Problems With Oticon Real Behind the Ear Fitting

HearYe

HearYe

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Hello, everyone. I just purchased an Oticon Real hearing aid with CROS, receiver behind the ear style. I am happy with the improvement in speech clarity but am having trouble with the thin plastic tubing that wraps around the earlobes, and the "tail" that is designed to keep the hearing aids in place. There are a few factors at play: a) my earlobes and ear canal do not conform to the shape of the tube; b) I wear glasses (both indoor and sunglasses) so the arms and weight put pressure on the the plastic tube and receiver, which causes pain, redness and indentation in the skin; and c) I have pain behind the left ear and back of the head along with increased sensitivity to pressure that is triggered by wearing the hearing aids and glasses. In addition to that, the tail doesn't wrap around the conch in a normal fashion in the right ear the same as it does in the left, almost as if it was but on back to front. I checked it out with my audiologist and she just said it was a different make and I just had to make sure it was wrapped around. However, the aid/CROS can pull out once I try to wrap the tube around my ear. Does anyone else experience this? Any suggestions on how to adjust it, if possible? I'm wondering if I should switch to receiver in the ear. I had such a model once a long time ago and it didn't work very well for me.
 
Receiver behind the ear style?? There are (BTE/Behind The Ear) style and RIC/RITE (Receiver In Canal or Receiver In The Ear)

Here's a couple of Oticon ear grip videos for RICs. Note there are different ear grip sizes for 60 or 85 receivers, and also you can cut the length after installing to fit your ear if the ear grip is too long. Look at the position in the first video to determine if your ear grip in in the proper (away and away) orientation!
Sorry I'm getting lost on the pain issue. Is the pain cause "only" from the glasses putting pressure on your hearing aids? You said glasses/arms and weight put pressure on the the plastic tube and receiver. The receiver/speaker is in your ear? Correct? Sorry, I don't follow.
 
This is a BTE style with a hollow tube connecting to a mold in your ear. The tubes can also be a different style called Slim-Tubes;

behind-the-ear-power-plus-hearing-aid-on-ear.png


This is a RIC style with a (conductive) wire connecting to a receiver/speaker in your ear;

mark-paton-Jp7zQoMgxM4-unsplash.jpg
 
Sometimes the RIC style "receiver/speaker" wire may be too short causing the hearing aid and receiver to pull tightly against each other, and leaving deep red wire-path marks on your ear, and causing pain at the end of the day. But that doesn't have much to do with glasses pushing down? The RIC image above is maybe border-line too tight.

The BTE style image above has a hollow tube that is cut to the proper length, or you can wear slim-tubes that come in different sizes and different connection types (screw-on, etc) for different manufacturers;
shopping
 
Maybe part of my confusion is about misnamed outer ear parts. The Oticon ear grip wraps into your Concha and not around your Earlobe :)
 
pvc said:
Receiver behind the ear style?? There are (BTE/Behind The Ear) style and RIC/RITE (Receiver In Canal or Receiver In The Ear)

Here's a couple of Oticon ear grip videos for RICs. Note there are different ear grip sizes for 60 or 85 receivers, and also you can cut the length after installing to fit your ear if the ear grip is too long. Look at the position in the first video to determine if your ear grip in in the proper (away and away) orientation!
Sorry I'm getting lost on the pain issue. Is the pain cause "only" from the glasses putting pressure on your hearing aids? You said glasses/arms and weight put pressure on the the plastic tube and receiver. The receiver/speaker is in your ear? Correct? Sorry, I don't follow.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your reply, pvc. My apologies for the confusion; I get lost in all the acronyms. Thanks for clarifying them. It is mini RITE (receiver in the ear). The outside of the booklet says miniRITE R and miniRITE T; not sure what my hearing aid specifications are. There's a numerical code on the box that says 2185, not sure if it stands for 85 receiver or just a coincidence.

Thank you for the videos; I shall watch them momentarily; very helpful, as visual demonstrations work better than written instructions for me.

Sorry for the confusion with the pain description. Yes, the glasses on top of the hearing aid definitely causes pain, redness and indentation in the skin. Add that to pain of unknown origin that has resurfaced that's not related to the hearing aid and glasses, and you have a "perfect storm".
 
@pvc I used to have the behind the ear style with hollow tube and ear mold years ago. No my current one is like your picture of the RIC style with a (conductive) wire connecting to a receiver/speaker in your ear. I think you hit the nail on one of its heads - "Sometimes the RIC style "receiver/speaker" wire may be too short causing the hearing aid and receiver to pull tightly against each other, and leaving deep red wire-path marks on your ear, and causing pain at the end of the day". I tried putting the CROS in my right ear and looked in the mirror, and it seems to be too short. Also, the ear grip seems to be curled in the reverse direction from the other hearing aid so I can't get it to wrap around properly (yes, I know it wraps around the conch and not the outer earlobe, lol, I just have difficulty naming and describing objects - one of my other disabilities.
 
HearYe said:
Also, the ear grip seems to be curled in the reverse direction from the other hearing aid so I can't get it to wrap around properly
Click to expand...
Watch → Video1 to see the proper ear grip orientation. Then remove the ear grip, and install it again with the correct (away and away) orientation!
 
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HearYe said:
yes, I know it wraps around the conch and not the outer earlobe, lol
Click to expand...
That's funny Bro because the earlobe is that little fleshy part on the bottom. ;)

c1.jpg
 
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My apologies, I was trying to be funny. I guess it didn't work. :oops:

You need to fix the ear grip on your CROS. You can take it off and re-install it in the correct orientation. There is a specific (away and away) orientation you need to achieve when you put the ear grip on.

Perhaps you cannot see the correct orientation in → Video1 or maybe you don't know that the following is a link to → Video1 that will allow you to watch a video on your PC when you mouse-click the link?

So I will try to explain how to install the ear grip using these images from the video;
The ear grip needs to POINT AWAY from the hearing aid, North (and not South towards the hearing aid);
c2.jpgc3.jpg

Also, the ear grip needs to POINT AWAY from the hearing aid, East (not West towards the hearing aid);
c4.jpgc5.jpg
 
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After you fix your ear grip orientation, then you should think about getting the correct receiver wire length. Oticon receivers come in 5 lengths: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Your length-number is printed on one side of your receiver, the other side has the power number (60, 85, 100, 105). And, the 60 is color coded green, and the 85 is color coded orange.

However, the numbers are too small to see without magnification. So, here's a Suggestion on how to use your cellphone to take a close-up/macro picture in order to magnify the tiny, tiny number. Cellphones just happen to be quite good for taking macro pictures.
  • position/pose the receiver in direct sunlight (do not ignore this step)
  • take a cellphone picture (very closeup - only 5 or 6 inches away). Use a steady hand to allow time for the cellphone to focus
After you determine the length you already have, then you should get one size larger;
 
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So, here's a Suggestion on how to use your cellphone to take a close-up/macro picture in order to magnify the tiny, tiny number. Cellphones just happen to be quite good for taking macro pictures.
  • position/pose the receiver in direct sunlight (do not ignore this step)
  • take a cellphone picture (very closeup - only 5 or 6 inches away). Use a steady hand to allow time for the cellphone to focus
Click to expand...

For example with a cheap Samsung Galaxy A14 5G in my backyard in early afternoon; :cool:

20240614_141654.jpg
 
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