Damn ears.

[Loren Littlejohn]

My left one is all fucked up. I hate it when you can't trust your own shits because they are clogged.

I'm seeing a Dr. this week.

I'm missing a lot of upper frequencies in the left ear (it feels like I have compacted wax though).

 

[Ermz]

Cool man, I hope it goes well.

To put you ill at ease my hearing messed up around November of last year and after seeing a GP and 2 specialists they weren't able to do anything for me. So I currently mix with one impaired ear.

So if worse comes to worse you can always get used to it, though I'm sure it's nothing and you'll get it fixed up.

 

[Sloan]

I had a bottle rocket get stuck in my brutally long hair and explode next to my left ear. it fucks up every once in a while and does the "movie grenade thing". weak shit.

 

[Morgan C]

What can a doctor do for your ears? I just came back from an end-of-school week of partying with nonstop loud music and I'm feeling it. I've lost some lows (strangely..) and highs in my left ear, and everything sounds panned right. :/ I've also got a bit of damage from drumming. Worth seeing a doctor if it doesn't clear up?

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

Well for me, I have had the Dr. blast my ears with a water canon type thing and have my ears completely cleaned out. I've had problems with my ears draining right for pretty much my entire life.

For the 2 hours after, it's pretty amazing how clear everything sounds. I'm hoping to get this done again. Your ears produce wax naturally as a way of getting and keeping garbage out of your ears. The problems come when it gets all fucking packed in there and won't drain out.

When I saw In Flames a few years ago I very stupidly failed to bring protection. By the end of the concert I was in the back of the room in pain because the volume was so fucking loud the whole night. I could hear anything right for the next 2 days. I didn't even bother listening to anything because of the volume needed to hear it. My hearing returned thank God, but I'm willing to bet (since that is literally the loudest shit I have subjected myself to, even compared to having my head next to a projection crash) that that concert and the combination of wanting to play loud as fuck growing up is the reason I can't hear shit above 17.8 kHz .

 

[Ermz]

What can a doctor do for your ears?

It largely depends on what kind of problem it is and where in the auditory system it's taking place.

If it's a simple blockage they can flood it out with the 'water cannon'. If it's a problem deeper in the ear they have certain medications. If it's a eustachian tube problem, (sinus related) like what I have, they can't do shit.

 

[Felix Neumann]

I wish you all the best, dude!

I had a tinnitus, that was so loud, that i could hear it, while a train stopps nearby. I got it on the Slayer Concert on 2001..it was loud like HELL !
I couldn´t sleep and i had suicide thoughts, cause it was so fuckin´ loud. But I was cured. It was kind of submarine simulated method..my ears were under pressure resulted a better blood circulatory. For those of you who have this problem, I thought maybe it´s important to know. The Method was a success in my case!

 

[hkollner]

Earbuds~!!!!!!uke:

 

[Jackal_Strain]

Not being able to hear over 17.8khz can hardly be called abnormal. This is a natural thing that happens as you age. If you experience problem with wax buildup in your ear, don't use a q-tip. It might clean out some of the wax, but you'll also just push a lot of it towards your eardrum and clog that fucker with compressed wax. Use water to clean your ears everyday and you should be able to go alot longer without having to see a doctor.
And as a side note. Being subjected to loud volumes over time seldom result in hearing loss or damage. It's usually the sharp noises like gunshots, bangs and such that's really dangerous. Sure it might be uncomfortable to be at a really loud concert without protection, but you would have to be really unfortunate to experience any lasting damage to your hearing.

 

[darth_cupboardy]

have a fucked up left ear too. I can totally blend out the cymbaltracks of a song by just lying on my right ear, due to 2 removed ossicles in my left ear and a fixed hole in my left eardrum.
Fuck otitis mediauke:

 

[Ermz]

@darth: That truly sucks man and is completely unfair. I hope you've been able to learn to mix around it.

@Jackal: From what I understand it's the prolonged exposure to constant high SPL which causes most hearing loss. We have certain recommended exposure at each SPL bracket. I think for monitoring at 85dB 8 hours is recommended. Now put that in context with how loud most metal concerts are.

 

[bibz]

I had a middle ear infection and other ear problems entering my twenties. I had the wax blast, but was still having problems. I get fluid behind the eardrum or around it or something. Popping my ears can get rid of it and helps my left ear with high frequencies, but neither are perfect and constantly require cleaning (tissue only, q-tips are absolutely forbidden!). It gets worse if I'm exposed to high volume for any periods of time, pays to be careful if you value your hearing.

The loudest thing I've ever heard was a drag car very close (few metres tops) dropping its guts suddenly as a demo on a racetrack. My entire ear drums were bouncing, maxed out like a playful sub!

 

[darth_cupboardy]

thanks for the sympathy, but its not to bad. Fortunately different speakers and monitors affect the "sound" far more than my left ear. So i just check my mixes on as many stereos, carradios or whatever to get a good image of my mix and compare them to my favourite cds. And i think my crappy mixing skills affect the mixes also more than my left ear . But also props to my doctor who managed to restore as much of my hearing ability as possible.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

Yeah this definitely feels like a blockage deal. I NEVER EVER put qtips near my ears let alone in them.

 

[Pedro Teixeira]

Wow guys... if you don't clean your ears with Qtips then how do you clean them? I use Qtips ALL the time but I'm very careful with it, I know it supposedly pushes the wax more inside, but I only use it to clean outside the "entrance" lol, never go in.... But anyways, I once had my left ear COMPLETELY fucked up, because I did 2 shows in a row with my band, and I always stood in the right of my drummer, which is EXACTLY where the China is, and I didn't wear ear buds back then, so basically I got a pretty good load of HARD hitting chinas on my left ear that kept ringing for a week nonstop... now I don't hear any buzz, but my right ear I do a little, don't know why ..

 

[Eschatologist]

You can get drops that break down the wax at the drug store, and a little irrigator that kinda looks like a small turkey baster to blast the shit out haha. I've been using it ever since I had a terrible plug up years ago, and they work great! You'll be amazed (and grossed out!) by the chunks of shit coming out using this method...

 

[Pedro Teixeira]

:O You do that everyday? I gotta get me some of that haha : p