Excessive Moisture Problems

[Jeffrey Sirianni]

Thank you, thank you all for responding and providing wonderful suggestions...

Jeff

At 12:43 AM 3/24/99 -0600, Jeffrey Sirianni wrote:
>Greetings To All,
>
>I have a patient who is experiencing more than expected moisture problems.
>He currently wears Phonak Sona P2 binaurally.  He comes in every 1-2 weeks
>reporting that one of his aids is "out".  After removing the programming
>cover, I suction the moisture out of the programming port and microphone
>and the aid comes to life.  He uses his charged Super Dri-Aid kit nightly
>and says he dries his ears (concha and EAC opening) every morning with a
>towel after his shower and sometimes uses a Q-tip with a dab of alcohol.
>He is a 40 year old preacher who is very sensitive to reductions in
>"volume" when the aid starts to accumulate moisture.  He says that most
>mornings his aids come out of the jar working very well, but by 6:00 PM,
>the devices are "down".  This may be some habituation effect, but due to
>his in-office moisture problems, I would say that there is definitely
>excessive accumulation throughout the day, with some excessive accumulation
>that requires him to come into the office for my help.  I have seen the
>glistening of moisture on many of these visits and the aid comes to life as
>soon as I suction it away.  The devices have been back to the factory
>several times for problems that I can now remedy with my experience with
>his moisture problems.
>
>1. I only have a few patients who wear this model (although he seems to
>wear his devices every day as long as he can), and so I am curious to know
>if this is a model design problem, or whether this is an individual user
>problem.
>
>2. I told him that I would look into the price on a Dry and Store unit, but
>I would not want this patient to spend the money if he continues to have
>this problem.  Has anyone seen good/remarkable results with the Dry and
>Store unit for patients with excessive moisture problems that do not seem
>to get the full benefits from an inexpensive Super Dri-Aid kit?
>
>3.  Does anyone have any further suggestions for me or for the patient?  As
>I mentioned earlier, he is a preacher (presently interviewing for open
>positions) and so this intermittent problem is really something that this
>man can do without.
>
>All responses are greatly appreciated.
>
>Note: He and I have a running joke that with all the follow-up office
>visits that he has had over the last year, that I lose money everytime he
>comes into the office.  I am glad he is such a nice guy, and we enjoy our
>sessions, but he is frustrated and concerned with this problem, especially
>if he moved out of my area.
>
>Help....
>
>Jeff
>
>
>***************************************************
>* Jeff Sirianni, M.A., CCC-A                      *
>* Sound Advice / R.G. Delaney, M.D.               *
>* 710 Water Street / Suite 404                    *
>* Kerrville, TX  78028                            *
>*                                                 *
>* (830) 896-1433                                  *
>* (800) 672-4321                                  *
>* (830) 896-1440 FAX                              *
>*                                                 *
>* audioman at hctc.net                               *
>*                                                 *
>* Discussion Leader of bionet.audiology Newsgroup *
>***************************************************
>
>
>
***************************************************
* Jeff Sirianni, M.A., CCC-A                      *
* Sound Advice / R.G. Delaney, M.D.               *
* 710 Water Street / Suite 404                    *
* Kerrville, TX  78028                            *
*                                                 *
* (830) 896-1433                                  *
* (800) 672-4321                                  *
* (830) 896-1440 FAX                              *
*                                                 *
* audioman at hctc.net                               *
*                                                 *
* Discussion Leader of bionet.audiology Newsgroup *
***************************************************