[m4rkw]

I have worn earbuds my entire adult life, nothing about my usage patterns have changed. I never had a single ear infection until last year when I turned 40. In the space of last year I had a total of 4 ear infections, one of them fungal and the most recent one over xmas spreading to the middle ear and resulting in a perforated eardrum.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I have no idea why this is suddenly happening, nothing about my situation has changed. I wore the first version of the Airpods Pro for 4 years without any issues, last year wearing the latest version which are identical in terms of materials, and now all these infections.

I asked the doctor I saw most recently and she said I've likely just been unlucky, but 4 incidents in the space of a year makes me think something must have changed. Could this just be something to do with getting older?

In any case for the timebeing I'm going to have to switch to over-ears

 

[LFC_SL]

Audiologists are not medical doctors but may be worth getting an opinion from a well reviewed audiologist?

Or get the GP to refer you to an ENT on the NHS, however, given the strikes and ever expanding waiting lists, you may not see an NHS ENT consultant for a while so unfortunately that means patience or paying for a private consultation. Good luck!

 

[m4rkw]

I have private health insurance so that's not an issue, I'm going back to my doctor on friday after the antibiotics course finishes for another checkup, depending on what they find I may get referred to an ENT then so will see. I doubt anyone will be able to say why I got infected all those times though, impossible to really know. Could be that after having one infection you're then more prone to them? idk

 

[LFC_SL]

It may not be a bad idea to buy hearing aid cleaning wipes anyway, if not already doing so, even if wearing IEM turns out not to be the source of your infections

 

[m4rkw]

I started cleaning them regularly with alcohol wipes after the first infection but it doesn’t seem to have helped.

 

[MacAttack7]

Both Covid and the mRNA jabs make you more susceptible to fungal infections:
https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/covid-fungal.html

I also got a fungal infection in my ear...scared the crap out of me since I lost most of my hearing. Got it taken care of at the ENT, but now I have tinnitus..not terrible, but annoying. Hopefully it goes away. I also really worry what kind of damage occurs when the ENT uses the suction on your ear because it seems as loud as a gunshot to me.

I think I caused the fungal infection from trying too hard to keep my ears clean. I would always let shower water run into my ear thinking that was a good thing, but guess what causes a fungal infection....water trapped in the ear. I also used those Debrox ear drops to clean out wax, but again guess what causes fungal infections....ear drops that get trapped in the ear canal. Fungus grows where it's wet/moist.

Now I've learned you should leave your ears alone as they are self-cleaning. Just clean the outside of them, and leave the inside alone.

 

[m4rkw]

Yeah similar to what happened to me, I had a bacterial ear infection and then after it was treated I used Otex drops to soften the wax and then rinsed my ear canals out with water. The water going in there then caused a fungal infection. Really not a good idea to put anything in your ears, ever, unless prescribed by a doctor.

Tangentially I'm enjoying the WH-1000XM5, not really a fan of over-ears generally but the noise cancelling is superb and I have no choice at the moment anyway. Maybe I'll get used to them. I think for me I use headphones for so many hours a day that my ears never get a chance to clean themselves properly and just keep getting gummed up with wax, might explain the infections.

 

[MacAttack7]

Yeah similar to what happened to me, I had a bacterial ear infection and then after it was treated I used Otex drops to soften the wax and then rinsed my ear canals out with water. The water going in there then caused a fungal infection. Really not a good idea to put anything in your ears, ever, unless prescribed by a doctor.

Tangentially I'm enjoying the WH-1000XM5, not really a fan of over-ears generally but the noise cancelling is superb and I have no choice at the moment anyway. Maybe I'll get used to them. I think for me I use headphones for so many hours a day that my ears never get a chance to clean themselves properly and just keep getting gummed up with wax, might explain the infections.

That's another thing I'm careful with now. I'll listen to one album, and then remove my IEMs for about 15 minutes or so to let the moisture escape from my ear canal. It's been a couple years now & I haven't had any more issues....except for the minor tinnitus.

 

[m4rkw]

Fair. Ear wax takes longer to come out though I think, I guess if you have your ears cleaned professionally every once in a while it's probably not too bad.

 

[MacAttack7]

Fair. Ear wax takes longer to come out though I think, I guess if you have your ears cleaned professionally every once in a while it's probably not too bad.

Ear wax is protective as long as it doesn't get impacted in your ear. You want moisture out of the ear, not ear wax.
As long as you take breaks, and don't wear them when you sleep, I think the risk goes way down. The ears have all night while you're sleeping to do their maintenance.