Not sure where to post this: IEM users, how often do you clean your ears?

[gohanssjn]

Not the headphones, mind you, your ear canals.

I usually use a q-tip every day, but I have tried to stop this practice. Now it's some shower water (at body temp.), and a q-tip only on the outer canal. Problem is that I can get swimmers ear very quickly, and I hate the alcohol/vinegar solution in my ear when I do.

But lord oh lord do I hate earwax...as much as I know it's serves a purpose. After a day not cleaning though my ear just itches so badly...

I am not looking for medical advice, that's just silly on a forum, just curious as to what the trend is.

 

[Warhawk]

I use a q-tip after every shower I take, whether in the morning or at night.

However, I ran out of qtips, so I need more...

 

[Nosgis]

After nearly 10 years using IEM's, I've never had problems with wax. I usually clean my ears every day, usually with a q-tip on the midle and outer rim.

 

[gohanssjn]

Well wouldn't you know it, I may have cause a problem this morning. When I take a step, I can feel pressure change in my right ear. Awesome >.>

EDIT: Pweh, just a drop that was left behind.

 

[Audirephilos]

I use q-tips everyday. Whenever I use IEms i feel the itchiness.
Some people recommend not using qtips 'cause they say it pushes the wax in. Warm water and a small piece of cloth should be good.

 

[jh4db536]

almost everyday or if i feel itchiness (when using iem) with a brass pick. i think i can get the pick down farther than any qtip, i can get a lot out; i doubt it pushes anything farther.

I read that it's dangerous, but ive done it for most of my life and it's like regular hygienic maintenance now like brushing teeth. if i were to lose my hearing, i think it wouldve happened long ago.

 

[steviebee]

A brass pick?

Wooo, sounds fun but very iffy!

I'm boring -Qtip outer, shower, that's it. Occasional finger-wiggle to get rid of flange-itch.

 

[soozieq]

After getting 2 painful ear infections in the space of six weeks, (cleared up by antibiotic drops) my GP came to the conclusion that I'd cleaned my ears too vigorously and had got rid of the natural layer of wax protection. They were very very dry. I don't think I can be trusted with q-tips any more

My ears always 'sweated' after about 3 hours of earphone use, and he felt the humid conditions provided a natural environment for bacteria to breed - yeeeuch! After being deprived of any listening while waiting for the infection to clear up, I'm much less thorough these days. I just use a clean damp cloth daily, and 'wiggle' it about. It can't penetrate as deep as a Q-tip but it keeps my ears clean enough. I also bought antiseptic wipes to clean my earphones after every use.

Thankfully my ears have been fine for a while, although having just said that (and inevitably jinxed it), my ear canals will probably swell to mango size overnight

 

[jh4db536]

actually it's addicting. liken it to a back scratcher, but you cant scratch inside your ears very easily without one of these. those bamboo picks dont cut it for me, they aren't sharp or effective enough. yeah that probably sounds scary. it might be weird to do it yourself since you cant see inside your own ear. once you get used to it you could navigate by feel.

i heard in china it could be a service. never tried it, but i dont trust someone else doing it for me anymore although that's how it was introduced to me at a very early age.

 

[Golden Monkey]

I clean my ears every day after showering. I hate the dry feeling of Qtips, so I moisten them with warm water or witch hazel and clean well. If I'm planning on using the Etys, I'll clean right before i put them in anyway, just to be sure. Also, I use Murine Earigate (sp?) a couple of times a week to flush the canals.

 

[deviationer]

every morning after I shower.

 

[fredman22]

Yeah, I'm one of the lucky ones with seemingly small amount of ear wax to contend with. I wipe down my outer ear canals with a soft rag after every morning shower. I do use Q-tips about every 2-4 days on a regular basis and keep a bottle of ear drops handy in the medicine cabinet. I vary from a 'heavy' of 2 or 3 - 2-4hr sessions of listening to a 'light' of less than an hour - daily, and that seems to affect wax output. I usually use my UM2s with Shure grey softips, and every couple of sessions will stop and clean both my ears and the IEM tips for better comfort/isolation ( -still rotating the same 5 pair of softips for 2 years!). I'm lazy, so if it were any harder than that, I probably wouldn't bother ...

 

[steviebee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jh4db536 /img/forum/go_quote.gif actually it's addicting. liken it to a back scratcher, but you cant scratch inside your ears very easily without one of these. those bamboo picks dont cut it for me, they aren't sharp or effective enough. yeah that probably sounds scary. it might be weird to do it yourself since you cant see inside your own ear. once you get used to it you could navigate by feel. i heard in china it could be a service. never tried it, but i dont trust someone else doing it for me anymore although that's how it was introduced to me at a very early age.

I gotta be careful, I already have backscratcher-fi

....and that does sound nice. I love a bit of self-tickling, the roof of the mouth espec....but, cough, er, back on topic.....

 

[Zodduska]

Every morning after getting out of the shower I use two QTips but I rarely use my IEMs anymore.

 

[Naim.F.C]

Every morning, and sometimes more times throughout the day. I try not to wear my IEM's without first cleaning my ears with a cotton bud.