[jjmai]

Does your earphone hurt your ear?
I am not talking about hurting the eardrum due to prolonged exposure to high volume or anything. I am asking whether any of you felt pain from the physical shape of the earphones.
When I wear Monster Turbine or Skullcandy FMJ, the rear side of the phone touches my left ear, and it can hurt after an hour or so. In anatomical terms, it's around concha and antitragus parts of the ear.
My left ear is shaped differently from my right ear. My left ear's canal forces the earphone to be at an angle, therefore longer and fatter earphones' back tend to apply pressure against my ear. Sometimes wearing the cable over the ear helps.
Anyone else experience that? Any recommendations? Thanks

 

[big_sound]

Canalphones have this problem all the time. This can be fixed with some comply slim tips. I had that problem with my se530's. I've never had turbines or sullcandies, but I bet they hurt just as much when stuck all the way down the ear canal for a few hours. I can listen to music for 6 hours a day or more with my comply foams in.

 

[ClieOS]

I don't usually feel sore after using IEM since I always control each session to with in an hour before I will take a break. I feel sore faster when using earbuds, but that depends on the design.

 

[jjmai]

Actually, it's not my ear canal that's hurting. It's the back/side of the earphone bumping into my ear (above the earlobe).

 

[ackers07]

My ear aches the morning after listening to my RE2's [with bi-flange tips] in bed, provided I lay on a certain side of my pillow but daily use I can listen for hours non-stop and it still feels fairly comfortable.

 

[IpodHappy]

The Comply tips have been the most comfortable on international flights. Shure foam tips cause me a bit of pain after having them in for 10-12 hours, but they're fine for less time. On planes, I only use foam tips for the sound isolation they give. I can enjoy music sitting next to engines on an MD80 with either the Shure foam or Comply tips (though the front of the plane is still much nicer).

 

[rymd]

Sorry for bringing this topic back, but I have this problem too, and I know what you're talking about. My right ear's antitragus protrudes more than normal, unlike my left ear's anatomy, and my right ear can't stand having canalphones in for more than an hour.. Comply tips will not help as its the earphone housing that causes this problem. Even the tiny housing of my cyclone pr1 pros will cause my right ear extreme pain after about an hour of wearing..
is there any type of IEM housing that won't disturb an ear's antitragus?! I've only had straight down cord type IEMs so I don't know how over the ear cord IEMs fit in an ear. Could type those possibly avoid hitting this part of my ear?
Or are there any very thin barreled straight down IEMs anyone can tell me about that sound good?

 

[ljokerl]

The PR1 Pros aren't that small so I can see where you're coming from. An ergonomic IEM like the Meelec M6 will work better, as will IEMs that don't touch your ear at all. I would think the Jays Q-Jays would be prime suspects if you're going to look towards mid-range IEMs.

 

[jjeremycai]

I have the same problem and I use the Klipsch Custom 3 which is known to be quite comfortable when worn. 

 

[jjmai]

 
Quote:

is there any type of IEM housing that won't disturb an ear's antitragus?! I've only had straight down cord type IEMs so I don't know how over the ear cord IEMs fit in an ear. Could type those possibly avoid hitting this part of my ear?

I usually don't feel pain when wearing EP-630 or MDR-EX71 straight down, but they don't sound good enough for me.  Most other phones I wear the cables over ear, so they pull the rear of the phones forward without hitting my ears.  Eterna, since it's an over-the-ear phone, never gives me any problem.  Eterna's size is actually smaller than I expected when I got them - it's smaller than Shure e2c.

 

[Young Spade]

My Triples used to leave my ears sore after prolonged uses. The UM3Xs don't give me any problems though

 

[Raguvian]

The tri-flanged tips on my ER-6i hurt my right ear a lot for some reason. I'm using the foams right now and they are much nicer. When my foams have to be thrown out I'll probably try the tri-flanged tips again. I'll probably end up buying Olives or something.

 

[Dragunov-21]

My E2Cs make me feel like someone's been... loving, my ear canals... forcefully... (Sometimes makes the skin inside dry/slough off a little, which is a bit nasty)  but it's worth it =/
 
I've got pretty small ear canals (can only use the small black mushroom tips), and I've heard the E2Cs are not the best for small ears.., so hopefuly i'll be a little bit better with the Etys I've got on the way...
 
No problems outside the canals though.

 

[EddieE]

IEMS start to irritate my canals if I listen for more than a couple of hours.
 
Grado bowls irritate my ears if I listen for more than an album.
 
Sometimes I listen to Grados without any pads on at all and can last a song or two.

 
In general though, most my headphones don't hurt.

 

[pearlgirl]

I've been using the triple flanges on my hf2's.  on the etymotic website, it suggests getting the tips a little wet before insertion.  i am usually out and about, and am not going to dip them in water.  do people use saliva?  and is that gross?