Touching ear canal walls unhealthy?

[vYu223]

I've heard that touching the ear canal walls is unhealthy, as it damages cochlea or cilia... or something--hairs...? That's why Q-tips should not be placed inside the ears. IEM's go really far into your ears, especially the Ety's, or tri-flanges. Are IEM's unhealthy because of this? Is it true?

 

[Teerawit]

The cochlea, cilia, and ear hairs (not the skin hairs) are all deep down in your ear, beyond the eardrum. I don't see how using q-tips and IEMs could damage something beyond the eardrum.

 

[Woosh]

uhh i use q tips all the time to clean my ear i dont see what the problem is..

 

[vYu223]

Ironically, I've heard this from a friend, whose mom is a doctor. Are there any more opinions?

 

[catscratch]

I have it from my audiologist that regular cleaning with Q-tips is a must, so if Q-tips are safe for your ear canal, why wouldn't IEMs be? However, I'm not an expert personally.

 

[labrat]

Deleted.

 

[7Lesoteric]

My doctor has also said "Dont put anything into your ears smaller than your elbow". He recomended earwax drops that liquify the earwax or something and clean things up

 

[jramonf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by catscratch I have it from my audiologist that regular cleaning with Q-tips is a must, so if Q-tips are safe for your ear canal, why wouldn't IEMs be? However, I'm not an expert personally.

Well, I'd think an audiologist must know better than a general doc. Doctors normally say as stated above, that they can push the wax deeper in the ear, and can be dangerous if used lightly, since you can push them too far inside and touch the eardrum.

I think if you only clean the outer ear canal and are cautious, then it is fine.

Same applies to IEMs, as they don't go too deep in the ear. And people have not reported problems using them - that's of course when you wear clean IEMs and don't push them in too deep, nor pull them out too harshly.

 

[doctorjuggles]

Quote:

Originally Posted by labrat The IEM's, good-quality ones, and good signal from player, might encourage too high listening-volume! That is the biggest danger with them!

I (and most other IEM users) disagree with this. They actually encourage lower volume levels than earbuds and open cans, because they block out ambient noise levels and allow music to be clearer at lower volumes.

Of course they have the potential to damage your ears, some of them are very sensitive and powerful. But that's only if you're reckless, and the same danger applies to any headphones/earphones.

 

[Teerawit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vYu223 Ironically, I've heard this from a friend, whose mom is a doctor. Are there any more opinions?

Did your friend say that his mom told him that q-tips damage the cochlea and cilia?

The real danger is pushing your earwax too far down so it accumulates and could hit the eardrum.

 

[jramonf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doctorjuggles I (and most other IEM users) disagree with this. They actually encourage lower volume levels than earbuds and open cans, because they block out ambient noise levels and allow music to be clearer at lower volumes. Of course they have the potential to damage your ears, some of them are very sensitive and powerful. But that's only if you're reckless, and the same danger applies to any headphones/earphones.

ditto.

 

[plainsong]

Use of Q-tips combined with the er4's managed to impact more wax than was actually cleaned out. The result is that it got to the point that I couldn't hear out of my left ear, like it was stuffed with something I couldn't feel. The doctor flushed my ear out, but it was so impacted and so irritated that he had me wait a day, use some wax removal stuff, then come back in the next day. It took the stuff a full 24 hours to work, and what came out of there was shocking.

Both my audiologist and doctor recommend strongly against q-tips. The Sensas don't go anywhere near as deep as etys did in my ears, but the seal is just as much.

 

[Paleo]

I too would like to add that i've heard it numerous times including 3 doctors, and 1 ENT that Q-Tips should NOT be used unless it's just on the very surface of the ear. ALL of them said the same thing -- that the ears are SELF CLEANING. Personally, I just use some soap and water in the shower.

As for IEM's, I haven't done enough research yet (it will come) but from my personal opinion and from a common sense point of view, I would think that they are not conducive to good ear health. I realize that all external sound is muted, and thus volume levels can be lowered, BUT they are still inserted into the CANAL (like ear plugs -- probably also not the greatest thing). BUT the biggest factor is the direct sound going into the canal RIGHT inside the canal. Just my opinion ofcourse. Ear buds are *probably* NOT much better. I think the safest are cans and reasonable volumes, and not for extended periods of time.

Safe listening to all.

 

[doctorjuggles]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paleo As for IEM's, I haven't done enough research yet (it will come) but from my personal opinion and from a common sense point of view, I would think that they are not conducive to good ear health. I realize that all external sound is muted, and thus volume levels can be lowered, BUT they are still inserted into the CANAL (like ear plugs -- probably also not the greatest thing). BUT the biggest factor is the direct sound going into the canal RIGHT inside the canal. Just my opinion ofcourse. Ear buds are *probably* NOT much better. I think the safest are cans and reasonable volumes, and not for extended periods of time. Safe listening to all.

If the ambient noise is, let's say, 85db, then just to hear your music, you will HAVE to listen to your earbuds/earphones at a minimum of 86db just to hear it. Probably louder to hear it properly.
So if you reduce the ambient noise by 25db (as many IEMs do) then you can listen at, let's say, 70db.

85db getting into your ears is 85 db getting into your ears, it doesn't matter how direct it is, it's still damaging.

There's possibly an argument on a health and hygiene basis here, but it doesn't matter how close the source is to your eardrum, it matters what the decibel level is once it hits it.

You said it best when you said 'reasonable volumes.' It doesn't matter what is making that volume, it's the volume itself that is the critical factor. The argument for IEMs is that it just makes hearing the music more likely at a lower volume than a non-isolating earphone/earbud would.
Reasonable volumes should be adhered to irrespective of what cans you use.

 

[Ikarios]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paleo ALL of them said the same thing -- that the ears are SELF CLEANING.

My ears are DEFINITELY not self-cleaning. I don't clean them out after a shower, but that's because of all the warnings not to put Q-tips in your ear "because it'll compact the wax." Well, after about a month, my mom (

) cleans my ears out, because she used to be a doctor and knows enough about the ear not to kill me. She uses a flashlight, a steady hand, and a hairpin, and the stuff that comes out of my ear is absolutely atrocious.

I gotta find a way to stop this...