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Having impressions done safe?

post #1 of 8
11/19/09 at 4:52pm
Thread Starter 
Probably a daft question but, has anyone ever suffered ear damage from having gloop poured into their ears to take an impression. I realise that the audiologist will stuff something into the ear canal first.
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post #2 of 8
11/19/09 at 5:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by krismusic View Post
Probably a daft question but, has anyone ever suffered ear damage from having gloop poured into their ears to take an impression. I realise that the audiologist will stuff something into the ear canal first.

Ya, I'm 99 % sure that you get a bit of cotten stuffed in your ear first. I've heard once or twice that if its done wrong it could reach your reach drum, which would be very bad, but if you go to a audiologist their is almost no chance of that happening(and if it did you could probarly sue them BIG time) and so the only real risk might occur if you do it yourself.
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post #3 of 8
11/19/09 at 6:52pm
ear impressions are done by an audiologist. they should know what they are doing..but yeah if you do it urself there could be some risk there but if its done by an audiologist i wouldnt worry that much
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post #4 of 8
11/19/09 at 7:23pm
Thread Starter 
There's no way I would DIY!:
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post #5 of 8
11/19/09 at 7:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by krismusic View Post
There's no way I would DIY!:
Me either, and I DIY everything except for myself lol.

I just got mine done today, it wasnt cotton but some type of foam. They slide it in the shoot the crap in your ear. It was strange feeling but thats about it.
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post #6 of 8
11/19/09 at 9:31pm
I've went the DIY route. I got my brother to do it the first time, then I tried it myself and though I didn't have ANY trouble properly blocking the canal, the material had began sitting up too soon and neither impressions were 100% and the price I spent on the kit was wasted.

Actually, I was considering buying one of the REAL audiologist impression guns. I found a website that provides equipment and I'm not sure they require a license of any sort. But, for $53 I could buy the gun, a ton of cotton dams and a couple of silicone cartridges that would provide enough silicone for something like 10-15 impressions, if I recall correctly. Considering some places charge $50 for the impressions alone, it's a very reasonable price.

As for the silicone getting into the eardrum, it DOES happen. Read. I don't feel like reading that article again, so I'm not sure what caused the problem... whether the dam wasn't actually inserted or if the dam was not large enough for the canal, but as you can see in the images, the silicone actually punctured the ear drum...
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post #7 of 8
11/19/09 at 11:49pm
Somethings are best left for the professional.
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post #8 of 8
11/20/09 at 9:42am
when I had my impressions done, I didn't get the gun in the ear treatment. The guy put the foam inserts in, fine, and then got two compounds and mixed them together..both looked like putty but purple..and kneeded them in his hands for a few minutes, then shoved the putty in my ears and waited for the putty to harden, all in the comfort of a leather arm chair. It worked perfectly, was painless and I didn't feel in any danger at all.
As Clie said though, some things are best left to the professionals unless you really know what you are doing. If you are going down the customs route, surely paying £39/$50 shouldn't be a great cost to the $350+ you're already looking to spend..if you're going to do it, its worth doing it right, so save that bit extra.
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