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Difficulty with receiver dome fit on one ear

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Hi everyone,

I am brand new to hearing aids, just got Oticon Intent 1’s 5 days ago. They are fitted with 8 mm open bass domes. My right dome is fine, it inserts and removes from my ear with a reasonable amount of pressure. In my left ear it is very difficult to get the receiver past the start of the canal but it works fine and is not uncomfortable once in place. The problem comes in when I remove it. It takes a great deal more tugging to get it out and when it finally releases it does so suddenly with an audible pop. I mentioned that it was very difficult to remove to my audiologist and she discouraged me from having a smaller dome put on the left, implying that there was some problem with running different sized domes. I live in fear of the dome popping off and remaining in my ear on removal and of damaging the wire from excessive pulling. Can I have different sized domes domes on my ears without affecting performance?

I wore different sizes of domes until my audiologist and I succeeded in finding the type of dome that worked best for me. The audiologist was fine with the different sizes. The domes I use now are the same size for both ears, but that was not a requirement. Different sizes of domes didn’t affect hearing aid performance at all.
I wear retention “tails”/concha locks on my receivers so I can use them to pull my receivers out of my ears, rather than pulling the wires.
My right ear canal is smaller than my left, and to insert and remove my hearing aid on the right, I need to open my mouth wide - maybe doing that will help you a bit? Once my right hearing aid is in place, I can close my mouth without any issues.

When removing the very tight left dome, if you pull up the top of your ear and move it around you can hear and feel when the ‘suction’ breaks and it will slide out easier. I learned that after losing a dome in my ear that fit tightly like yours… Inserting the dome while pulling up may help as well, just experiment. A tight fit improves the sound, so getting that dome to work would be ideal, as long as it doesn’t hurt once it’s in place.

In reply to @AttilaDaPun

Thank you so much for your helpful advice. I delayed replying in order to test out your suggestions. Opening my mouth wide and pulling at my ear both helped me get the problem aid in and out, but pressure and discomfort after placement was still there. I saw the audiologist again and got a smaller dome for that ear. The discomfort immediately disappeared. Are your aids Oticon, and if so, what was the other brand of dome that turned out to be the best solution? Thanks again for your help!

Glad to read that you seem to have arrived at a solution! My are Phonak Infinio 50R, and my domes are Phonak medium vented domes.
I believe @tori.naess50 deserves the credit for the strategy of pulling the ear. :slightly_smiling_face:

In reply to @tori.naess50

It is so nice to be able to get advice from someone who has ‘been there’. Pulling on my ear did help with insertion and removal, but significant pressure continued to be present throughout the day. I was always aware of the pressure and found I was constantly trying to fiddle with the position of that aid. I saw the audiologist again and she gave me a smaller dome for that ear. I understand that tighter fitting is desirable but the discomfort was significant enough that I was counting the time until I could take them out at night. I may try going back to the larger dome after I am better adjusted to aids.

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