title: Challenges in fitting a hearing aid to a severely collapsed ear canal and mixed hearing loss.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Collapsed ear canals typically occur when an outside force, such as a headset for audiometric testing, is present. However, when a collapsed ear canal occurs without external pressure, this creates a challenge not only for performing audiometric testing but also for coupling a hearing aid to the ear canal.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This case report highlights the challenges associated with fitting a hearing aid on a patient with a severe anterior-posterior collapsed ear canal with a mixed hearing loss.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 67-yr-old female originally presented to Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine in 1996 with a long-standing history of bilateral otosclerosis. She had chronic ear infections in the right ear and a severely collapsed ear canal in the left ear and was fit with a bone anchored hearing aid (BAHA®) on the right side in 2003. However, benefit from the BAHA started to decrease due to changes in hearing, and a different hearing solution was needed. It was proposed that a hearing aid be fit to her collapsed left ear canal; however, trying to couple a hearing aid to the collapsed ear canal required unique noncustom earmold solutions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This case study highlights some of the obstacles and potential solutions for coupling a hearing aid to a severely collapsed ear canal.
authors.forename: Kristi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oeding
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Valente
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chole
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D004424:Ear Canal / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006310:Hearing Aids; D046089:Hearing Loss, Mixed Conductive-Sensorineural / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D010040:Otosclerosis / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D011474:Prosthesis Design / Q000379:methods; D017755:Prosthesis Fitting / Q000379:methods*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013069:Speech Reception Threshold Test