[Naris]

Still... it is a rather big pain to go through the motions of cleaning them with hydrogen peroxide (or whatever it is you all use) every single night. I can understand how someone might forget a few times or so. Methinks it's a decent tradeoff for the loss in bs we would have to deal with without wearing IEMs

.

 

[Squeek]

I find the idea of IEM's repulsive. Stories like this only further that disgust.

Ears are just not meant to be plugged like that!

 

[wakeride74]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cire you can only get an infection if the tips are dirty or you share them, correct? if so, then it would be your fault for having such little [headphone] hygene and disregard.

Don't be an @ss, I wasn't blaming anyone and as I said it was from the wax getting pushed in too far, I cleaned them every couple of days.

Take a look at my plugs for the shooting range you can see that the left canal is very different from the right.

 

[exkgb]

I kinda feel sorry for the guy on head fi who bought you E4c possbly with all the infectious virus attached to the IEM..

Good luck to you, hope you recover soon and the super.fis does it for ya.

 

[skudmunky]

Sorry to hear it man, that really sucks. Hope you find the Super Fis more useable.

 

[Cannonfodder]

Did you happen to go ballistic with the ear-wax removal process. i.e., syringing, Murine, etc. after you got your IEMs?

My audiologist advised me not to go bananas cleaning my ears like every other day to keep it wax-free. She said that the wax is supposed to be there, and removing most or all of it opens your ears up to possible infections. So while too much is a bad thing, not enough can be just as bad.

I still do, but only once a week now. Maybe I should leave the wax alone and just change the filters/tips more often

 

[eboychik]

I know of audio engineers who mix live shows who have gotten blisters in their ears from the constant in-out motion of silicone tips. I had this problem with my ER-4Ps and also with my custom Racing Electronics scanner earmolds for the NASCAR track, since they were also a firm silicone.

I found that I eliminated this problem when I upgraded to the UE 10Pros, because the custom impression is in hard plastic, which slides in and out much more easily, and also doesn't attract wax like the silicone does. Big difference in price, but I find them pretty near "invisible."

 

[jeffnnj]

If you clean your ears on a daily basis you really don't have to worry about crudifying your earphones!!

 

[japa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chungsoi I'm sorry to hear that. I had a similar experience with my e4's recently, and also sold mine last week. Basically the problem I was having was shoving the e4's down the ear canals so deep pushed ear wax down to the point where it was blocking my hearing.

Don't you ever clean up your ears? At least in Finland cotton wool sticks are sold for cleaning up ears, helping to fine tune make-up etc. I use them twice a week to clean up my ears and there is very little wax if any. I can't imagine how long I'd need to be without cleaning my ears to reach the point where it would block my hearing..

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squeek I find the idea of IEM's repulsive. Stories like this only further that disgust. Ears are just not meant to be plugged like that!

Heh... I wear earplugs to bed every night. What's wrong with it?

 

[cire]

Quote:

Originally Posted by japa Don't you ever clean up your ears? At least in Finland cotton wool sticks are sold for cleaning up ears, helping to fine tune make-up etc. I use them twice a week to clean up my ears and there is very little wax if any. I can't imagine how long I'd need to be without cleaning my ears to reach the point where it would block my hearing..

(my best guess) his IEMs shoved earwax down his ear canal to the point where it blocked the fluid drainage canal. the fluid pools up and breeds bacteria and viruses, thus infection. must've been a shatload of wax though... this kind of infection is only common to children due to their drainage canals being smaller (thus easier to clog) and their relatively weak immune systems.

 

[gloco]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fewtch Heh... I wear earplugs to bed every night. What's wrong with it?

Nothing. I wear em too. When i shower, i make sure my ears get a good cleaning, i use swabs afterwards, but they barely get anything so showering works

 

[Squeek]

Ears are supposed to breathe IMO. I can't imagine plugging any of my orifices for any extended period of time. It just gives me the heebie jeebies.

 

[Jasper994]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jahn ARGGGHH! I hate stories like these! IEMs are evil!

One could say the same thing about many over the head headphones... I find that a large number of them cause a lot of pain on the top of my head. Over time I also wonder if they would contribute to baldness...

For me, IEMs are a much better solution and I enjoy them for hours on end.

 

[Dr.Sade]

Maybe if you dipped a Q-tip in a bit of alcohol and gently swabed
the ear canal (not too deep) before putting them (IEM/PLUG) in each time it
might prevent an infection. Ask an ear doctor for their opinion.
Sorry to hear about this.