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Painful domes

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Just got fitted with Phonak Audeo Paradise . Audiologist gave me large . I have been wearing for four days now and every day my ears are in pain. It hurts to touch the inside of both ears and requires all night to them to calm down. That can’t be right! I have an appointment for Tuesday (4 days from now) to address. I am wondering what would be the type of dome I should try. Amazing how much that little soft rubber thing can irritate the inside of the ear. I think they only plug the ear canal, too big to go in.

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I have brand new Pardise rechargeable hearing aids.
My audiologist gave me an assortment of domes. He didn’t take a wax impression and make custom domes for me. I have no experience with those for Phonaks.

He did give me an assortment of 4 different dome sizes. All were what I think are open domes except for the smallest. It had no perforations at all and only covered the end of the receiver? in the ear.
I am using the largest open dome he gave me now with perforations all around. They are very comfortable. The other ones he gave me to try were all smaller. I tried them all and have been using the largest ones for about a week now. I believe they are the ones he set up my hearing aids with almost 2 months ago.

When I was using my B70’s the previous audiologist put on power domes. I hope that’s the right name. They had no perforations, and had two seals. They were awful. They set the B70’s up with that. after 2 days I changed back to open domes after being told in no uncertain terms that I wasn’t able to hear my wife. I went back to the audiologist who never reprogrammed the hearing aids.

My story isn’t important here; however, I feel that there are many choices. However, I think the right one depends on the gain of your hearing aids, your hearing loss and whether you need help with feed back.

Definitely isn’t right. I’d take a break from hearing aids or wear them less so they don’t really irritate your ears. Stepping down to mediums might help. If it weren’t the weekend, I’d suggest just stopping by the office and asking for smaller domes. If they’re open tomorrow, could still be worthwhile.

Edited

When I first got my Jabra aids in June I started with number 2 receivers, large and sports locks, and they hurt my ears. At some point I switched to number 3 receivers and medium closed domes without the sports locks, and they fit a little deeper in my ears and don’t hurt at all.

Agree with taking a break from the aids before your next hearing aid appointment. That will give your ears a chance to heal and be ready to try new domes at the fitting.

Sure sounds like the domes or receiver wire lengths are wrong for you. Both can cause pain issues.

Pain is an indication the domes don’t fit right. There’s no painful breaking in period. Go back to your audiologist

Here’s another possibility because it happened to me. How much room do you have between your ear and your head. I learned that when you put in the dome and then slide the aids behind the ear the ear is then bending around the dome instead of pushing away naturally from the head. It can eventually lead to excruciating pain which will slowly go away if you stop wearing the aids for a few days. As bte aids get thinner this has become less of a problem but for a long time I couldn’t wear ultra power aids because they were just too fat and big. Just a thought

Also, not only might they be too big, some people have a sensitively to the silicon (or the dye) . I wore clear silicon domes for 6 years with no problem. My new aids came with black silicon domes. After 2 weeks, my ears were in pain! After looking at them, the ear canals and ear drums were dark red and inflamed. Turns out that I am sensitive to whatever is used to make them black. Its rare but several people have commented about something similar.

You might be in necessity of smaller domes, that’s it. I have an extremely narrow ear canal and the smaller the domes are, the better for me.

Also, I know there is some lubricant that can be provided by your audiologist. But I guess your problem is due to an incorrect size. Phonak domes are very comfortable, at least that’s my experience.

Keep badgering your audi until you get domes which fit your ears without backng out, are comfortable and are suitable for your hearing loss. There are many different types and many brands are interchangeable. When you find a suitable pair of domes make sure your audi adjusts your hearing fitting accordingly.

After 4 years of trial and error I have Widex large tulip domes fitted to Phonak P90 hearing aids.

Thanks. Obviously I need smaller domes as they do not seem to go into the ear canal (if they are supposed to???). And I will ask about the length of the wiring/tubing and refitting. I don’t understand why I was given large domes to start with.

When I first got my Phonak P90’s I got medium domes and it was fine but they slid out a bit. So I purchased large domes and that was like your experience, painful. I couldn’t believe how painful. I went back to medium and changed out the wire length and problem solved. Just acknowledging that the wrong size domes can cause intense pain.

As you can see , a lot of suggestions. Obviously this is not an uncommon problem. But your audiologist should want to be all over this. My suggestion is after you see him if the pain returns I wouldn’t wait for the next visit. He needs to see the irritation in your ear to judge better. If he says something like you just need to get used to them I would consider that a red flag. Good luck. Let us know how you made out

Since no one mentioned them, I have the M& with Tulip Domes and sport locks. They offer a fair amount of occlusion to prevent feedback and are fairly comfortable.

Sixteen (17?) years ago, when I first started to wear (Oticon Delta) I could not get used to domes. They didn’t hurt, but they itched constantly and just gave me a creepy feeling because they always seemed to be moving.

Acrylic moulds solved all my problems: I’ve been wearing them for years, and have experienced nothing but comfort and satisfaction.

YMMV, of course, but if you can’t get domes to work for you, acrylic molds might be the charm.

Edited

Thanks OP

I haven’t had acrylic moulds as yet. However, I have had a hearing aid that was terribly painful to wear in the ear.

OP I appreciate your comments here.

In reply to @DaveL

You’re welcome. Glad to read you’re getting somewhere!

This Forum is a great place to learn what you need to know to continue making progress.

In reply to @Raudrive

I’m here to learn!

It’s going well.

I’ve had 4 adiologists.
First supplied a single Widex. Started ok; audiologist quit and a new graduate messed up the single Widex that I used for the next 10 or so years.

Second was absolute GOLD. I had a wonderful referral. She did very well; sold her business and I stayed in touch. But the Buyer was Listen Up Canada. You deserve a laugh. Search Wikipedia for “Listen Up Canada”…he went on to other things in Florida. Perhaps the oldest profession…

Third took my great Phonaks and made them worse. And worse. Then sold me new Phonaks that never worked for me. Phonak B70 that were never set up right. I complained often.

Fourth is absolute gold too. Same referral–the hearing experts at the school board I work for.

The last one fought for me and sold me my Phonak Paradise hearing aids. He just “tuned them” in a follow up appointment.

Thanks! I hope to learn a lot in the forums here!

DaveL
Toronto

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