Curved Tubing is the connector piece between a Custom Earmold and a Behind-The-Ear hearing aid. It's the part that carries the sound out of a BTE aid down into a person's ear canal. Curved Tubing is specially designed and molded for this application. Straight tubing will not work properly since it will kink when it makes the right angle to go into the Custom Earmold.
Custom Tubing is a critical element of a person's hearing system. Curved Tubing should be replaced at least twice a year, otherwise it gets very hard and brittle and can develop cracks which can cause feedback.
It's easy to replace the Curved Tubing. Separate the mold and tubing from your hearing aid (if the old Curved Tubing is really old and stuck on very tight, heat the tubing with a hair dryer - low heat - for a minute or two to soften it up). Heat up a cup of water to a very hot temperature......about the same as a piping hot cup of coffee. Place the Custom Earmold and Curved Tubing into the cup. Let sit for about 5 minutes. This loosens up the glue. Then you should be able to pull the old tubing out easily. Pick out any remaining bits of old glue (a drill bit works well for this step). Make sure the hole is clear and cleaned out well. Then you install the new tubing. A glue that works well with hard molds is nail polish remover (WITH acetone - the good ol' stuff) or silicone glue (which can be found at the big box hardware stores) for silicone molds. Smear some onto the part of the tubing that will be inside the earmold, pull the tubing through making sure the tubing is pointing in the right direction, snip off the excess, pull it back a tiny bit, and you've done it.
If you are not comfortable attempting to retube your Custom Earmold, you can always send it in to Lloyds and we can do this for you for a few dollars. Turnaround time is usually one day in house.
DO NOT use curved tubing with mushroom inserts! For safety, mushroom inserts can only be used with Core & Tubing.
Tubing Information: