What are the stages involved when purchasing custom earplugs?

Now you’ve chosen where to purchase your custom earplugs, you’ll need to get an impression of your ear canals taken. Here’s an overview of what to expect when you visit your audiologist.

Before your appointment

People who have a history of suffering from high levels of ear wax should make an appointment with their doctor or health centre so that excess volumes of ear wax can be removed before you get your impression made.

This is because the presence of ear wax can prevent an effective seal being made between your ear and the mould taken of your ear, which can result in an ineffective earplug.

In a similar way, if you have recently had ear surgery, it’s best to wait a while before getting your ear canal impressions to allow your ears to return to their regular shape.

The process

To start with, your audiologist is likely to ask you a few simple questions about your general state of health – this is to make sure that there are no underlying conditions which would affect the impression being taken. They will also inspect your ears to make sure everything is healthy and there isn’t a build up of wax.

The audiologist will then place a small cotton or foam block in your ear, to act as a block and prevent the impression material from touching your eardrum.

The impression taking material is then syringed into the ear canal and left to set for approximately five minutes. The audiologist may ask you not to talk or move while you are having the impressions taken, to ensure that a good seal is maintained between your ear canal and the impression material.

It is really important that the audiologist places the block and the impression material past the second bend of your ear canal. This means that a deep seal is created with the bony part of the ear and makes for a high quality earplug.

After the material has set, the impression will be removed and your ears will be examined again to ensure that all the material has been removed. The next stage is to send the impressions of your ears off to the company to actually manufacture your earplugs. In some cases you are responsible for sending these, while in other cases the audiologist will send them.

It will usually take around 3 weeks from sending off your impressions to receiving your custom earplugs; however this time can vary depending on the company.

Some hearing protection providers will ask you to return to your audiologist for a fitting appointment. During this appointment your audiologist will explain how to fit and remove your earplugs. Fitting and removing your earplugs is not hard, though it can take some getting used to at first. We find that the effectiveness of custom earplugs is increased when we provide training for our clients.