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karent · 08:06 AM

I have this kind of earphones and I realized I needed to clean out the earwax from the little metal screens. I put a kleenex on a hot light bulb and touched the earphone screen to it for a couple seconds and the wax was sucked out.

Anyone have a better solution?

Eriamjh · Jun 13, 2005, 12:17 PM

I use the foam covers!

Zimphire · Jun 13, 2005, 12:58 PM

Originally Posted by karent

Anyone have a better solution?

Yeah, clean out your ears once in awhile for goodness sake.

I never get ear wax on my buds.

karent · Jun 13, 2005, 01:09 PM

Originally Posted by Zimphire

Yeah, clean out your ears once in awhile for goodness sake.

I never get ear wax on my buds.

I do! every morning!

Originally Posted by Eriamjh

I use the foam covers!

This kind of earbud doens't have foam covers....

(is that link clickable? it's supposed to be)

Eriamjh · Jun 13, 2005, 01:10 PM

No covers? Tsk. tsk.

karent · Jun 13, 2005, 01:14 PM

Originally Posted by Eriamjh

No covers? Tsk. tsk.

This style doesn't have covers!

look here

karent · Jun 13, 2005, 01:19 PM

OK, I'm trying to pull in the link to the apple store item and it's not showing up.

item# M9394G/A

Randman · Jun 13, 2005, 01:28 PM

Apple links expire after a short time.

Go to a pharmacy/chemist and get some ear drops if you feel it's a problem. They have ones for babies and ear wax. Pour a few drops onto a good Q-tip and clean away. Dry with a new Q-tip and you're good to go.

Hodog16 · Jun 13, 2005, 01:55 PM

Q-tips aren't really recommended to go into ears as it can push back wax and cause a nice little wall o' wax.

They have some drops at the pharmacy that will take care of the wax without having to poke inside

.

Randman · Jun 14, 2005, 04:08 AM

You don't use the q-tips in your ears, you use the Q-tips on the earphones.

karent · Jun 14, 2005, 08:12 AM

Originally Posted by Randman

Go to a pharmacy/chemist and get some ear drops if you feel it's a problem. They have ones for babies and ear wax. Pour a few drops onto a good Q-tip and clean away. Dry with a new Q-tip and you're good to go.

You don't use the q-tips in your ears, you use the Q-tips on the earphones.

But won't the drops get into the speaker part of the bud?

I thought of using heat to draw out the dirt from the mesh by capilary action.

Randman · Jun 14, 2005, 09:08 AM

Originally Posted by karent

But won't the drops get into the speaker part of the bud?

Not unless you drench the cotton bud. You can also hold the bud pointing downward so any excess liquid is drawn down by gravity.

legacyb4 · Jun 14, 2005, 09:15 AM

Thank god there are two types of ear wax people in this world: wet and dry. Thank god again I'm of the dry type...

TomR · Jun 24, 2005, 04:18 PM

NEVER use Q-tips in your ears, it only packs the wax in deeper and harder. If one's ears are clogged the BEST thing to do is go to your Doctor and get them PROPERLY CLEANED. I was having a bit of a problem with my right ear this past spring and the reason was a big build up of wax. Wax is supposed to come out naturally but sometimes it just doesn't.

What MY doc did was take a syringe of something (water or water and maybe another agent?) and carefully place the syringe in my ear and FORCED the liquid in while I held one of those curved basins up to my head. It DOES NOT HURT. A HUGE plug of wax came out! I was STUPIFIED! I had "super human" hearing after that. Don't try it at home, leet the doctor do it, they know how to do it without blowing your eardrum out.

Tom

spanishlove · Jun 25, 2005, 12:02 PM

clean your ears - it removes the problem

Kevin · Jun 25, 2005, 01:04 PM

I notice some people have ear wax problems, while others do not.

Not once have I ever seen any ear wax of any kind on my earbuds.

spiff72 · Jun 25, 2005, 02:20 PM

I couln't resist this thread...

I was having problems with my ears feeling plugged and went to the doc to have them looked at. He looked in my right and said I had wax in there. My left turned out to be infected so I had to put drops in. Anyway, the nurse got the water syringe ready for my right ear, but then tried using a little metal hook thing to try to pull out the wax. It came out in a big ball. Really quite gross! I can't believe how much was in there. I am amazed i could hear anything from that ear.

mitchell_pgh · Jun 26, 2005, 06:26 AM

1) Clean Ears
2) Buy new earbuds every 12 months.

Mithras · Jun 26, 2005, 12:58 PM

1) Clean earbuds
2) Buy new ears every 12 months.

ccsccs7 · Jun 26, 2005, 08:30 PM

I thought this was a "how do YOU clean your ears" thread. lol

I'll refrain from sharing how I do that…

funkboy · 09:43 PM

Originally Posted by TomR

NEVER use Q-tips in your ears, it only packs the wax in deeper and harder.

What if you don't insert the Q-tip very much? As in, you just use it in the crevices, and don't actually stick it in the ear canal very far?

What MY doc did was take a syringe of something (water or water and maybe another agent?) and carefully place the syringe in my ear and FORCED the liquid in while I held one of those curved basins up to my head. It DOES NOT HURT. A HUGE plug of wax came out! I was STUPIFIED! I had "super human" hearing after that. Don't try it at home, leet the doctor do it, they know how to do it without blowing your eardrum out.

I've done it at home and it's not a big deal - though someone else helped me. You just be somewhat gentle and it comes out real well. But you know.. this may be a bad thing. And in fact, this page says don't do it at all:
http://www.t-gone.com/earwax-tinnitus/ear-wax.asp
I need to know a good doctor...

Is it safe to do it just as a precaution? I'm scared of my Q-tip usage now, and maybe I should just flush my ear canal and stop using Q-tips to clean my ears in the morning.

As far as earbud wax... I get a little on occasionally, but not overly much.

TomR · Jun 27, 2005, 06:19 AM

Originally Posted by funkboy

What if you don't insert the Q-tip very much? As in, you just use it in the crevices, and don't actually stick it in the ear canal very far?

I've done it at home and it's not a big deal - though someone else helped me. You just be somewhat gentle and it comes out real well. But you know.. this may be a bad thing. And in fact, this page says don't do it at all:
http://www.t-gone.com/earwax-tinnitus/ear-wax.asp
I need to know a good doctor...

Is it safe to do it just as a precaution? I'm scared of my Q-tip usage now, and maybe I should just flush my ear canal and stop using Q-tips to clean my ears in the morning.

As far as earbud wax... I get a little on occasionally, but not overly much.

Don't do it PERIOD. Go to your doctor, he/she knows how to do it and do it right/safely and it doesn't take long at all.

Tom

Ozzpot · Jun 27, 2005, 11:15 AM

Weirdest. Thread. Ever.

Seriously, I use Q-tips pretty much every day after I come out of the shower, but I am very gentle and don't go in very far. It is true that people try to go in too far and only end up compressing wax further into the ear and potentially doing damage.

I did once got o the doctor to get "syringed". A nurse gets this little compressor thing out that buzzes away, pumping warm water into your ear through a nozzle. It vibrates and tickles a bit. It feels very strange, a little uncomfortable at first but certainly not unpleasant or painful.

You simply would not believe how much wax comes out! Enough came out of me to make a wax model of Yoda - lifesize! It actually looked a little like this already.

JHromadka · Jun 27, 2005, 04:46 PM

TomR · Jun 27, 2005, 05:44 PM

Originally Posted by JHromadka

AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

1c3 · Jun 28, 2005, 07:51 AM

you may not know that when the ear "suffers" from sound (especially loud sounds) it produces wax to protect the ear. So if you cleaned your ears in the morning, and then listen to your pod the entire day with "normal" or louder volume, you will undoubtly end up with a big pile o' wax no matter how good you cleand your ears tha same morning

Goldfinger · Jun 28, 2005, 09:34 AM

Originally Posted by ccsccs7

I thought this was a "how do YOU clean your ears" thread. lol

I'll refrain from sharing how I do that…

Pull the wax out with your finger nails and eat it ?

amazing · Jun 29, 2005, 01:58 PM

Ah, the interesting discussions on MacNN...

Anyway, never use q-tips, I once knew someone who punctured their eardrum that way. Go to any pharmacy and get a syringe that allows you to squirt hot water into the ear canal, which eventually softens the earwax and flushes everything out. Works well after a shower.

Is anybody's beard abraiding the ipod cords? Sounds like if could be a significant problem, no?

iPond317 · Jun 29, 2005, 07:00 PM

Umm, I don't feel clean unless I use a Q-tip in each ear right out of the shower!

QueckSilber · Aug 24, 2005, 09:54 AM

Originally Posted by karent

I have this kind of earphones and I realized I needed to clean out the earwax from the little metal screens. I put a kleenex on a hot light bulb and touched the earphone screen to it for a couple seconds and the wax was sucked out.

Now I just WISH that had thought to try that before simply replacing my Apple iPod In-Ear Headphones. One question though: Do you fold the kleenex in half? It seems that it would be too thin to absorb all the earwax from the grille unless you folded it in half.

Steve · Aug 24, 2005, 03:20 PM

Originally Posted by iPond317

Umm, I don't feel clean unless I use a Q-tip in each ear right out of the shower!

Same here. I've done it for the past 10 years and never had any problems with wax getting stuck in there.

cleanup · Aug 24, 2005, 03:44 PM

Many people don't scrub their feet, but they clean their ears out every day? Eeeeeuw.

TailsToo · Aug 24, 2005, 11:25 PM

Originally Posted by Steve

Same here. I've done it for the past 10 years and never had any problems with wax getting stuck in there.

Same here! I hate the waxy feeling!

budster101 · Aug 24, 2005, 11:35 PM

---

Q-tips work for me. I hate that waxy feeling too.

teknopimp · Aug 25, 2005, 06:04 PM

Originally Posted by karent

I have this kind of earphones and I realized I needed to clean out the earwax from the little metal screens. I put a kleenex on a hot light bulb and touched the earphone screen to it for a couple seconds and the wax was sucked out.

Anyone have a better solution?

you could probably achieve the same effect using a hair dryer, perhaps even better because the hot air will surely penetrate the paper therefore heating the wax more efficiently. i haven't actually tried it.

i have had the wax pumped out of one ear, it feels like you are under water. my doc recommended not using q-tips because of the ram-rod effect. i still use q-tips but very carefully and haven't had a wax problem since.

moonmonkey · Aug 29, 2005, 01:32 PM

Earwax is 100% cholesterol, don't eat it, you will get heart disease.

ryter221 · Aug 31, 2005, 10:09 PM

Originally Posted by iPond317

Umm, I don't feel clean unless I use a Q-tip in each ear right out of the shower!

Definitely. I feel like people are staring at my ears if I don't.

And has anyone noticed that so many people are very comfortable with talking about their ear wax online in a forum? This forums is about MACS, not WAX. Lol. That cracked me up.

Also, maybe this post should be moved to the Ear Wax section of the website.