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Hard molds vs. Soft molds vs. domes

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I have been wearing Siemens Motion 700 vc aids for the past 3 years, with double domes.
My hearing has gotten worse, the contracted private audiologist ordered Phonak Naida S crt aids.

I had wanted soft molds but they came in with hard molds, apparently
with the SP receiver that is the only option.
The aids seem to work pretty well, but I don’t like the hard molds, my
ears hurt after an hour or so. Can’t see wearing them for 10 or 12 hours.
Is it a matter of adjusting to them? I know that they can sand/grind them
down to ‘adjust’ the fit, but will they ever be comfortable?
I think it might be like getting some stiff shoes in the right size that hurt
your feet, eventually they may conform better but might never be comfortable.

I plan to ask her to change them to the Phonak power domes with the
P receiver, which is an option. Soft molds would also be an option, but
I am wondering if they would be as comfortable as the power domes.

I am willing to lose a little performance with the P receivers to gain comfort.

Any thoughts please on molds, soft and hard, vs. domes. :confused:
Thanks.

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According to this you can. They are talking about phonak which is basically the same thing I believe.

Earmolds should never hurt. If they do they need to be remade or re worked to feel better, some things can be adjusted by the audiologists and sometimes they just have to start over. I have hard molds and most times I don’t even know they are in my ear; when I first got them they were itchy at times but that was it, never any pain or discomfort.

The Siemens with the HP receiver are only offered with the hard molds… once you get the correct fit you will never go back. IF there are only a couple of pressure points maybe the AD can buff them to fit. If not she just needs to take and sent new molds. My second pair fit perfect.

Had an audi appointment today.
She agreed to order the soft molds w/ receiver.

The Phonak power domes are an option that she strongly opposes, but is willing
to do as a last resort if the soft molds don’t feel comfortable.

She said that there is so little available material in the hard shell around
the receiver that grinding/sanding/buffing is not much of an option to improve the fit.

btw, the two aids are Phonak Naida S IX crt, (receiver in canal ), the
receiver in the hard mold is the xP (Power) one, the xS and xSP receivers
are the other options, Standard and SuperPower (lower and higher power)
I guess.

Thanks for the replies.

In reply to @seb

@seb said:

Earmolds should never hurt. If they do they need to be remade or re worked to feel better, some things can be adjusted by the audiologists and sometimes they just have to start over. I have hard molds and most times I don’t even know they are in my ear; when I first got them they were itchy at times but that was it, never any pain or discomfort.

I agree with this. I have hard custom ear molds. For me they are very comfortable, and more comfortable than the soft molds I also tried. (They may also be more durable.) BUT… the fit is critical with hard molds in particular. They go from being slightly too big and uncomfortable to being slightly too small and slipping out if not adjusted correctly. What the earmold companies often do is make them a little bigger than they think is right based on the cast of the outer ear canal and then leave it to the audiologist to shave them down a little bit at a time until the fit is right. This can take 10 minutes or more.

So to me, the good news is, OP, that your molds may be a bit too big. That means the audiologist can shave them down with a Dremel tool and still make them fit right. (I say “good news” because if they were slipping out, you’d have to start over. Or if as seb suggests, the casting is way off in shape, you may have to start over. Sometimes the casting isn’t done right.) Don’t try adjusting your hard molds at home–let the audiologist use the Dremel tool or otherwise make the adjustment.

But another consideration: your loss, OP, is much worse than mine. You may indeed need the power domes. Trust the audiologist’s input on this.

Sometimes you just have to try different things until you can determine what works best for you.

Good luck.

Problem is some audiologist don’t want to take the chance at grinding and buffing earmolds and will simply order new ones. Deafyet got one of the pat answers in that there isn’t enough available material to grind/sand/buff to improve fit, chances are very little would have to be removed to improve the comfort level of the mold.

if you are feeling brave get yourself one of those 4 sided emery boards with the different gits and give it a shot. much better then using a ‘power tool’. just take very little at a time you can’t put it back on.

:slight_smile:

@Mick_Shu said:

if you are feeling brave get yourself one of those 4 sided emery boards with the different gits and give it a shot. much better then using a ‘power tool’. just take very little at a time you can’t put it back on.

@awhk said:

I use 1000 Grit Silicon Carbide sandpaper to grind the mold.

This process will always take more material from the peaks than the troughs unless you know what you are doing, which will worsen the feedback performance.

General advice; only take material from a flat surface.

OP here. Thanks for all of the replies and ideas.

I think that I have read about some hearing aid manufacturers that have
an option of soft-coated hard molds. That would seem like a good setup.

As suggested in one reply, my feeling also is that the molds are a bit
too big.
Since they are made by 3d scanning of the ear impression, they
would be the same size as the impression, which would be a pretty
tight fit.

Why not make the molds 1 or 2 mm. smaller in all dimensions than
the impression, then make up any needed size increase for comfort
and fit by either wrapping or dipping a soft material around the mold ?

Anyway, my audi refusing to sand/grind down the hard mold means that
they will be exchanged for a soft mold. She claims that adjusting
the fit is easier on soft molds. How? Using a razor blade or
Xacto knife on the silicone or whatever material? Will see.

Regards.

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