What are earmolds?

An earmold is a piece of plastic, acrylic or other soft material shaped to fit a patient's ear canal, and/or the outer ear structure (concha) surrounding the ear canal.

If you require or request a custom earmold, your hearing care professional will take an impression of your ear canal and outer ear using a quick-setting, silicone-like substance. The impression is sent to a specialty lab where it's turned into a replica of your ear structures.

In many cases, earmolds sit inside the ear canal, hidden from view. Other times, earmolds sit in the concha bowl as well as in the ear canal. Because earmolds worn in the concha so closely match the ear's natural contours and skin tone, they're hard to spot.

Soft, dome-style earmolds are often paired with BTE hearing aids, and are worn in the ear canal. A BTE hearing aid is worn behind the ear, and transmits sound to the earmold via a thin, flexible tube.

Earmold Styles:

Earmold styles vary according to level of hearing loss, and the style of hearing aid with which they're paired.
There are more than 10 different, common styles of earmolds, available in a variety of colors and types of plastic, depending on your preference, the shape and texture of your ear, and what style of hearing aid you have. Some popular styles include:

Canal earmolds

Full-shell earmolds

Skeleton earmolds

Semi-skeleton earmolds

Half-shell earmolds

Canal earmolds: Similar to dome-style earmolds, they're made from the canal portion of the impression and are designed to be inconspicuous, while providing good ear retention and a customized fit.

Canal molds require a relatively long ear canal to fit properly. No portion extends into the concha bowl—they're completely contained within the canal.

Full-shell earmolds: This type of earmold provides maximum ear retention and is sculpted by the lab for a natural appearance. Full shells help prevent feedback and work well for moderate to severe hearing loss.

Skeleton earmolds: These have material removed from the center to enhance cosmetic appearance while still providing excellent in-ear retention. Designed for maximum comfort, a rim of material secures the mold within the concha, creating an effective seal.

Semi-skeleton earmolds: Skeleton earmolds without the back ring, semi-skeleton molds work for people with limited dexterity. Skeleton and semi-skeleton molds are generally comfortable, easy to retain, and suitable for people with mild to severe hearing loss.

Half-shell earmolds: Sculpted like full shell molds, except the material is cut back to cover only the bottom half of the concha bowl. Patients need adequate ear-retention. Half shells are recommended for milder hearing loss.

Talk to a Hearing Care Professional about the custom earmold style that is right for you.

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Behind-the-Ear hearing aids and earmolds

Some BTE hearing aids house the hearing aid receiver in the component worn behind the ear. Other BTE hearing aids actually house the receiver right in the earmold! These hearing aids are called receiver-in-ear (RIE) hearing aids.

Depending on the needs of the patient, most earmolds are manufactured with either small or large open vents. Earmolds with larger vents are known as open fit, and are recommended for patients with good hearing in the low pitches. The vents allow the low frequencies to exit the hearing aid naturally. Large venting also contributes to more natural sound quality and less occlusion, or that “stuffy” feeling.

It's important that your earmolds fit well, work for your hearing loss and style of hearing aids, match your level of dexterity, look cosmetically appealing, and feel comfortable for an extended period of time.

Earmolds for Everyday Activities

Custom earmolds are worn for reasons besides hearing loss. They can be worn to prevent hearing damage during loud activities, like playing or listening to music, racing cars, hunting, and so on.

They are also used by certain professionals, such as doctors, pilots, and newscasters to hear important information while they work. Custom-fit Bluetooth® earmolds give everyone the benefits of hands-free and comfortable phone conversation. And earmolds paired with MP3 players let you move freely without “losing” your earbuds.