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Hearing aid fitting and weight loss

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Hi, I have lost 15lbs not by choice, but by losing a loved one. I have noticed my hearing aids clarity are not working as usual so I went to my audiologist and she said it’s because of the weight loss that my inner ear tubes have lost weight and I will need to be re-fitted.
Has anyone had this experience with weight loss or weight gain with your aids not fitting property?

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Over the last 14 months I have lost 54 pounds and my custom molds haven’t changed in the way they are fitted, my audiologist did ask if I had noticed any changes and I said if anything my ear molds are fitting better.

It’s possible that by “need to be re-fitted” your audiologist meant re-programmed rather than “not fitting properly” in the sense of the physical aids inside your ear canals. Your inner ear tubes are on the other side of your eardrums (which are part of your middle ear) from your ear canals, and so the audiologist may have been saying that your hearing has changed.

Very sorry for your loss! :neutral_face:

Hm. I’ve never heard that weight loss by itself causes hearing aids to fit poorly, but I DO know that with age (even a year or two) the shape of one’s ears can change - the cup right down into the canal.

It could be that you just need new custom molds, and if so, GO FOR IT! A good fitting aid is the best for preventing feedback and ensuring quality sound.

Edited

Sorry for your loss cj.

Weight loss and weight gain can indeed change the size and shape of the ear canal and result in a poorer fit of a custom device in the ear.

I wouldn’t expect a change in hearing, but stress can absolutely make listening a lot more effortful. Hearing loss already makes listening more effortful, and when someone is tired and grieving they simply do not have the extra resources required to put forth that extra effort.

(But let me clarify in case it’s unclear that a change in the physical fit of the hearing aid does change the gain that is being received by the eardrum, sometimes more sometimes less. When I said no hearing change, I meant on the .)

Feedback and gain changes could very well be needed if your ear canals changed from the weight loss.
This could definitely result in hearing quality changes pending on your hearing loss.

In reply to @Neville

Thank you all for your response. I needed some support about my weight loss regarding the shape of my ear canal. I guess my audiologist was right about that. I just needed more opinions.

@cjpines said:

I went to my audiologist and she said it’s because of the weight loss that my inner ear tubes have lost weight

As I said in a previous reply, your inner ear tubes are not your ear canals.

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