My ear's plugged, can't mix

[hawkg52]

So last week I sat down and tracked 3 of my own songs with the intentions of mixing and editing this week. Unfortunately my earplugs plugged up my right ear at a band practice last Saturday and now I can't really hear very well out of it. It's made mixing almost impossible since I don't have a good gauge of panning or stereo image at the moment. I guess it's good that their only my songs so there's no time crunch or anything, but I'm thinking I just need to wait this out. Any of you guys ever run into this problem?

 

[Viperud]

The way i'm reading it, you just need to clean your ears out man! I know my ears get all clogged up with wax wearing earplugs a few times a week while playing. There's plenty of ways for you to clean them out from Q-tips to products like DeBrox. I have this thing where i fill the sink up with warm water and shoot it into my ear to clean them out when i notice my hearing is going south. Hope this helps.

 

[Cacoph0ny]

if its wax there are drops (like ^ he said) you can get at walgreen that might work, im really hesistant about q-tips because they can make it worse. i scratched up my ear trying to clean it out with q-tips and then made the mistake of pouring rubbing alcohol into it and it was fucking miserable. had to sleep off the pain

 

[Atheist]

What ever you do, don't use q-tips. Go see a doctor and get you ears cleaned up.

 

[Jackal_Strain]

A couple of drops of olive oil just before bedtime, applied directly into the ear canal can work wonders over night. That's what I usually tell my patients to do in case of excessive earwax, before they go see a doctor.

 

[TesticleMilkshake]

Olive oil. Worse comes to worst, you can try an ear candle (doesn't do a whole lot, but it's soothing)

 

[hawkg52]

Thanks for all the help guys!
I've been trying those drops for a couple days but they don't seem to be doing anything. The olive oil thing sounds kinda weird, but I guess it's worth a shot. It's actually been getting worse if anything so if the olive oil doesn't work I'll probably just go to a doctor in a few days.

 

[Jackal_Strain]

Remember. Only a couple of drops. and you might wanna have a towel around your pillow or something, as the earwax might flow out of your ear canal and make a mess.

 

[Sloan]

MONO

 

[Terminus]

Remember. Only a couple of drops. and you might wanna have a towel around your pillow or something, as the earwax might flow out of your ear canal and make a mess.

Mmmmm yummy. Sop it up with a biscuit.


And yeah, Mother Nature/God/Zurg The Inconsequential didn't exactly think the ear thing through before creating us, eh? Hey I know, let's make a long one-ended tube that you hear out of that fills with goo every 6 months and the only way to clear it is to liquify it with oil.

 

[AntonioPetrole]

been having the same problem for a while. My right ear is really clogged and all the home remedys and walgreens stuff won't work (I was told its all pretty much peroxide regardless).

I'm gonna give that olive oil thing a try tonight

 

[smy1]

MONO

I agree with the olive oil suggestions but also mixing in mono is an amazing way of getting your mix 50% ready. Try it!

 

[Jackal_Strain]

Mmmmm yummy. Sop it up with a biscuit.


And yeah, Mother Nature/God/Zurg The Inconsequential didn't exactly think the ear thing through before creating us, eh? Hey I know, let's make a long one-ended tube that you hear out of that fills with goo every 6 months and the only way to clear it is to liquify it with oil.

Believe, me that goo is there for a reason. Ear wax is the bodys natural way of getting debris (dust and other small particles) out if the ear canal.

 

[hawkg52]

Sorry to see other people have this problem, but I'm kind of glad I'm not the only one. Nothing has worked so I made an appointment with a doctor.

If none of these work, see a doctor.
Last year I had to get it washed out because of the same problem (I tried to clean it at home unsuccesfully).
But then no mixing for a week, you're gonna go crazy from even ordinary noises. At least my ears became so sensitive I couldn't take a shower without earplugs.

^yeah it's been a week since I've mixed, and every sound is starting to drive me crazy now. I was at a party a couple days ago and my left ear seemed to pick up the slack for my right not working. Everything was so loud in my left and I couldn't really hear things clearly and my right was all muddy. :zombie: It was miserable.

MONO

Thanks dude! I don't know why I didn't think of that. It's not perfect but its the best thing I can do at the moment.

 

[jamvanman]

Definitely see a doctor. I think you should be very careful about what you stick in your ears. I never use cotton tips and don't use ear wax drops anymore. Only thing I use is aqua ear after swimming. And see a doctor to clean out my ears every year or so.

 

[TheWinterSnow]

When my ears are plugged and the normal shower + q-tip doesn't work, I take a drop or two of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide and let it sit for a few minutes, then just wash it out with water and its all good. Hydrogen Peroxide breaks down earwax and turns it to water, if that won't work you have compacted earwax that needs to be treated by a doctor.

One thing you might want to try if that doesn't work is clear out your Eustachian tubes with a good ol' sinus rinse. Clearing the tubes take a little bit of talent compared to the typical sinus rinse without choking on salt water but it does a great job in clearing out gunk.