ear mold

An ear mold is a piece of plastic or other soft material moulded to precisely fit in the ear and to deliver the sound from a BTE hearing aid. A BTE aid with tubing and earmold is shown at the right.

The audiologist or hearing aid dispenser makes an impression of the empty parts of your outer ear and ear canal using a quick drying (usually) silicone impression material. The impression is sent to a lab, which then creates an ear mold which will fit into your ear.

A hole (bore) is then drilled through the ear mold roughly following the path of your ear canal. The output of the BTE hearing aid is inserted into (or connected with an adaptor) to the bore using a short piece of flexible tubing.

Depending on the person's hearing loss, a vent is also drilled though the ear mold rougly parallel to the bore.

Ear molds are usually clear or frosted, but many hearing aid users now select brightly colored or decorative ear molds. Some designs are meant to make the ear molds less visible, and some are meant to make them more noticeable.

It's important to have good ear molds that fit well, are designed for your loss, and are comfortable. Ill fitted ear molds may cause feedback, may cause pain, or may even impact the effectiveness of the hearing aid.

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