Has anyone gone from vented earmolds to completely sealed earmolds?

Well from reading posts I’m going to gather that a “more severe/profound” hearing loss dictates trying (first) a unvented soft hearing mold and testing to see if it works. I’m in Dani’s camp regarding issues with unvented mold and jaw movement (also walking) but its been a while since I’ve tried a unvented mold. Maybe eight years ago.

What I also find interesting is the depth of the “ear canal” mold. I’ve recently switched Audi’s but in the past (with old Audi) my ear canal (mold) section was made very long. And I’m not sure that’s ideal with a unvented mold, since the longer the mold the more it trigger occlusion with jaw movement. Just guessing here? A shorter ear can mold might allow for less movement when eating/walking etc. Maybe some here think I have this backwards, but the depth of a ear mold does play some role.

Just not sure how much.

Regarding canal length…older studies showed that a longer ear canal length can reduce occlusion effect due to less space between the ear drum and HA output therefore less space for low frequencies to bounce around. The drawback of long canal length is comfort of the mold.

Well then maybe “longer” the better. I’ll need to compare my new mold canal (length) to my current ones and see if there is any significant difference.

"Diminished occlusion effect. The occlusion effect occurs when an object seals the outer portion of the ear canal, causing the wearer to perceive a hollow echoic sound in his/her own voice. In the case of hearing aid wearers, the effect is caused by sound vibrations trapped within the occluded ear canal.

Successful resolution to the occlusion effect is twofold: 1) obtain a solid seal in the bony portion of the ear canal, and 2) decrease the spatial placement between the tip of the instrument and the tympanic membrane, thus limiting the opportunity for vibrations. Experience in proper deep-fitting techniques can achieve such desirable results, with little to no resulting occlusion effect.6"

Deep Canal Fittings: Advantages, Challenges, and a New Approach1

There are numerous advantages relative to locating the hearing aid close to the eardrum. Here is a new solution for achieving true deep-canal fittings.

I am not sure about the Naida aids but my Oticon OPN1 aids were slow to switch the programs with the changing environment and I told my Audi and he was able to change something in the computer software that he said made the transition much faster, I no longer detect the transitioning of the programs.

@Gramps said:

However, I can also detect very slight pauses and irritating signals that happen as the aids change from one program to another in the autosense setting (such as when someone turns on music while I am in conversation with someone else.) I trust that this kind of transition will be ironed out in the next firmware release.

This is simple tuning. No firmware update needed.

@Gramps
Has the other thread about number of programs been closed? Here we talk about occlusion with non-vented molds. Anyway my Naida B70 were the best aids I’ve ever had, too. And oh, the Passion play were cancelled this year. And Oktoberfest

@spectrumplay
Now that you’ve posted your audiogram: Wow, don’t you have the choice to go for a CI? Your loss is terribly bad. I’ve gone the path this year in February and I like the feeling not to have any mold or dome in my ear canal. It’s fantastic.

I hope it works out for you. I believe you are like me and do what it takes to hear better when it is possible. Please let us know and the steps as it goes forward

Heading in that direction Dani for possible CI in near future. I need to explore a few more power aids and let the coronavirus threat die down. There are pros and cons with a CI but eventually a hearing aid can only do so much, if hearing level drops off the map.

Have you considered the Oticon Exceed or Phonak Naida aids? Looking at your audiogram either should work for you.
Without putting your audiogram in Phonak Target I would think soft silicone molds with a 1mm vent would be pretty close to right for you. I could look if you want.

One of my molds is vented (60 dB receiver). The other is unvented (105 dB receiver). I went from a vented mold to an unvented mold when I got my new hearing aids. I had no problem with the change and it required no adjustment on my part. For me, it was a non-event, aside from significantly improving my hearing.