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Silicone Molds & Ear Infections

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TL;DR - Can silicone molds contribute to ear infections?

I have Oticon Intent 1s and switched to custom silicone molds Aug 25th. For a week, all was perfect; really happy with the improvement in discerning speech (moderate cookie bite loss).

By Sept 4, I was having a plugged feeling in my left ear, ear pain, and just feeling bad, so I went to urgent care and was dx with a double ear infection. (not uncommon for me; I get them 1 to 2 times a year)

Did the antibiotics for 10 days, left my hearing aids out for a couple of days, and cleaned them well. By the 9th, I was feeling fine again and had no more ear pressure when wearing the aids - back to normal.

For the last 3 days, I am back to the plugged feeling in my left ear and pain. I'm going to see if I can get in to my PCM tomorrow.

Any connection to the new molds? This is my first ear infection since getting hearing aids over the summer. I clean them when I remove them with Audinell cleaning wipes, then put them in my PerfectDry Lux box.

Would love some insight - maybe I need to change the routine? I see my AUD Wednesday for a different reason, but will bring this up.

TIA!

When I first started using hearing aids my ears would itch like crazy. I bought a hearing aid dryer similar to yours. This typically stopped my ear itching issues but not all. For those few times I would wipe the domes/molds with rubbing alcohol and use a Q-Tip with alcohol on it in my ears. This always stopped the itching and pain.

There are hypoallergenic materials for ear molds available. I remember reading about a medical cream users here on the forum used for the same reasons you are having with great results too. A quick search should find it.

If you're taking oral antibiotics for 10 days this sounds like a middle ear infection. The only connection I can think of if it's related to your molds would be if you had no vents in the molds and it was creating a suction effect? So basically I don't know. I'd ask your doctor but from my understanding I'm skeptical if it's related to your molds. Note: If I'm misunderstanding and this is an external ear infection I'd be more likely to think it's the molds.

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