asserted. My experience has been different from your assertion: for 16+ years , my hard acrylic molds have stayed comfortably in place and afforded me excellent acoustic coupling and great sound.

I never said that acrylic was better. I said your assertion doesn’t hold true for everyone.

@prodigyplace said:

how can you adamantly refute the experience of someone with a more common canal size?

@prodigyplace: Thanks for making the point that hearing losses and their treatments are highly variable, and highly specific to each individual who is affected.

I think the usefulness of possible approaches to hearing problems is diminished when opinions are presented as fact, and options as mutually exclusive.

I have learned (sometimes the hard way) that open mindedness and the avoidance of absolutes/categorical statements makes for more helpful conversations here in the Forum.

It’s a trap that I sometimes fall into, myself; but, nonetheless, I (increasingly) try to avoid it.

Just like no one aid is the best for every user, no one type of mold is the best of every user.
Hard acrylic molds are very comfortable for me, they just tend to back out a tad. Silicone seems to work best for me, and i dont seem to have discoloring at all on my well used Resound silicone molds, see pic.

I have a lot of confidence in my audiologists. When it comes to things like decisions as to whether I need a power aid and what type of mold will work best for me, I leave it to them. As a side bar, when I was dialing in my new aids, on one visit the audi called the Signia on line audiologist. The conversation was on speaker phone, The Signia rep mentioned immediately how I needed a power aid in my right ear. My audi had already ordered that. So these folks have a lot of experience based on seeing hundreds of patients. Sometimes one can just trust the knowledge and experience of an audi and go with it.
Of course, I also had to walk my audi and this same rep through programming my new aids for a functioning musician program. That was the next visit.

My point is, yes, we need to be informed and bring our requirements to the audi. Sometimes we need to press the point and advocate for ourselves. And then, maybe most often, we can expect the audi to make the right call. This last may be controversial!!!

we all like to think we should be in charge our own heart surgery. that’s a bad idea.

I shouldn't have to deal with that. I have been through a lot of pain with it pushing on the top of where it fills in the whole space. I have gone with out hearing aids 3 times for them to remake the right size. Now I'm on the fourth time with all the pain it has caused and going with out hearing again. Now knowing about the moisture they throw off on top if it. Seriously I should be able to pay extra to get different ones? You lost your damn mind

Put thread in them for the moisture. WF are you even talking about . Enough is enough now. Wow.

Surely they told you the molds were non-refundable before you agreed to try them? I'm sorry it's been hard to get a good fit.

@mr.smithster said:

i dont seem to have discoloring at all on my well used Resound silicone molds

I am so glad I slowed down and read this one a second time. My first reading missed the word "well" and I was totally baffled as to how anyone ever could or would want to use used earmolds. That may be even worse than the recurring theme of ear cheese.

For me, and as long as I can remember, in most instances, Moulds/Molds have been a major pain in the proverbial… I am allergic to Silicone, so I wore a hypoallergenic version, but that’s just a nano coating that eventually wears thin. Like most folks, ill fitting moulds will create pressure points, eventually forcing you to abandon your hearing aids, until such times as the internal sores calm down… Last year, I decided to take the bull by the horns, and see between me, my kind Audioligist & and Starkey Lab UK, and perhaps between all of us, we could make a set of BTE Moulds fit for purpose, you need the assistance of your Audioligist as this is time consuming! I decided to try hard acrylic first, the plan was to get an excellent fit on a cheaper set of hard acrylic, then go for the a gold plated silicone version at £200 for each mould, Starkey UK Lab will keep a digital 3D impression on their computer indefinitely, all you do is give them the Serial Numbers, and they will 3D print you a new set! My Audioligist was in close consultation with Starkey Lab UK, the impressions we clearly marked with previous pressure points highlighted, so they could scallop these out… All this probably took the best part of an hour, to get a good impression, but the end result was a perfect set of fitting moulds, in fact the best set of moulds I have had in 30 odd years! Acrylic moulds, with excellent fitting are in my opinion, extremely comfortable, more comfortable than silicon, and easier to clean! So much so, I never bothered getting the gold plated version, and any time I want a new set of moulds or a spare set, then we just give Starkey UK Lab the Serials… Cheers Kev 😉

i have very small ears and my nhs audiologists would always send them to Starkey to get made. i have a soft acrylic set which I prefer when it's humid or sweaty and a silicone set which is best for sound quality and just feels much tighter in my ears. my private audiologist gets them made from phonak and i haven't noticed any major difference.

a lot depends on the shape of your ears and how good the impression is. some places do ear scanning which could be a better option of your ears are particularly uniquely shaped?

I've worn acrylic molds for a couple of years now. Pretty much took care of the itch that I was getting with domes and better coupling

I'd call them reasonably comfortable, but I did sometimes miss the natural low freqs from the open or vented domes.

I would say the acrylic was perfectly comfortable, except when moving, such as chewing or lying my head on a pillow. Would ya'll say the silicone is better in that regard?

Based on reports of some folks here, I thought that I might try titanium next....but now that I'm trialing Sennheiser aids from Costco, they are trying to talk me out of using molds...+ their mold options are limited and don't include Ti.... so if I end up going with molds, maybe I'll give silicone a try instead

@bradw said:

they are trying to talk me out of using molds

Costco needs a way to track how often that is happening. Likely too often and more training is likely needed.