[robojack]

I'm having the issue where my ear canals seem to be getting larger and larger. I know this because my black Shure foamies (retrofitted onto my SuperFi 5 Pro's) no longer fit as snugly into my ears. If anything, it's quite loose now, and leaking in lots more sound than it used to! Same thing with silicon ear tips, which is why I moved to foam tips to begin with.

I'm not sure if this is a possible cause, but I tend to flex my ear muscles every couple minutes, and everytime, I can feel some gentle pressure on my IEMs. Is doing this too much what's causing my ear canals to expand?

At this point, what can I do to shrink my ear canals back to a smaller size? Help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Tipped_Pro95]

who are you, gumby? i've never heard of such a thing !

 

[robojack]

Heh, just disregard that remark then. I probably didn't describe it properly.

 

[b0dhi]

have u tried a new set of foamies?

 

[robojack]

I haven't, but these foamies are only a month old. However, I've been reading around that the Shure black olives that I'm using DON'T need to be squished before inserting into the ears. I've been doing this for the past month, every day. Could this have reduced the foamies' ability to return to its original size?

 

[greydragon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robojack /img/forum/go_quote.gif I haven't, but these foamies are only a month old. However, I've been reading around that the Shure black olives that I'm using DON'T need to be squished before inserting into the ears.

I'm not sure you're inserting the tips properly into your ears. All foams need to be compressed before inserting in order to get a deeper insert, to therefore seal/isolate better. Just shoving them in as you have described, can only go so far and most likely would wear out only the tip of the foams because they're the ones getting squished/abused on when going in.

I recommend you roll the foam in between your fingers and then quickly insert them.

Swee t demo, goto Proper Insertion


Quote:

Originally Posted by robojack /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've been doing this for the past month, every day. Could this have reduced the foamies' ability to return to its original size?

Black Shure foams do last longer than the yellow porous ones, but won't last forever. Earwax, oil, dirt, etc. will cause the black foams to use its shape and form. It helps to wash them in warm water every few days and let them dry overnight--should help them last a little longer.

 

[AudioNoob]

I believe there is a confusion about olives there are the foams, are you sure they don't need squeezing

 

[majid]

Your ear canals are lined with bone, there's no way mere foam would enlarge them.

 

[direcow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AudioNoob /img/forum/go_quote.gif I believe there is a confusion about olives there, the olives are the round silicone tips, not the black foams

hmz the way I understand, it's the other way around...

 

[Foshizzle]

I'm experiencing the same thing with my EP630's, I've been using the medium tips for probably about 2 years and I no longer get the same isolation I used to.
The large tips however are still too big, I have also tried other medium tips so basically it has to be that my earcanals have expanded.

 

[KoKoKrunch]

I guess our ear canals will tend to change slightly from growth, external elements and whatever... Just change to something that fits you. Maybe you can try the long comply tips or like tri flange or something

 

[Joshatdot]

now I am confused...I thought foamies were the orange foam tips, and the olives were the black thin-ish rubber tips.

 

[ClieOS]

Black olive is the solid black foam tip from Shure, not the black/grayish hollow-mid silicon tip.

My guess is that the OP is pushing too much force on ear canal wall (due to the wrong insertion method) which cause to canal to expend slightly to compensate. It is like how glasses left impression next to your ear.

 

[DMR]

Sounds to me like we have some healthy head-fiers here... if you lose weight (especially in the face) your ears lose weight too. A skinny ear would have a more open canal than a ... well... an ear like mine

My advice, if you want a tighter fit eat more donughts!!!

 

[billybob_jcv]

My 87 year-old father has profound hearing loss and has worn behind the ear hearing aids with custom ear molds for many, many years. Over the decades, his ear canals have become very smooth and elongated to the point that even brand new customs tended to be loose and would cause his hearing aids to squeal. His audiologist finally suggested he use a small amount of denture adhesive around the mold to provide a bit more adhesion and a tighter seal. But, I'm talking about having the very deepest molds worn every waking minute for 30+ years (since the very beginning of transistor-based, BTE aids). I doubt even the most dedicated head-fiers have anywhere near that level of usage over their entire lifetime.