Following the release of the new EasyGuard domes, I was keen to try some and thought a review may help people who are looking to try them.
Context:
I have sensorineural hearing loss in both ears (approx. 35db loss, across lower and mid frequencies, coming back up to 10bd in high frequencies). I have always suffered with very “wet” wax in my ears, although I’ve never had problems with my ears being blocked by wax.
This was the main motivator for trying the new easy guard domes. I hadn’t had any issues with wax blocking the receiver, but I was always concerned this could happen given the amount of wax they are subjected to daily.
I had been wearing open vented domes from Phonak in a size medium. No issues or complaints.
Sizing:
In terms of sizing, Phonak stated that the sizing of the new domes were consistent with the existing range to make life easier for patients wanting to swap over to the easy guards.
I ordered a set of easy guards in size medium, which my normal size in open vented domes, they were far too big! I had to reorder in a size small for them to fit well and be a comparable size to my open domes.
Based on my limited research, it appears the easy guard domes align more closely to the power dome sizing which runs slightly larger by a few millimetres than the rest of the dome line up, this means the open domes I had been wearing in a size medium is actually 2/3mm smaller than the corresponding easy guard dome, which would explain my need to drop to a size small.
Fitting:
Fitting was easy, just like swapping any other domes on the phonak receiver. As an avid Programmer, I changed the domes in Target and ran a new feedback test.
Unsurprisingly, as the easy guards are more “closed off” than the open vented domes, my feedback threshold shifted up a fair bit.
The easy guard domes are still considered “open” but only have two small vent holes compared to the multiple vented holes on the open domes.
I haven’t experienced any occlusion.
Day to day:
The domes have been comfortable to wear and easy to maintain. I did find that my hearing improved in busier environments, which is probably due to the noise reduction of my hearing aid having more of an affect as the domes are more closed off compared to the open vented ones I had been wearing previously.
I found in the late afternoon that the domes would start to slide out of my ear canal. They never fell out, but the wax build up on the bulb of the dome, made them subject to sliding around. This was only ever an issue in the afternoon/evening. I can only assume my ears pump out more wax at that time of day.
Cleaning my ears and the domes would stop this, but in the end, I opted to use a sports lock/retention wire which has stopped the problem all together.
After a few weeks of wearing them, my are still sparkling clean. Previously they’d of started to show evidence of a yellow hue.
My only gripes with the domes are as follows:
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I have only found one seller in the UK online (Connevans) and the easy guard domes are double the price. They are nearing £20 including shipping for a pack of 8. My open vented domes normally cost £10 including shipping for a pack of 10.
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Due to the mesh material on the domes, Phonak state you can’t clean them with any form of liquid solution. I will admit that I do use Phonak Cleaning wipes on the “bulb” part of the dome, but the protruding mesh end, I wipe with a dry cloth.
I like to make sure my domes are hygienically cleaned at least once a week to reduce the risk of ear infections and would prefer if I could simply clean the whole dome as I was doing previously.
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The mesh filter on the dome is very fine. I have had a few occasions where I have got sudden feedback. This was due to a small chunk of wax building up on the mesh. A quick wipe with a dry cloth resolved the problem. But it’s not something I experienced with my open vented domes.
Would I recommend?
Overall, they have made maintenance easier and improved my hearing due to being slightly more closed off than my previous domes.
I was hoping the domes would be a similar price and the same quantity to the existing line up, as this would further justify the motivation to switch, as you’d save a few quid on the wax filters, although the savings would be minimal.
I guess in theory, these domes will help prolong the life of your receivers (depending on wax production and how proactive you are with maintenance/changing wax guards on non easyguard domes!).
While I am happy with them, I feel the biggest benefit is for the Audiologist’s, who have those patients that turn up because the hearing aid isn’t working, only to find the receiver is blocked up with wax from poor maintenance.
Hopefully the price of the domes comes down, I will probably stay with them if they don’t, but I do think it’s slightly cheeky of Phonak/retailers to charge double the price, while giving you a small quantity of the domes!
You’re ignoring this member’s posts.