Anyone use noise blocking earbuds?

[za gophar]

Recently I have been extremely paranoid about the health of my ears. I constantly am plugging my ears, either for my noise blocking headphones or with earplugs so i can study in my house in silence. to make a long story short, i decided to go to the doc today and i found out i have a minor ear infection and i should either get different headphones or figure out a way to sterilize them before use. this would be super fucking easy, but i dont think i am supposed to use alcohol to clean the things cause it ruins them or something. any ideas on what i should clean these things with? or for that matter, has anyone else had problems with in-ear noise blocking headphones?

[Dameon Angell]

I think it was a Mythbusters that I saw regarding this, that it was a myth that wearing headphones/earbuds for an extended period of time will cause some sort of biological damage/infection to your ears. But, you never know what coulda happened.

[Stultus]

Because Mythbusters is the pinnacle of rigorous scientific integrity.

[D1st0rt]

What are your earpieces made out of? Mine are rubber, and I'm pretty sure alcohol is fine to clean them with.

[Galleleo]

I can't handle silence.. if there is no music playing when I am not watching tv or are in college or any other place that prohibits me from playing music, I just notice it and the silence becomes o so loud too me.

[K2Grey]

If by noise blocking earbuds you mean in-ear monitors, then yes. For me the tips are foam and I can change them every so often.

[Hakaku]

This reminds me of an Imax movie I saw once and how noise affects your ears. Scary, but meh.

I only use noise-proof headsets when I'm on the lawnmower though.

[Epinephrine]

I don't see how listening to music with noise-blocking earphones is going to help the health of your ears... unless your house has jackhammers running constantly or something. The music is still going to be louder than ambient noise most of the time.

If you have rubber ends, you can use alcohol pads to wipe em. The trick with alcohol is to let it dry for at least a minute first. That ensures you kill everything (best if you wait 3 mins even). If they are the foam ones, just change them every so often.

Also don't try and wash out your ears. Any water in the ears is bad as it can cause infections. Also don't try and dig earwax out with your fingers or with a q-tip as that can get wax stuck inside the ear and cause infections.

[genocidal]

If you're not supposed to use Q-Tips then what do you do, let it all hang out?

[Epinephrine]

If you're not supposed to use Q-Tips then what do you do, let it all hang out?

For you? Please use Q-tips. Press in hard.

[Hakaku]

lol, it's true that you're not suppose to use q-tips (because they could severely damage your ear drum), and you're really suppose to use some fancy product that I don't know its name, but w/e.

[Liquid Blue]

If you're not supposed to use Q-Tips then what do you do, let it all hang out?

I remember some docter saying that q-tips only get a fraction of the earwax out, and push the rest deeper in your ear, wedging it nice and tight. Don't they sell ear-cleaner kits at grocery stores? It contains some liquid and a mini turkey baster, good stuff.

[A_S_S_wipe]

I read an article in Scientific American last year about a guy who experimented with ear fold structure. He wore these molds that smoothed out the folds and flaps on the external ear, and over a few weeks his brain re-learned to sense sound sources with its new "input" conditioning.

Your ear folds (the shape of your external ear) help delay, focus, and differentiate sounds dependent upon frequency and amplitude (volume). I'm sure if you don't kill off sensitive sensor hairs in your ear by excessive volume, that your ear will continue to function.

Also, this other scientist wore special glasses that inverted what he saw. A few weeks later, his vision was "corrected" by his brain, and he could see normally again. Upon removal of the glasses, it took a while but his brain again made his sight "right side up". Pretty cool how your brain will compensate for faults.

Screw sound cancelling headphones except when you really need them. On a final note, smoking cigarettes is linked to hearing loss, probably since nicotine constricts blood vessels and deprives tissue of oxygen and anti-oxidents.

[genocidal]

Very cute, Epinephrine!

I've always used Q-Tips except when I was a kid (used the thing that LB is talking about). If you aren't retarded you won't damage your ear drum and I could care less if I jam some shit in, as long as my ears don't look like Mammoth Cave.

[D1st0rt]

Q tip dipped in peroxide ftw