Skip to content
HearingTracker
Log in

First pair of hearing aids. Any advice?

21 replies715 viewsLast reply

Jump
Link to this topic
Reply
Edited

Currently trying the Phillips 9050. The open domes aren’t working great (comfort wise) for me and I’m debating if I should try custom molds. I’m not sure if the custom molds will have a vented option. The audiologist at costco made it seem like I should use an open dome for my kind of hearing loss. Any advice or tips would be appreciated.

11 people in this conversation5 min readJump to latest

I have the smallest domes currently and they gave me the next size up to try, which is very noticeably larger/too large. They said those were the only sizes they had forthe Phillips domes that were open

If you like the way the 9050s are working for you, try them with the molds. I think at Costco molds only cost $40 per ear.

Personally I prefer molds but I switch aids frequently so they aren’t practical for me now. I do not like molds or domes without vents. The occlusion is almost unbearable. Additionally the heat in Texas during the summer makes my ears sweat and I feel like I’m drowning. Crazy huh? With unvented domes, everything sounds like I have water in my ears.

Molds, if properly fitted, stay in better than poorly fit domes. I had less trouble with feedback while wearing cheaper aids when I was wearing molds. Top tier aids handle feedback well, but with high amplification feedback can still be a problem. Fit, vent size and vent placement all have some effect on sound quality and feedback.

In reply to @japple

Phillips doesn’t have a tulip dome. Maybe some other band would fit, but you are taking some chance of the dome sticking in the ear.

I think molds with vents makes the most sense if the open bass dome is uncomfortable.

Agreed with open dones not being correct for your 30-40 db low frequency hearing loss. More occlusive domes or molds should be a much better experience with hearing aids.

Since this is your first pair of hearing aids with that hearing loss it might take you some time to acclimate to the aids. Be patient.

I like the Phonak vented domes and have used them on Signia and Resound hearing aids. They all seem interchangeable as long as I don’t buy the click domes. Maybe some other brands will work on the Philips.

They are not quite all interchangeable. If you put a signia sleeve onto an oticon device, for example, it is a slightly looser fit. Some people might have no trouble, whereas some with a tighter fit or a bendier ear canal may lose the dome in their ear canal. Or similarly, new sonova domes are looser than old ones, so you can put either a new or old dome on a new receiver (old dome is just a bit harder to push on) but you can’t put a new dome onto an old receiver without dramatically increasing risk of losing it in the ear canal–we saw a lot of this during the change-over.

A dome won’t do much sitting in an ear canal other than being annoying. But generally I recommend going in to see the audiologist who has lots of experience extracting domes from ears prior to letting a loved one fool around with a flashlight and tweezers and inadvertently push it in further and make extraction harder. Most audiologists will squeeze someone into their schedule and get it out pretty quickly because we know how annoying it is to have a dome stuck in the ear.

I wouldn’t have mixed brands on my own. My audiologist is the one who gives me my favorite Phonak domes to go with my Resound (and formerly my Signia) hearing aids. I guess it depends on the receiver sizes.

Originally, the audiologist had me with the vented domes (picture below). At an appointment, a different guy was subbed in. He changed me to the ones that look like satellite dishes. I couldn’t hear well at all with those due to too much ambient sound getting through. I went back to the vented.

The vented lets a little ambient in, but so much as to interfere with the hearing aids’ work.
Maybe that is something for you to test out. The ones pictured below were 2 packs of six for ten dollar US, or free at the audiologist (Oops!)

If you’re new to hearing aids, a suggestion is to keep patience in mind and never hesitate to ask for adjustments as your brain adapts. One day, things will sound fine. Some days or weeks later, things may sound awful. It takes lots of time. It’ll all work out for you!

Paul

Dome

Edited

In reply to @japple

My Connexx 8mm Tulip domes have two slits; like the author I’m new to hearing aids with Signia

Have pretty much stopped using my hearing aids because they’re uncomfortable like they’re too snug, like wearing ear plugs stuffed in the canals. Since October they’ve never even come close to falling out.

My audiologist through Truhearing gave me no mention of the domes. I decided to buy the next smaller size 7mm which they had in Open Domes. These are much more comfortable than the 8mm Tulips.

The 8mm Tulips have twice the plastic of the 7mm Open Domes. The tulips are like a spring under compression.

@David_C said:

My audiologist through Truhearing gave me no mention of the domes. I decided to buy the next smaller size 7mm which they had in Open Domes. These are much more comfortable than the 8mm Tulips.

The acoustics that are prescribed for your hearing loss are an integral part of your fitting. Randomly changing the dones defeats the purpose of a prescription.

Try to talk to your fitter about the discomfort and the need for different domes.

Related discussions