Do-It-Yourself CIC Drawstring Repair

Occasionally, the drawstring of your patient’s CIC may break, creating challenges in hearing instrument removal. Rather than automatically sending the device back to the manufacturer for repair, a handful of products, most of which you probably already have access to in your clinic, may be all you need for a relatively quick, in-house fix. 

Items needed include: 1) a twist drill (size 76, 0.5mm), 2) Trilene line (size 017), 3) cyanoacrylate glue such as Apollo 2002 or Loctite, and 4) polymer powder.   To repair the CIC drawstring, cut off any residual drawstring from the faceplate. Then, use a twist drill to drill into the pre-existing drawstring hole to remove residual material. Next, apply cyanoacrylate glue to the end of the Trilene and immediately insert the Trilene into the drilled hole on the CIC faceplate; it should bond quickly. Once set, cut the Trilene to an appropriate length. Dab some cyanoacrylate glue on the freshly cut end of the Trilene and then immediately roll the same end into polymer powder.  Continue to dab glue and roll the end into the polymer powder as needed until a ball forms at the end of the Trilene. Once a sufficiently sized ball is formed, it will take about 10-15 seconds for the ball to harden. To speed up this process, apply accelerator over cyanoacrylate glue to reduce the curing time to about 3 seconds. Once finished, allow the end to sit for a minute or so until it completely hardens.