Skip to content
HearingTracker
Log in

Lets talk BTE molds and hacks!

This topic is closed.

7 replies1.4k viewsLast reply

Link to this topic

I’ve recently been struggling finding a good mold after my old audi retired, and trying several new ones. It’s exhausting and frustrating. I’m profound loss, with silicone full occluded molds and I realized that I’ve never really talked to others about their experiences with aids and molds. So lets hear it! What’s been your experiences, tips and tricks, hacks, etc! What do you do to make em last long and what have you learned!

Here’s mine, lets hear yours! Please!

-hooks: In my experience the threads tend to strip more than you think and cause feedback, depends on how active/rough you are. If they swivel pretty easily its definitely time for new ones. I always ask very nicely from the audi if I can get 10 or even 20 brand new hooks when purchasing a new aid. Usually they don’t mind or may charge a small additional fee less than the cost of 1 visit. Its almost impossible to find these online.

-hooks: Damped hooks may sound slightly better, but IMO are never worth it. You can almost get the same effect if not better in the software with a good, patient audi, and for me without fail, the damped material will get moisture saturated and plug up. Sometimes I could foul a damped hook in one long hike and it seems like even drying one for weeks it never sounded right again, like it changed pitch and needed another tuning. I say NO to damped hooks. Straight pipe that B.

-hooks: Generally there’s 2 sizes. Request both be present for the trial period of new aids. Sometimes the child size on a adult aid just fits right, sometimes you want the large, just try both.

-tubes: Tubes suck. I’ve tried all sorts of cheap ways around it and really you just need to bulk order and move on. They all dry and get hard, shrivel and start feedback issues. Skip the audi and amazon, find a online pro retailer and buy a box of 50+ high quality tubes, double thick #13, NO lock. So much better and easier to do at home and feels so nice to swap tubes before a big trip or job or date or just to have a set of tubes around for any reason.

-tubes: Locks suck. In my experience they are great when you first get the mold, but then as the mold ages and starts to get brittle the lock will eventually tear out the back of the mold and force a visit back to the audi. My molds last SO long ever since I just swapped to no lock. I find that once the tube slips out too easily its a great dummy indicator that its time to change your tube as well because it has dried and shrived. These days I use the mold new with the lock and as soon as it needs replacing or even before, the 2nd tube in the mold is no lock.

-molds: Maybe I’m lacking here, but I’ve almost 100% exclusively used canal only molds. I’m currently struggling finding an audi that understands that when I tell them the mold fits too loose and thats why the amplification is getting clipped in the software and its just a bad wearing experience that’s easy to feedback. They usually suggest some larger molds like the skeleton or full shell but I feel like they use it as a crutch. Because of my level of amplification I first need a snug, snug canal mold. These days with the 3d scan they can add the skeleton or whatever to the good canal if I want but when I have a good canal I get minimal feedback, full power amplification, features work better and since its snug there’s no issues doing extreme dry sports with them in. Never fly off, only when they’re too loose which also leads to poor aid performance.

Lets hear your opinions, experiences and what works for you and why!

4 people in this conversation7 min readJump to latest

I don’t like soft full shell silicone earmolds because they get loose from sweating. For an long time, l used Starkey full shell hard earmolds. I talked to my recent audiologist and she told me about these earmold below. I don’t use damper inside ear hooks as they reduce gain. I have an hearing aid dryer. The best earmold hard shell is below is perfect for those with profound hearing loss.

Screenshot_20230715-173323-773

@motorcyc86 said:

What’s been your experiences, tips and tricks, hacks, etc!

Welcome back motorcyc86! You’ve been “on the road” a couple years? Well, I’m probably not the best source of info cuz I wear the with ear wire attached to a soft, silicone double-dome over the speaker in my ear canal. Even so!

My issues with molds have been that I’m allergic to anything but the shiny, flesh-colored hard plastic custom molded earmold. Now that more powerful units require a BTE, I’ve had to go BTE + wire. For a while, I had a “leash” on that wire to hold it in place, but gave up on that after months, too.

In short: there is NOTHING under the sun to keep earmolds, tips or what-have-you snug all day long in the ear canal. In 30+ years of wearing all kinds of aids, I can vouch that whatever is connected to the speaker inside the ear canal is going to work its way out backwards allllllll day long. It’s a function of articulation: smile, yawn, talk, laugh, eat, in short: live! All those facial movements force the ear canal to extrude the speaker. So I end up pushing mine in 100s of times a day like I push my glasses up my nose. Annoying, but necessary!

I agree with your logic about the dampers! What a recipe for funky, moldy and permanently damp wad of cotton inside that tube. The best solution would be to remove the tube from the BTE and put the whole shebang into a hearing aid dryer overnight. I like a UV/dryer combo which supposedly sanitizes and dries the aids.

Like you, I need a very snug fit with that speaker in the ear canal, but will likely never get a perfect fit due to the domes sliding backwards out of my ear canal all day long. The minute I get some feedback if my hand is close to my ear, I know I have to jam those speakers back IN. Then I have a perfect world. I swear I hear 10% or more BETTER with that snug fit. It just can’t be maintained by any law of physiology that I know of - short of never articulating a thing with one’s mouth.

The custom mold skeleton that fits right up against the cup of the ear is probably best. There’s NO room for it to go. If it’s securely connected to the speaker, it would be like backing a car up against a brick wall - it can’t move back, I’m thinking?

Even with the best measuring techniques out there (and really very few clinics even have acces to this!), the speaker will likely migrate out of the ear OR you’ll end up with a contusion bruise cut the dome/mold/tip fits THAT snug.

I turn the floor over to the next speaker here … human, that is. :smirk:

Yep, been out and about for awhile, lots of travel, work, covid, moved states, etc. I rely on lipreading so the mask mandates really messed with me and my sanity as I work with a lot of people face to face in communication critical type of environments. It was terrible!

I hear you on the molds working themselves out, especially when combined with sweat, but I don’t really have an issue with them ever coming completely out, just a quick thumb press and they’re back in business. My audi’s always seem to comment on how straight my canals are, so I’m sure that exacerbates the issue.

I also use an UV/dryer combo and left one particularly sweat soaked damped hook in there for months (with no aid or mold attached) and it never sounded right again, like the cotton rips when expanding with moisture and changes the entire tune of the aid. No good! Best to swap to straight pipe and make sure the audi (or yourself) reprogram it without the damper.

image

I’ve only tried canal. May try skeleton next!

Glad you SURVIVED: work, moves, masks! Augh. Glad those days are over for now. I also moved cross-country and had the same issues with masks. Luckily, the Lumity Life aids seem to get me into a place where I can make out what’s said behind them, and few people even wear them anymore.

Looking at the various molds, the (acrylic, silicone) look the most stable - like the car backed up to the brick wall. You are right about having to just push the aids in all day long. I’ve never had one pop OUT unless I was removing a FACE mask. I am allergic to both acrylic and the firm silicone material, but if you are not, GO FOR IT! :slight_smile:

In reply to @Terost

I’m surprised you were able to use hardshell. Never in my life was it suggested to me because of I think how much amplification. Maybe some a very long time ago. You didn’t have feedback issues? I’ve used soft for as long as I can remember. What do you currently use?

Also I agree with the sweat but with tight, good fitting fully occluded molds I usually don’t get sweat behind too often. The looser fit ones I seem to be struggling getting lately one drop down the ear sometimes feels like it goes right behind the mold!

I used to have a special earmolds made that the outer shell was hard plastic and the mold in the ear canal was silicone. They don’t make these kind of half soft/half hard molds anymore. I wore hard shells and hardly had feedback issues as long as the aids were programmed properly.

I agree with everything you have said. Buying parts from eBay or Amazon always worked for me. I self programmed with good results from the beginning.

I used silicone canal locks with great success. The skeleton locks are great if other types fail. These were done through Lloyd’s. They were super helpful and knowledgeable.

Related discussions