Anyone use noise blocking earbuds?

[Centurion]

Bic pen caps ftw.

[Scurvy]

ok..i seriously can't be the only one here. i use q-tips every day because they fucking feel good. ok? i dont have an ear wax problem, but after a shower, or when you wake up....i know there are others who enjoy the feeling.

[genocidal]

I feel you. Not doing it for me everyday is like not putting on deodorant. Between that and my anal retentiveness about nail length (probably from playing too many string instruments) I think I maintain good hygiene.

[Epinephrine]

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.

If you're talking about the outer ear (the part that sticks out from your head) that really has a minimal use to hearing. You can basically hear if you just put vibrations through your jaw. All the hearing that goes on is in the inner ear, with the middle ear helping to direct the sound to the inner ear. The middle ear is the part of your ear past the eardrum (if going from the outside).

[K2Grey]

Try not to use Q-tips. This may be shocking to you, but audiologists know more about the ear than you do.

[ZeUs!!]

Stop being such a girl