Since we all talk alot about music and things that we do to improve the quality of our Music I thought it would be good to have a discussion about what we do to maintain the one irreplacable instrument that we all use to observe the music, being our Ears.

So what do you guys do to maintain your Ears and improve your hearing? Without getting too nasty, how do you clean your ears? Are there any physical activies you do to improve your hearing too? For those who have experienced hearing issues in the past what caused it? If you were able to improve your hearing how were you able to do that?

I'll start by saying, I listen to a lot of music throughout the day and when I am going to sleep I like to put on some frequency tones, I always find that my ears just open up and I am able to listen easily and it calms my mind too. I use to use cotton buds to clean my ears but apparently that is the worse ways to clean your ears, so I use water now instead. When I was younger I discovered that blocking my nose and trying breathe out of my ears always helped open it up after I used earphones for a long period of time.

What do you guys do?

 

Hello Liondre, go every few to the ear doctor and have the earwax sucked out, the ear doctor
has such a sucker and then sucks the earwax out electrically. Takes only a few seconds.

New Year's Eve, as the 31.12 of each year, you should stay at home, because some maniacs throw
loud firecrackers into the crowd and you can get a bang trauma. I suffered such a bang dream
as a teenager, since then I have tinnitus in one ear, so sea noise or white noise all day.

Be careful when diving in public baths, if you get the water in your ears it can cause inflammation.
Do a hearing test at the ear, nose and throat specialist from time to time

 

@BEAT16
Dude I had the same thing happen to me. Fuckers threw a cracker into a bus through an open door and ran away. Hurt like mad.

 

MD here.

Few notes:
- In theory your ears are able to clean themselves, as skin renewal is centrifugal (out your ears).
- DO NOT use cotton buds/swabs, but if you must, do not go deep as you are pushing the wax inwards. Be gentle and on the outside.
- If you have tendency to create wax-buldging have them aspirated monthly by a ENT doctor.
- Do not apply chemical substances to your eardrums or use homecleaning devices, unless prescribed.
- !USE HEARING PROTECTION IN CONCERTS/PERFORMANCES! sometimes even in the cinema. You're accelerating osteosclerosis (normal aging processes) and damaging the inner ciliae that exist on your ear and ripped by loud volumes (ripping=bye-bye frequency).
- !MIX/PRODUCE/TRACK/MASTER/LISTEN ON LOW VOLUMES! I don't think there is any need to explain.
- Eat your greens and avoid tobacco and alcohol.
- Don't forget to put sunscreen on our years, most malignant lesions can be prevented by sunscreen and surgeries impact the natural acoustic characteristics of your conchae.

Love,
D.

 

while I was typing @GodHimSelf said it all

 

Been there, done that I'm curious to see what more experienced people say.

 

Also keep in mind that most smart phones are cleaned and disinfected far too infrequently. So all kinds of bacteria and viruses live on the surface. It often happens that your ear itches because some of these viruses and bacteria have made their way into your ear.

Against this, of course, there are ointments that the ear doctor then applies to you. But it can take a long time until you have defeated these viruses7bacteria. Oh yes keyboards on which you write are cleaned far too rarely. Wash your hands more often....

 

Here's what I, a tinnitus sufferer, have to share about ears. I'm 56 years old with above-average hearing, though with the inclusion of a mad-lad Aussie Cattle Dog into our family unit (a pandemic puppy purchase), I'm probably a little worse than before my last test. Those little buggas can bark a mean note into your listening-holes!

1. Listen to mixes at low levels MOST of the time - you'll get better results and save your hearing.
2. Use an app (or Radio Shack device) Decibel Meter Reader to ensure you're listening to mixes/mastering sessions at under 85db - no exceptions save for that one or two minute burst of 'loud listening' to see if your bass is bottomy, your kick hits you in the chest the right way and your guitars djent just right.
3. Stop ... just STOP IT with regard to earbuds. They will destroy your hearing over time. Not a good idea to use sound-cancelling type headphones either, as they can push an inaudible 'dead signal' into your ears and cause damage without your even knowing it. Also - never use those bone-conductive type headphones. Heard about a guy (Reddit) who went jogging in a busy downtown area and kept having a hard time hearing the music over the street noise, so he kept cranking the volume up. He now suffers from irreversible tinnitus.
4. STOP ... just STOP IT with respect to IEM's (in ear monitors). You will never sing in tune unless the units are super-top-of-the-line and they are too close to your ears which will, once again, foster damage over time. Stick with regular monitors ... no matter what your pastor wants (which, in part we think, cost us our worship leading volunteer offering. Our not wanting to 'conform' to his vision of a 'slick looking platform dynamic' may have been a turning point for him ... whatever dude ... our ears are more important than your 'Sunday morning stage show' look.
5. Wear earplugs for nearly everything that involves a motor/engine (lawnmowers, vacuums, snowblowers, saws, etc.). Wear them in crowds, loud restaurants. MOVIE theaters are ridiculously loud nowadays. Wear them everywhere you can ... I do!
6. Clean your ears using cooking oil (HQ olive oil or canola is fine) or hydrogen peroxide or a mix of both - oil first, then the h.p. Then rinse with a bulb using warm water and not too much pressure. If your gunge-plug isn't broken up the first time you encounter blockages like that, it'll take an overnight soak with oil (block it in overnight using an earplug) and/or maybe another few days before the guck in your ear is mailable and able to be broken up with the warm water rinse.
7. TREAT INFECTIONS IMMEDIATELY! Had a friend at the church who left it a little too long (pretty dumb for a Canadian, as we have free health care here!) and he lost 90% of his hearing in one ear and a good portion in the other. Signs of infection are not always pain - sometimes it's a persistent ringing. A 10-day run of Prednisone (steroid) that begins with '10' tablets on day 1, then '9' on day 2, etc. (until the scrip is overwith) is best. Amoxicillin for the infection - take until infection is gone ... you don't' necessarily have to finish ALL the anti-biotics, new studies have shown, despite what your doctor tells you.
8. GET YOUR HEARING PROFESSIONALLY TESTED. Until you can get that done, though, use a hearing test phone app to get a results readout of your hearing. You'll see your 'weak spots' for certain frequencies. When you have that chart, you can then create an EQ template/preset that boosts sound in the frequency ranges you are struggling with. Run that EQ over your main bus and mix as usual. By doing so, your 'perfect hearing' clients (assuming you're no longer hearing as well as a 15-year-old) will enjoy the mix because it's been worked out in advance with respect to frequency balances, thanks to your test and compensatory adjustments.

Best to all, eh? ;-)

 

Last edited by a moderator: May 8, 2022

The most important thing about ears I read at webmd website is: don't use cotton swabs and pretty much don''t stick anything in your ears. Olive oil, or some other oily ear drops could work out just fine, but not hydroxide peroxide! It kills everything in your ears and in the end it kills your ears. Just go to an ear doctor to clean your ears instead. He/she will also tell you how often you should do it, if at all, because your ears should clean by themselves and the wax is not there for fun - it serves as a protection against various bacteria that causes infections, so having a bit of wax in your ears as a protective layer is very beneficial, especially if you use public showers and pools.

Get good quality ear plugs and use them at loud places. Never listen to music very loud for more than an hour or so. Listen extensively only at moderate or low levels.

Oh and did I say to visit an ear doctor about at least annually?

Cheers!

p.s. I used to use hydroxide peroxide about every 3-4 months and got an ear infection after years of usage and kinda become an ear expert as a result. Also, I have tinnitus in my right ear as a consequence. Marijuana helps to alleviate it a bit.. I just wish it was finally legal. Can't wait.

 

Last edited: May 8, 2022

Can I just say I like your avatar?

 

Dude, NNNNNOOOOOO PEROXIDE!!! NEVER!!!

Peroxide is a desinfectant agent that causes local scarring. If that goes close to the eardrum, scarring will mean loss of movement and hearing loss.

DO.
NOT.
PEROXIDE.
NEVER.
EVER.

Regarding the oil, wax is oil. So its redundant.

 

Hahahahah. I can't remember where I got it, but damn, the creator was creative. I love it. And thanks for the compliment!

 

Yikes! Will have to confirm that. Thanks for the warning. Will dig into that.

 

I'll drink to that.

 

Thank you for your responses, this is really insightful, I never knew much about ear specialist and have actually never visited one before. So that is something I want to do. I have always preferred listening to music I make at low volumes too whether with speakers or headphones, I found that listening too loud always made me tired too quickly and my mind would end up wondering off. It is interesting that someone also mentioned to avoid smoking and alcohol, can you elaborate on the impact that has on the ears?

 

Alcohol: though tasty in wine and beer (and healthy in small doses), it causes inflammation and fat dissolution.

Inflammation can lead to scarring and/or decreased function. The products of alcohol degradation can be poisonous to the terminal part of the ciliae of the innner ear and to most nerves and the thinking machine in general.

The fat dissolution happens in terminal nerves that have lower concentrations myelin (fatty the stuff that conducts nervous impulses with high speed) and are more difficult to repair. This is thought to be one of the reasons for fast-food craving after getting drunk.

 

I belief that you can take some ayurvedic medicines to solve your hearing problems. Herbs like ashwagandha and curcumin can help you alot with this.

 

I bought "musical" protections, for loud music and events.
They are more "flat" than usual ear plugs.
Some sound eng use them for concert balance, and remove them just for final adjustments.
-18 dB protection

ETY•Plugs® ER20
There are several versions

And i use this kit at home, for ear cleaning :
https://www.amazon.fr/Medi-Grade-Professionnel-Seringue-Nettoyage/dp/B0795WHD42
Use tempered water, start slowly, push harder in the middle, slow at the end too.

I used this because i was wearing earbuds all day long ... and they blocked my ears "auto cleaning"
So NEVER wear earbuds all day long :D

Two known aggravating factors for hearing loss :
-fatigue
-alcohol

So basically when you are tired and go to live gig after drinking ... you get the perfect recipe for hearing loss.
That's exactly what happened to me ... by chance, i avoided tinnitus by staying home in perfect silence for days.

Same way, don't mix late at night. Your mix will sound like sh*T AND you will loose hearing for nothing.

 

Magnesium is the element that fights free radicals which are the issue when it comes to hearing loss, tinnitus - however serious damage requires large doses and large doses of magnesium make your bowels lose control. However it is the thing they give soldiers when they experience momentary deafness from artillery etc. It is a good idea to keep general magnesium levels high and vitamin c - not too much dairy, not too much caffeine and alcohol and smoking and all the other stuff that's fun. Those Flare calmer pro things are something I am looking at investing in for writing/ production times when I don't need full freq spectrum analysing