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Did I get the right hearing aids - UPDATE

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I have had Phonak Slim hearing aids for a couple of weeks now. I am due to go for a second fitting appointment in a couple of days and am questioning my choice of aids. These are my first hearing aids so it’s a bit of a learning curve. The sound quality is good, but the comfort/fit is not. I have small cap domes which seem to migrate out of my ears regularly during the day. The audiologist initially put open domes on, but this made my left ear itch, didn’t really give it long to try though. Do I try an open dome again? Or would a custom earmould work? Would an in the ear aid work for me? I have some hyperacusis. I wear glasses and have had some soreness on the top of and behind my ear. I have a chronic illness and spend a lot of time lying down, so this could explain the ear soreness. The other issue is the “thin” sound quality of audio streaming. My hearing is normal up to 2kHz and then drops fairly sharply down and is 55 to 60dB at 8kHz.

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Well, you’ll surely hear from others here, but I since you’re new to aids I just want to assure you that almost ANY tip on the speaker is going to migrate backwards OUT of your ear canal. I’ve had custom molds made of plastic, acrylic and firm silicone; also double domes made of soft silicone. I’ve worn special “leashes” to hold the speakers in place - NOTHING keeps those speakers from being extruded from the ear.

The problem is, every time you move your mouth (eat, laugh, talk, chew gum, yawn, etc.,) the speakers will gradually slide out of the ears. I’ve just resigned myself to pushing the speakers in dozens of times a day, like one pushes glasses up the nose.

The style of dome (“open”, “closed”, even custom fit) is usually determined by one’s . However, in my case, while a custom mold would seem optimal, I’m allergic to any material except the soft, double domes I wear. Glasses on top of units CAN cause some tenderness - you just have to try and find room for them side-by-side as they sit behind the ear.

Hope you get it all sorted out and let us know what works!

I wear acrylic full skeleton ear molds and they don’t migrate out of my ear canals. They definitely stay put .

  1. Do they have concha locks on your receivers? This link will show a picture; Pic of concha lock60
    They curve them and they fit in the bottom of your ear to help keep dome in place.

2)Dealing with discomfort/itchiness can be tricky. Try ignoring them, but only to a point. If they bother you notably, it’s ok to take a break from your aids for a bit. Whether you’ll get used to them or need something else is a judgement call. Don’t overfocus on them but don’t ignore something to the point it becomes very irritating.

3)For your kind of loss, (normal low frequency hearing), it’s really hard to get adequate venting in an in the ear aid to avoid occlusion. If you really want to try an in the ear aid, I’d suggest Signia Silk as it uses “click sleeves” instead of needing to be custom made. You can just try them in office to see if you like them.

In reply to @MDB

Thank you, there are no locks, I’ll ask about those. As far as the discomfort goes, some days are better than others so it may be something that I will get used to. I did wonder about the venting and occlusion.

The chances of an “in the ear” hearing aid working would be slim. You would have too much occlusion. Numerous things can be done with the fitting of the domes or a custom mold, don’t give up if you notice the improvement you want. It is not that severe of loss but I have had many patients who really enjoyed the improvement that hearing aids brought with your type of loss.

I wear P90s and the conchlea lock thingy keeps my earpieces firmly in place. Definitely suggest trying that.
I also have high freq loss but good low freq (like the majority!). I found the Eargo in ears work great for me. I have not tried any other in ear ones, so can’t compare.
Good luck.

In reply to @gorgeguy

Thanks, I wasn’t sure whether an in ear would work. I know it’s not that severe a loss, but I am hearing things that I haven’t heard for some time which is great. I thought there was a problem with my aids the other day, but then I realised that what I was hearing was light rain. It’s really good not to have to ask my husband what he said every time he says something and being able to hear the tv without missing bits all the time. It’s much less tiring than having to concentrate so hard.

It takes 30 days for your brain to get adjusted to the sounds from your new hearing aid. Has the audiologist done an real ear measurement to make sure your aids are programmed properly to your hearing loss prescription.

Hi, it’s not the sounds that are the issue, the audiologist did do real ear measurement and the difference was amazing. Even on the morning of day 2 listening to my husband eating a bowl of granola was really entertaining! I could hear that before, but the added detail was fascinating. Comfort/fit is my issue, the domes migrate out of my ears and my left aid has fallen out of my ear on numerous occasions.

I had an issue with the domes I was using. I found out by mistake…I put a finger in my ear with my hearing aid in place. It was twice as loud with my finger sealing my ear! So I did both ears at once.

I talked to my audiologist. He changed my open domes to , with two tiny holes in them. I’m still using them now…
I tried different sizes until I learned which ones I needed.

I hope this helps…your comment “The other issue is the “thin” sound quality of audio streaming. My hearing is normal up to 2kHz and then drops fairly sharply down and is 55 to 60dB at 8kHz.” made me wonder if my experience would help.

DaveL

I am trying the Signia Active Pro, which is an ear bud style hearing aid. I was surprised at how easily it sits in my ear and provides all the occlusion I need. It is not possible for them to back out of my ears due to the ear bud design. I otherwise need and with other hearing aids and I too have had a problem with them backing out of my ears to the point that I got custom molds at one poin.

I’m glad you’ve had that experience.

I was force fed Power domes twice and hated them. I don’t know if they were too large. I found it hard to wear and use my hearing aids. Through them away.

I am now using * Closed * domes. They are comfortable. About 80% of the time they seal well. If I stick my fingers in my ears 20% of the time the signal is much louder. And fuller. When that happens, I change and put new on. It seems to help. However, that’s me talking and not a real test.

I can no longer use * Open * domes. I used to be able to when my hearing loss wasn’t so bad. That was a number of years ago.

When I tried closed domes I got them in different sizes. Large seems to work best for me. And for me its in both ears. In comparison Large Power Domes made me want to throw my hearing aids away; they were so uncomfortable in both ears.

DaveL

Edited

I used power domes twice. I hated them; they didn’t fit well and were very uncomfortable. That was the large size.
Earmolds—thanks for your suggestion.

I’m very lucky that my hearing aids are covered due to exposure to noise at work. However, getting earmolds will take some doing. Perhaps not impossible…I shall ask.

Thanks for the helpful replies. I went back to see my audiologist this afternoon. She has put open domes on with concha locks as well as adjusting the gain. The aids have stayed put all afternoon, although my ears have been a bit itchy. She did recommend some stuff for that. I was also pleasantly surprised to hear that the change of domes has massively improved the audio streaming quality. So a good outcome.

Great. When I got my aids the doc also gave me a bottle of some sort of ear liquid to use. Forget what it was called… Ear Ease or something?? Anyway, a couple of days of using a qtip and just wiping that liquid around the inside of my ears where the receivers sit made that weird/itchy feeling go away. After you get over that you will often forget you are wearing them. happy days.

Thank you @richardsondc, it was Earease she recommended, so I have ordered some. They’re already so much better that I hope it will be just like getting used to wearing glasses.

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