What to Expect During an Earmold Impression

There are really five steps in taking an earmold impression, six if you include sending out the impression. Let’s take a look at each of the steps and what occurs in each step so that you know what you can expect when you go in to see your hearing health professional for an earmold impression.

Looking in the ear

Before any earmold impression is taken your hearing health professional will take a look into your ears to ensure they are clean and healthy. Your hearing health professional wants to ensure there is no wax buildup of any kind because if there is this could cause problems when the impression material is pushed down into your ear canal. It could scratch your ear causing an infection or it could puncture your eardrum causing even more problems and possibly an ear infection as well. Your hearing health professional also wants to ensure the inside of your ear canal looks healthy to prevent trauma and infection to the area.

Putting in the otoblock

Once the ears are cleared by the hearing health professional they will then place an otoblock into the canal. This otoblock is there to prevent trauma to the eardrum and to create a stopping point for the impression material to adhere to. As your hearing health professional pushes the otoblock down into your ear canal, it may tickle or scratch your ear canal and this is normal and will be short lived.

Placing the impression material

After the otoblocks are in place your hearing health professional will get the impression material ready. Using either a large syringe filled with impression material or an impression material gun, the hearing health professional will place the tip of the device into your ear canal and begin to squeeze and push the material down into your ear canal gently pulling out as the canal begins to fill with the impression material. Once the material has filled the canal and outer ear your hearing health professional will have you begin to move your jaw, as facial movement can greatly affect the comfort and fit of your custom earmold. Once again you may have some funny feelings in your ear such as tickling, scratching, gagging or coughing; this is all normal and occurs due to the sensitivity of your ear canal and how it is connected to your throat.

Waiting for the material to set

You will need to wait for a few minutes as the impression material fully sets. The impression material starts to set almost immediately, but does need a few minutes to fully cure to get the proper impression of your ear.

Removing the impression

 Your hearing health professional will first release the pressure that has build-up behind the earmold impression and your eardrum. They will then twist and pull out the impression following the curves of your ear canal. Once the impression is out of your ears, your hearing health professional will take a quick look in your ears to ensure no material is left behind and that there was no trauma done to the ear canals.

Examining and making a custom earmold

Before sending away to the manufacturer, your hearing health professional will look over your earmold impressions to ensure there are no flaws. If there are flaws the impression may have to be redone. If the impression is good it will be sent away to be made into the custom earmold.

If you have any questions regarding the ear impression process, don’t hesitate to contact your hearing care provider to ensure you’re comfortable and informed with the procedure!