Let me get this straight. You go to the doc, he/she fits you with some type of mold of your ears and you order the plugs at the doc office... similar to going to the eye doctor?
I've looked on the westone site but it doesn't give any prices. Anyone have an idea of what I'd be looking at?
Call up an audiologist place (look under hearing aid center) and set up an appointment-tell them you need musicians earplugs. If you can't find one, call an ear/nose/throat (otolaryngolist or something like that) specialist and ask them-my first set was made at an ear doctor that had an audiologist that came by weekly. However, don't make the mistake I did-you don't need an appointment with the ear doctor themselves to get the ear plugs, just the audiologist who does the actual plugs (oops, oh well, needed checkup anyway).
Price wise, first time I did it it was $150 (for everything). That was 4 years ago. Just did it again 2 weeks ago and it was $175 at a different place. Don't let em BS you and tell you they can't get more filters or that the filters never need changing like the first place did to me. They will eventually get sweaty /whatnot, you'll hear a drop in sound quality. You'll just need new filters, and my new guy tells me he may even be able to get em for free for me from the rep
. He just asked that I send any fellow band mates his way LOL.
Procedure wise, heck, mine was actually a walk in-I had just dropped by to inquire if they did em, they didn't have anyone at that minute and 10 minutes later I was out of there
. You sit down, they take a syringe with a 2 part epoxy stuff in it, stick a tiny piece of foam down your ear canal with a string attached (no jokes guys.....), poke the syringe in, fill you up with epoxy, pat it in place and go to next ear. 5 minutes later, they take the blob out and send it off to get em made. OH, make sure you don't sit there with your mouth closed-I did for the first mold this time and they didn't fit quite right, the second mold he had me make chewing motions and talk. He said that'll imprint on the mold and they can fit for that. A week later, you go back in , they stick em in and see if they fit.
My guy told me there's about a 20% redo ratio on any ear molds (hearing aid or earplug), so don't freak if they don't fit. Other than a feeling of something in your ear, they should not hurt or come loose or irritate. You'll know pretty much right away if they fit once you've learned how to put em in. Make sure the guy shows you how to take em out too! On my first set I struggled, ended up having to take the filters out (not cool, they're little) and then pull. On the new set, I just pushed up from the bottom till I could grab em and out they came! If they don't come with a case, get a pill box and get in the habit of putting them straight in there and putting the box somewhere safe (gig bag pocket for me).
Process of making them sounds cool, guy told me a computer scans the molds they make and then builds the plugs out of epoxy, says it's almost all computerized. They can redo by pulling up old scan and redo scan side by side and checking the problem areas (in my case, one was rubbing my lower ear and the other felt loose after 40 minutes of gigging) and adjusting those areas
.
Get em......they're painless and here, cheaper than even one visit to an ear doctor to see about your ringing that won't quit....
