The Admiral Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 I've been having some trouble with my right ear for some time and I had been putting off doing anything about it for ages, but in bed the other night with the radio on, I turned over, and with my left ear into the pillow, I suddenly realised that I could barely hear a thing with my right. Thankfully my GP has access to a 'self refer' ear clinic and I booked myself in for Friday - leaving me a week to get some gunk in there to soften it all up. A Pharmacist friend recommended Earol - which is an Olive oil spray, and I put this in twice a day in the run up to the appointment. I won't bore you with the gory detail, but it took some shifting with the pulse water jet they now use, and as I'm very sad, I asked to see what came out : virtually black, and the size of a hazelnut..... nice. Back to stereo though and it's weird as now its sorted, I've realised how bad its been and for how long. Also, very interesting talking to the specialist nurse, who spends her days doing this. Apparently there is huge rise in the number of people with wax based hearing problems - due it is thought to the wax building up, in an attempt to defend against the very immediate impact of loud iPod 'bud' headphones and sound/music generally. As a consequence, more people are going fishing with a cotton bud, and she was saying that she takes out 5 - 7 broken off or 'shed' buds each week. Also, the incidence of people sticking a bud through their ear drum is increasingly common, with circa 7,000 a year damaging their ears in this way - frequently irrevocably. I wanted to share this, as it occurs to me that we all take great care of our gear, but are we taking enough care of ourselves? You can buy another bass, but they stopped making ear drums for you a long time ago. Maybe time to turn down, or get some attenuators? Particularly as many of us will spend a lot of time standing next to a drum kit, which can easily go to 110db, and even 120db if hit hard., and I am told anything above 85db is considered 'dangerous' by specialists!! Finally - for those who may find this interesting - here is an ear wax removal video taken from youtube. This shows how it can build up in a loud environment - in this case a farmer driving tractors. [b]WARNING[/b] : it's pretty graphic, so maybe not for those who have just eaten!! [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=4qui0YCUKnQ"]http://www.youtube.c...1&v=4qui0YCUKnQ[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Interesting that the chap was described as a 'gentleman farmer', perhaps that means he's been using vintage tractors without a cab because in the late 70s legislation was brought in to require safety cabs to be fitted to all tractors to reduce roll-over injuries and noise levels. So I'd be surprised if this was still a problem for full-time drivers of modern tractors . . . though there's no denying the problem in that video! I have an old tractor without a safety cab and I can confirm that mowing a field for a morning leaves the ears ringing, which is why I always wear ear defenders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr H Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 I called my wife in to watch that youtube link, The Admiral. At the end we were presented with a smorgasbord of other gross delights, and eventually found ourselves watching [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ThuAV-GCGk"]giant blackheads being popped[/url] for the next twenty minutes or so. After that, [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hh-c320aTgM"]teratomas[/url]. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Admiral Posted January 19, 2013 Author Share Posted January 19, 2013 [quote name='Mr H' timestamp='1358628018' post='1942599'] I called my wife in to watch that youtube link, The Admiral. At the end we were presented with a smorgasbord of other gross delights, and eventually found ourselves watching [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ThuAV-GCGk"]giant blackheads being popped[/url] for the next twenty minutes or so. After that, [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hh-c320aTgM"]teratomas[/url]. Thanks! [/quote] Glad to be of help! I won't look myself, having been sent a link to a video by a friend a week or so ago, featuring an Indian dermatologist gleefully extracting truly enormous 30 year old blackheads from the nose of a local man. It was the epitome of that dilemma between horrified fascination and almost vomit inducing revulsion - as they were unbelievably vast, and came out with Vesuvian gusto. The patient must have been about 10lbs lighter when he's go all that muck out of his body - over the space of 4 videos. I think it was one of these you may have drifted into!!! Truly disturbing, and I kept re-living it for days - I think I may have been traumatised!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 (edited) Gross! There are a plethora of threads on here regarding ear protection. I always use it, not just for rehearsals and gigs, but more and more for 'normal' activities such as shopping - our local supermarket's PA is stupifyingly loud for some reason. And they've taken to constantly playing pre-recorded audio ads for their tat as well, which is disconcerting. Also... I've noticed an increasing tendency for people to shout instead of talking at a reasonable volume... why? [size=4]It's a noisy world, people.[/size] Edited January 19, 2013 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyquipment Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 that is like...minging. saying that i feel like i should probably get my ears done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey R Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 (edited) [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1358636778' post='1942759'] Also... I've noticed an increasing tendency for people to shout instead of talking at a reasonable volume... why? [size=4]It's a noisy world, people.[/size] [/quote] Im pretty sure its all down to iPods. Until recently, I used to have an hours commute on the train every morning and evening, I started listening to music with decent headphones just to drown out the sound of every one elses iPods, and even then I could sometimes hear them over the quiet bits of my own music. The problem is only going to get worse. Being musicians, Im aware we're a bit more sensitive to what we can hear than the norms, but some of these poor people must have really damaged their hearing, hence the shouting. Edited January 19, 2013 by Mikey R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameronj279 Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Ah yes. The wierd side of YouTube, we meet again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimBobTTD Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 Excellent videos - thanks for the links. I find this stuff fascinating. Regarding earwax...I had to have my ears syringed after I managed to lose almost all hearing. I had felt that there was too much wax in there and had tried to clean up myself. In the shower, I put my finger in there and scooped out lots of wax. I was, unknown to me, also pushing it further and further in. Within a week, I was almost stone deaf. We tried putting in some special ear drops and then showering it using water but with no joy. I had to go to the doctor. By the time I was there, I was so deaf that underground trains entered stations in near silence. Needless to say, I had to be collected from the waiting room as I couldn't hear my name being called. The doctor pulled out lumps and lumps of wax. The first one was brilliant - there was even a squeaking noise and a rush of cool air and I could suddenly hear again. "I can hear!" I said in excitement before the doc sharply told me to keep still. I asked for a look at the wax (as you do) and, all in all, the lump from just one ear was the size of my little finger; a mixture of red, brown, yellow and green with flecks of black. I left the surgery amazed. My ears had adjusted and now everything was painfully loud and remained so for a couple of days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 (edited) [quote name='JimBobTTD' timestamp='1358674845' post='1942989'] ...My ears had adjusted and now everything was painfully loud and remained so for a couple of days.[/quote] When walking home after having my ears syringed I was baffled by a weird swooshing noise that seemed to be in sync with my footsteps... turned out it was air passing my ears as I moved. The sound of my front door key entering the lock was almost deafening. Edited January 20, 2013 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-bbb Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 i got a blockage once and nipped down to our company medical centre to get ear syringed and a chunk of orangey brown wax about size of a large pea came out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimBobTTD Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1358675146' post='1942992'] When walking home after having my ears syringed I was baffled by a weird swooshing noise that seemed to be in sync with my footsteps... turned out it was air passing my ears as I moved. The sound of my front door key entering the lock was almost deafening. [/quote] I remember that! Traffic was so loud that I yelped in pain and had to walk around with my fingers in my ears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hubrad Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 I occasionally play (occasionally enough to not have yet found the chance to ask him what he's doing!) with a guitarist/singer frontman who wears earplugs and has a 40W valve combo cranked to just breaking up - on the verge of painful, which is probably why he wears the plugs, and on it goes. Especially as he generally comes out way louder than the drummer, WHY??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 Because he can't get "his sound" except at very high volumes. I've known a lot of guitarists who think like this. If you can call it "thinking". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 (edited) [quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1358682346' post='1943147'] Because he can't get "his sound" except at very high volumes. I've known a lot of guitarists who think like this. If you can call it "thinking".[/quote] So true. Our guitarist has a 40W valve combo and still has to have it set to half-power so that it's not completely deafening. [size=4]I really don't know why some guitarists think it necessary to have a 100W amp head and a 4X12, then have the volume set at 0.5 and it [/size][i]still[/i][size=4] be too damn loud![/size] Edited January 20, 2013 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 "biggest thing you should put in your ear is your elbow" was the best advice i ever heard. I occassionally use the odd cotton bud when my ears get a bit itchy but never go too deep. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 Mrs Zero has an occasional problem with wax build-up in her ears. A few years ago, she was actually seen by a specialist rather than simply having her ears syringed, and it turned out that due to the shape of her ear canal, syringing is a Bad Thing as it compacts the wax. They used some little scoopy device (technical term) to extract the wax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazm Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 Thought this thread was going to be about Rickenbacker basses I thought I was unusual suffering with wax build ups. Must be a bass player thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 (edited) [quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1358711215' post='1943887'] They used some little scoopy device (technical term) to extract the wax.[size=4][/quote][/size] [size=4]There is a long tradition of little scoopy devices to extract earwax dating back hundreds of years; some vintage examples can be very valuable. This one is a combination ear-spoon and amulet, worn as a necklace. It's Ethiopian - Coptic Christian. Ear cleaners are commonly worn as jewellery 'better to hear the words of God'.[/size] [size=4][/size] Edited January 20, 2013 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nottswarwick Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 Excellent. I used to get this problem every year or so. That was, until I stopped listening to loud iPod music, and bought some custom earplugs for gigging. I woo was told that wax is the body defending against a noise. I repeated this to a few folk who thought I was mad. However, clearly I am not. Glad you are sorted. Since using plugs I have not had any reoccurrence. I once treated it myself, using ear drops to soften, and then our shower head on max power, in a a sort of self syrringing lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 You can buy various preparations that will safely melt earwax - these are placed in the ear canal, then the whole sorry mess drains out onto your freshly-laundered pillow during the night (as it did with me). Not pleasant, but better than being deaf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Admiral Posted January 20, 2013 Author Share Posted January 20, 2013 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1358713294' post='1943964'] [/size] [size=4]There is a long tradition of little scoopy devices to extract earwax dating back hundreds of years; some vintage examples can be very valuable. This one is a combination ear-spoon and amulet, worn as a necklace. It's Ethiopian - Coptic Christian. Ear cleaners are commonly worn as jewellery 'better to hear the words of God'.[/size] [size=4][/size] [/quote] This is the modern version - the Jobson Horne ear probe! http://entinstruments.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/jobson-horne-ear-probe.html?m=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 [quote name='The Admiral' timestamp='1358723272' post='1944216'] This is the modern version - the Jobson Horne ear probe![/quote] Great! It can also be used to 'probe nasal masses'... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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