CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS
Non-Audio Stuff => Random Thoughts => Topic started by: joeexp on May 16, 2015, 07:51:48 PM
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What is the best way to clean out the ears?
This is a gross subject poo poo - but it is probably very important to clean your own ears from wax, dust etc. to hear things properly
I've heard about ear-wax-candles. :)p8 :)p8
What is the best way?
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I use two cotton swabs every morning right after I get out of the shower. I gently rotate them and pull out. Leaves them squeky clean.
Don't know if it's the best but it's always worked for me. Never had any wax issues and my audiologist hasn't complained.
Edit: misspelled by autocorect.
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My suggestion. Have them washed out by a medical professional. Don't use ear candles. :spank: People have damaged their ears and hearing using them. I have had mine washed out a few times. They use a surfactant and warm water and a syringe. Since they can look in your ear while cleaning them you can be sure they are clean. I have also had them use a water pick. My doctor says you can over do it as the wax is supposed to be there to protect the ear canal. It is only a problem after it builds up over time.
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Get one of those asian earpicks and get good at em.
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In my childhood, long, long ago, the standing advice was that the only thing you should ever put in your ear is your elbow.
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Hydrogen peroxyde is a good way to disolve earwax buildup.
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Stuff near the outside world, that tickles and fowls up shallow-fit earbuds, I remove with the curve of a wire paperclip. There is absolutely no chance that I get this anything like far enough in to cause any damage.
I do suffer from bad wax buildup. One thing I notice is not being able to hear the beep-beep kitchen timer across the room. Then I go to the ear doc. he has scoops, tools, vacuum tubes (not of the audio kind) and all sorts of stuff, but I get so nervous when he digs deep that I can't sit still, so I request the old-fashioned water wash.
I do this about three times a year. it's due about now, even though I can hear the kitchen timer. Back in January my doc was out of town, and a different one did it. He used a hydrogen peroxide soak, as there was a lot of wax. it bubbled and sounded like explosions!
Hydrogen peroxide comes in different strengths. I think it could be dangerous if you didn't know what you were doing. The only thing I do is to put drops, as specified by the doc, in my ears for a few days, that softens the wax and makes the removal easier. Once I start that process, I am almost completely deaf until it all gets washed out. Once that is done, for a few days, I can understand why my wife says I have a heavy hand on the PC keyboard!
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I dont know the best method, but q-tips might compact it. When I used in-ears I had built up wax over time and apparently kept pushing it in. One day while in China I had too much pain in my ears, I thought it was a cold or maybe an ear infection so went to the hospital. They used a scope to look inside and said there was compacted wax in there, then they took a fucking needle looking metal scooper and just dug all the wax out. Two balls the around diameter of a dime resulted from each ear!!!
I was immediately sensitive to high frequencies and had super sensitive hearing for the next week or so after that. My canals apparently had been blocked up for quite a while.
I just bought this, haven't used it yet though, just to check things out:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0053NHR8M/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0053NHR8M/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
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H2O2 is your friend. I've used the stuff that you get in the pharmacy section which should be 3%. If you're unsure about that, you can dilute it with water. Luckily, I don't get much earwax in the first place so I do it rarely.
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Cotton buds are a no no!
But H2O2 - how do you apply that??
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Cotton buds are a no no!
But H2O2 - how do you apply that??
just let it soak in your ear for 5-10 min. Then rinse with regular water.
Now everyone should know we don't have the same type of earwax. Asian usually have the harder type, which can build up and make hard deposits. For this, I guess seeing a doctor is a good thing.
Us europeans have it easier. Our earwax is much more fluid and gently using a Qtip everyday after the shower works quite well.
Also remember earwax is a natural protection of the earcanal, so no need to overdo it.
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(http://fscomps.fotosearch.com/compc/UNA/UNA595/u16747188.jpg)
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Cerumen is a waxy substance that is supposed to be in the ear canal, where it serves lubricating and cleansing functions and also helps to protect the ear from bacteria, fungi, and insects. The cerumen is produced by glands in the cartilagenous portion of the ear canal and migrates out over time.Under ideal circumstances, the ear canals should never have to be cleaned.
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just let it soak in your ear for 5-10 min. Then rinse with regular water.
Now everyone should know we don't have the same time of earwax. Asian usually have the harder type, which can build up and make hard deposits. For this, I guess seeing a doctor is a good thing.
Us europeans have it easier. Our earwax is much more fluid and gently using a Qtip everyday after the shower works quite well.
Also remember earwax is a natural protection of the earcanal, so no need to overdo it.
My tri-annual removal thing has only happened since I moved from Europe to Asia.
I have a wild theory that climate may be the trigger. Could it be that wax production is controlled by the same "department" as sweat? Extra ear wax coming free with extra sweating?
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It could be. I live in an area that gets hot in the summer. All I know is about every two years my doctor looks in my ears and says "wow, you have a ton of wax in there!". He says I just crank out the stuff faster than most. Dad had the same issue. Then he rinses and seems like a kilo of wax comes out. :-DD Really improves my HF hearing. Amazing difference.
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Cerumen is a waxy substance that is supposed to be in the ear canal, where it serves lubricating and cleansing functions and also helps to protect the ear from bacteria, fungi, and insects. The cerumen is produced by glands in the cartilagenous portion of the ear canal and migrates out over time.Under ideal circumstances, the ear canals should never have to be cleaned.
This makes sense but then I think that the "ideal circumstances" mean if you're able to wait for the stuff to come out even if it means you won't be able to hear some things. Or you do not listen to music critically Or for whatever reason you're against it.
I wish there were no ear wax at all.
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I heard from my friend that Asians have dry earwax while others have wet earwax.
Can anyone confirm (I know it's a hard thing to ask for :p)?
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Maybe continued headphone use encourages earwax production. Some headphones get your ears pretty hot.
:& :
I wonder how much this effects the frequency response of my ears??
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I heard from my friend that Asians have dry earwax while others have wet earwax.
Can anyone confirm (I know it's a hard thing to ask for :p)?
Did you read my post earlier ? I mean literally in the same page ...
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My tri-annual removal thing has only happened since I moved from Europe to Asia.
I have a wild theory that climate may be the trigger. Could it be that wax production is controlled by the same "department" as sweat? Extra ear wax coming free with extra sweating?
Most likely there's also a environmental factor, and anyway europeans can still have hard deposit I suppose. Sweat being a natural mechanism against heat, it must have some things in common.
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I have a business idea:
"The audiophile gold-plated/rhodium plated ear cleaning set" - endorsed by some mixing guru.
Just fill some H2O2 into a cool looking small bottle - bob's your uncle. :)p13
I 'm sure you can sell loads of those. :spank:
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some mixing guru.
What, like a television chef?
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Yes - like Chef or Mixologist :)p13