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Swapped back to my Naida Lumity UP’s. What a difference!

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Well folks,I have been using my 5 year old Marvel 90’s with 105db UP receivers, with custom moulds, for 10 weeks or so, I have be having horrendous problems with my moulds, for my Naida Lumity 90 UP’s, I got a couple of new sets of BTE moulds made, unfortunately none were successful, I am allergic to Silicon & soft acrylic, my ears kept scabbing up, even with the hypoallergenic moulds, so I fished out a set of nearly new other moulds, I had in my possession, they have been worn, so I am assuming they might be fine, I can’t recall why I discarded them, probably a new set of aids at some point? So, I fired up my Naida Lumity’s yesterday, tis almost like getting a new set of ears, such is the difference with clarity & power of a BTE, in comparison to the RIC’s, the first thing I noticed, my god these Naida are large :rofl: The second, was the kitchen clock started ticking away, I hadn’t heard it for many weeks, everything appeared to be so loud, in comparison to the Marvel RIC’s, I am fine now, back to normal… Just thinking out loud here, I am going to have to resolve this mould issue, has anyone (Especially here in the UK) managed to acquire a set of BTE Titanium skeleton moulds, does such a thing exist? BTE users outside UK, feel free to pipe up, thank you in anticipation… :grin: Cheers Kev :wink:

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I can’t comment on allergy issue, but I switched from to sometime ago. Years ago I had Phonak BTE with custom skeleton molds and move to custom mold RIC. Biggest issue was sweat. I moved back to Phonak Naida Paradise P90 UP. No doubt my hearing improved and the sweat issue went away. RIC probably worked with your right ear, but sound recover should save your left.

I am using skeletal, hard acrylic with .8 vent. No feedback issue, but my lows frequencies are a little better than yours. Have you tried hard acrylic? Might add that I have a second pair of the same hearing aids and molds standing by. Not sure I could return to RIC so donated them.

What is the material of the old mold that is working for you?

Usually a true allergy to an earmold causes redness and swelling. Were you scabbing up all over the place, or just in pressure points?

My KS9 molds with UP receiver are some kind of hard acrylic material. In fact, the tend to crack if you drop them on a porcelain tile floor. They are easy to clean, too, with a microfiber cloth. They last forever – if you don’t drop them.

In reply to @Neville

Basically @Neville my ears start to swell, redness, extremely itchy canals, usually followed by a runny ear, that will get progressively worse, unless I remove the moulds completely… For many years, I just suffered, I thought it was just recurring ear infections, and just part and parcel of using BTE moulds, these “infections” would recur once a month, or every six weeks or so, I would treat myself with Otomize, proscribed by my Doctor, it’s a Steroid ear spray, as I said I went for years like this, aid less for a week or so, until an NHS A.uD questioned me, he said he thought, I had allergic reaction to silicon, I know for a fact some soft acrylic has the same effect on me, but strangely some hard acrylic is just fine… You mentioned pressure points, yeah I get them regularly & scabbing over too, my ears are extremely sensitive, if anything is the slightest bit wrong with a mould fitting, it will scab over eventually, I moved over to hypoallergenic moulds, several years ago, these would be fine for a year or so, I believe or assumed, these have a nano coating, once the coating is slightly worn, my ears would start to swell, itch and run… This recurring theme, has went on for 30 odd years, so I thought, the only thing I haven’t tried is Titanium, but 2 Audioligist (when, I asked both) don’t seem to be very keen on having them made, or maybe they don’t make “Titanium BTE Skeleton Moulds” ? Or it could be, the returns are excessive? Have you ever seen a pair of these Titanium BTE moulds? I don’t mind paying for them, to give them a try, if they can be made… As I said in the past, moulds work perfect with my Marvel 90 ‘s, no swelling, no runny ears, no pressure points, but unfortunately, not enough clarity & power to accommodate my loss… At present, I have a vague idea what the BTE moulds are made of, at a guess, full shell clear soft acrylic, slightly different in texture, from the opaque soft acrylic ones, that I most definitely can’t wear… Approximately 3 days and counting with these BTE moulds, I am ever hopeful this will continue, but, I won’t hold my breath… Cheers Kev :wink:

Someone from my Deaf Centre. She’s 13 years old and has gold ear moulds.

In reply to @Neville

I am not sure about Lucite @Neville… The problem, as I see it, is most Audiologists don’t know much about moulds, they are extremely vague when you ask them, not many fall into my category of loss, this is further complicated by certain allergies, I appear to have, so they are severely restricted on the choice of the materials, which they themselves appear to have little knowledge of, tis in effect “The blind, leading the blind” :rofl: I do get it, or I try to understand, I live in a rural area, and Audiologists are thin on the ground, the ones whom are available, are usually extremely busy though, I am maybe in the 5% category of clients my A.uD sees, very few of that 5% will have allergenic problems with moulds, if any? So basically, in effect, I have been cast adrift to get on with it as best I can, I wear my ’s when things flare up, these are totally inadequate for my loss, but better than nothing, no one appears to be able or willing to consider making Titanium moulds, which may resolve my allergic problems? I am, Stuck between, a rock & a hard place… My Naida Lumity 90 UP’s work extremely well, they are indeed excellent aids, but most of the time, I can’t wear them! I am a fairly laid back person, some might say, even borderline horizontal (many friends, comment on this) it would seem, I am going to have to do my own research, in the absence of any constructive advice from my Audiologist, and then tell them what to order! Which brings me to another point, mould making or mold making, for our American cousins, IMO, it appears to have went clearly downhill since the advent of 3 D printing, I have never experienced so many ill fitting moulds over the the last few years, here in the UK, I believe, Starkey make the vast majority, although Phonak do make some (usually badly) I am talking about full shell & skeleton moulds, RIC custom moulds, are usually fine… Although, I am basically unsure if traditional full shell custom BTE moulds are 3 D printed, or poured? Cheers Kev :wink:

Seeing your , you could also go for hard acrylic, but it will need to be very deep and very high sealed on your left side. It could be the easiest and cheapest option if you’re not allergic to that.

In reply to @kevels55

FYI. I don’t mean this as a solution for you but here is my routine. Alcohol and vinegar daily in each ear. Nothing else ever. Inspect each ear with miniature camera on laptop. Soft silicon molds wrapped with moleskin cut by me to fit. Moleskin is likely a blend of wool and felt. But you can find latex foam or other cut to fit adhesive backed material. I imagine whatever they use for burn victims might be something if moleskin gives you trouble.

Just my current routine.

In reply to @Karva

In truth @Karva, the actual cost isn’t prohibitive, resolving the problem, is the main objective… Yeah, my last set of hard acrylic moulds, didn’t bare any resemblance to what I actually asked for, and I watched the A.uD fill in the request form, I asked for skeleton moulds, I got, half shell, I asked for no venting, I got vents, they glued in very thin tubing, I use thick twin walled tubing… Now either Phonaks mould maker’s can’t read or follow simple instructions, or they are totally incompetent at their job, probably the later, they most likely don’t give a sh1t, or the old adage comes to mind, “If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys”, whichever way it is, they don’t appear to be able to follow instructions! The set before, made from soft acrylic, (to try out) again they came back, half shell with 2mm vents, I sent them back, they filled in the vents with silicon, which I am allergic too… I dread to think, what a set of Titanium skeleton BTE moulds will look like, or indeed fit, perhaps from experience, this is why my A.uD is extremely reluctant to order them? I shall question her… Cheers Kev :wink:

In reply to @kevels55

@kevels55 said:

I asked for skeleton moulds, I got, half shell, I asked for no venting, I got vents, they glued in very thin tubing, I use thick twin walled tubing…

I had this issue with Starkey ordered by Boots. Ended up getting about 20 pairs of ear moulds coz they kept putting vents in and smaller tubing. Gave up in the end and plan to never use Boots again. This went on for 2 years.

In reply to @kevels55

Yes, moulds have been just brutal over the past few years. The hand made labs have all been shutting down because the margins are too small and it’s no longer financially viable, and on top of that the labs have been moving off shore and hiring all new people. Even with the 3d printed moulds there is a fair bit of skill involved to get a perfect fit. The clinician can try to baby it along, but the systems are also now getting automated and whomever is receiving the moulds doesn’t always read or notes. At times I’ve been sending in forms, sending photos, calling three people AND emailing our rep and it had still been a struggle. Not to mention that the hardest to make moulds are for our most critical population–infants. Especially medically complex infants who may have an even harder ear to fit.

In reply to @Zebras

Yeah Ruth, last 2 sets have actually been made by Phonak, whom appear to be, just as bad as Starkey, perhaps I am just unlucky, or perhaps they are just terrible at what they do? I am thinking, this might be why my A.uD is extremely reluctant to order Titanium, the sheer volume of moulds winging there way back and forth, might be staggering? Repairing a botched job, also doesn’t instil me with confidence, but if we are the norm, QC must be nonexistent? Not to mention, the wasted time of an Audiologist, if the mould makers can’t do their job correctly… Which begs the question, do you professionals get inundated with returns, for custom fitted moulds, if so, that could possibly be why some A.uD’s are reluctant to take on folks in the severe/profound thresholds… Cheers Kev :wink:

In reply to @kevels55

IMG_6368

The moleskin is self adhesive. Cheap, disposable. I will be getting ultrapower with new Phonak soon. Sorry to leave the Oticon ad o appreciate their philosophy. But rumor here has it that I will be able to enjoy dinner out at a restaurant again with the Phonacks

In reply to @kevels55

There should be a few labs in England worse case scenario your audio could order from I guess…
I just call the manufacturers when they mess up so they won’t mess up a second time, they know me well by now…

In reply to @kevels55

Phonak has been actively trying to get better at earmolds since they released their serenity choice earplug line, and I have been seeing improvements but not enough yet. But other than the titanium lab, I think there are multiples, so my Phonak lab and your Phonak lab are probably different. There is only one titanum lab and it is overseas for both of us–they were bad to start when everyone was new and have steadily gotten better. I didn’t know titanium moulds were a possibility, so was surprised to hear @Karva say that. Maybe they know a secret; we can’t even get titanium canal locks put onto . Are the tubes all friction-fit? I didn’t think glue would adhere to the titanium, although there must be some way because they get slimtip bushings stuck on. I knew gold-plated Starkey molds were an option though I’ve never seen one, but if you haven’t tried unlaquered lucite yet it might be an easier, more affordable thing to try. Sometimes it’s worth leaving off the coloured dye that they use to embose the serial numbers, too.

@kevels55 said:

Which begs the question, do you professionals get inundated with returns, for custom fitted BTE moulds, if so, that could possibly be why some A.uD’s are reluctant to take on folks in the severe/profound thresholds.

Pre-pandemic it seemed a lot easier to get a good BTE mold in one go. I would say that now doing a remake is more common than it used to be even for pretty easy adult ears. Some ears are just hard no matter what. I don’t think that would be why some clinicians struggle with severe/profound losses. I think it’s more of a difference in whether a clinicians sees them as “difficult” or “interesting”.

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