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Custom Earmolds

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I am, as a lot of you know by now, am fairly new at wearing hearing aids consistently. I’ve been doing OK, but even 10mm clkck domes (I have Signia hearing aids, specifically Pure Charge & Go Nx) slipping out, and retention strands did not work well. So yesterday ( 09/10/21), when I visited my audiologist for a new hearing test, I got vented click sleeves instead of domes. My audiologist says they usually have better staying power.
After getting my hearing aids adjusted, I hear not only better, but more quality of sound. Also, the click sleeves seem to be staying in well.
But I am just curious about people’s experiences with custom earmolds. How are they compared to the standard domes and sleeves, etc.? How much do they cost now days?
And the reason why I’m curious, is because if one day the click sleeves don’t work, my audiologist says I’ll have to go to custom earmolds. But I want to avoid them, because I once had one for my right ear a long time ago, and it did not work out.
My experience was when the “pink stuff” was being squirted into my ear, it hurt a little, and also when pulled out.
When the earmold was finished, it seemed to work well at first. Then it hurt to wear it, and IT kept falling out. I do not know why it did not work out. Perhaps it was of low quality at the time, or just wasn’t made right. I also paid a lot of money out for it (I think $80 to $100 which was a lot for me, being low income!) If anyone has any thoughts on this, I’d appreciate your opinions.

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My experience has been as follows:
When my old fitter years ago would make me molds, he always told me to pretend I was chewing food before the goo set. The molds he produced fit me perfectly, looked and felt like “little jewels” and never popped out at all.
Since then, with a different fitter, whenever I have asked: “Should I pretend I am chewing?” the answer has been “No, don’t move your jaws at all.” and so I didn’t. The molds produced this way have never fit me right, almost always slip out when I am eating and I usually end up throwing them in a drawer and resign myself to wearing standard tips or ones I have bought on Amazon.
So my question to you, based on my personal experience, is: "Were the finished molds which slip out of your ears produced from goo while chewing or with no chewing? If no chewing, then try having them remade from goo while chewing and I bet they will fit better and not slip out.

I too liked the sleeves. However they are not available for my current hearing aids. Typical price for molds is $80-$100 a piece. Costco is a bargain at $40 a piece. Trying a different dome or sleeve is quick and easy. Getting molds made is a process. It wasn’t painful at all for me, but it did take several trials before I got a satisfactory solution.

Edited

I’ve always had custom earrmolds once I graduated from Ite aids. Not vented. Pretty much required for someone with my loss. Like everything else you get used to them. But when I’m waiting for the impressions to set I’ve always been told to open and close my mouth.

I wear moulds on a receiver and it’s due to my severe loss, domes, click sleeves wouldn’t suit my needs firstly I’ve had good fitting moulds and poor ones as well as poorly made moulds I find for me if I sit with my mouth in a relaxed slightly open way I get a better fit vs sitting with mouth and jaw completely shut just from experience. I buy mine at Costcos my mould for me fitted really well it was smaller than I have been used to in the past but I liked it because it was less noticable vs full ear moulds. These were made from impressions. About 8 years ago I had some made by beltone instead of ear impressions they did a scan of my ear I will say they were at the time the best fitting ones I’ve ever had in my lifetime albiet expensive I think I paid $140 for a pair. Downside is the material they used was very pliable and they had vent holes so the material between the vent and tubing (was using at the time) wore out fast and was prone to splitting I had those replaced under warrenty 3-4 times. I have always replaced my tubing myself after an Audiologist many many years ago showed me how to maintain and change tubing when required so I was admittedly a little upset that something so expensive was easily damaged in normal maintenance. Never had that issue before in 30 years of use I decided I wouldn’t use beltone after that and chose Costco’s instead.
I always found I had more issues with hard skeleton moulds than any other type they would either cause sores, the piece nearer the top would crack or break, then I became allergic to the material they used it took a year of trying to find a mould that I didn’t react to. My favourite material for moulds is something that slightly softens to the body heat it starts off hard and as it’s warmed up it gets a bit softer/pliable and moves slightly to accommodate any swelling changes or bumps. (Oticon call it variotherm) I think

Everyone is different. I have tried domes, but can’t seem to keep them in the right place. I have had custom molds pretty much the entire time I have worn hearing aids - 40 years. My loss is profound in the higher frequency, so I tolerate a slight vent - 0.8mm.

I have always used hard acrylic with both and aids. I am now back to BTE and skeleton, hard molds. Almost always I wear them a few weeks and get some soreness, usually this is easily fixed with a little TLC by the fitter. I am convinced I would lose dome hearing aids and not custom molds.

I have used various molds over the year but they never seemed to fit well and were constantly slipping. When I purchased my K10s, I elected to get custom molds based on advice I found on here among other things. OMG! I’m kicking myself for not switching to molds sooner as these are incredibly comfortable and I hear better in all listening environments… That’s been my experience anyway.

I’ve always worn custom moulds I know many have said they find them uncomfortable. For me I love them I have severe losses in high frequences so always have moulds for that reason, very comfortable and I can usually pinpoint when my moulds need replacing I start getting a bit of feedback. Do clean them daily though and check for wax in random areas my last set of moulds always had a bit of wax exit by the vent on the outer part of the ear and in a random weird spot on one side made me go hmn because I do clean my ears every time I shower. I’m so glad you like them it’s great to hear when others realize the difference something can make!

Thanks for the advice. I will take all I can get! I saw a thread regarding removing the receiver from the molds for cleaning and to swap out the wax traps. Is that what you do as well? The fitter said that it is so but wanted to verify with the experts on here :grinning:.

I don’t have a wax trap in my ear molds. Never did. I just brush them lightly everyday to prevent any build up. I change the tubing every couple of months especially when they get hard. I also replace the ear hooks as needed which is not that often

I’ve had custom molds since I started wearing back in 2013. The ones I have are clear hard plastic, they do have vent holes. They seem to back-out after having them in for a while. I press them back in to get them in say, deeper??? Hearing is a lot better, until they back-out again. I asked my Audi why they don’t make them more “Pliable” mold so they would stay where you put them and they would have a better seal. All she said was the softer molds don’t hold up. Any Suggestions??
Thanks, CSB

The silicone molds material may not last as long as the hard lucite but, for me, I had to replace the lucite more frequently. As your ears change over time, the lucite starts to slip out. The silicone stay snug longer.

The silicon molds with the tighter seal helped bring more volume as I could increase the gain with less feedback. I use molds without a vent. Some people may find that too occluded but it doesn’t bother me. It has been quite a while since I stopped using the lucite type. I am not sure if the material itself made an improvement or it improved simply because I was able to turn up the gain. My speech understanding isn’t great regardless of type or volume but there is more sound awareness.

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