Disgusting...

edited July 2011 in Other stuff
Something revolting came out of my right ear last night. A piece of dirty wax the size of a bee. At least I hope it was wax...
Not something that's happened before, nor something that immediately wanted to post on the Internet, but...

For a while now I've noticed that the right channel of my Hifi usually seems quieter, with the effect that the stereo image was annoyingly shifted towards the left speaker. This issue was easily corrected via the p90sa's preamp's dual mono volume pots, or via the dual mono mixer on the control panel of the TFS' sound card (76 on left Chanel and 84 on the right - so about a 10% lift required).
I'd put the problem down to some room acoustics or the fact that there's a sofa against one of the side walls of my listening room and not the other.
There was something more though - the Chanel imbalance wasn't always consistent, it was worse on some albums than others, and sometimes I thought I perceived some spatial instability on vocals during Individual tracks. It didn't bother me much often, but was occasionally slightly distracting.

Well well well, having lost the half an ounce of ear wax, all the above issues seem to have been resolved. The system doesn't sound significantly different overall, but the channels are now balanced and stable. I assume that the wax in the right ear was blocking the sound - perhaps some frequencies more than others (perhaps rob or si could carry out some tests on the disgusting specimen to discern which frequencies were most affected ;-) ).

May be we should have a thread on the best wax removal treatments...

Comments

  • A horrible subject, but on this bit: "May be we should have a thread on the best wax removal treatments..."

    My other half gets blocked ears quite regularly as she has narrow ear canals (but I still love her!) Doctors are generally of the opinion that you shouldn't put anything in your ear narrower than your elbow, to get rid of blockages they suggest putting a drop or two of warmed olive oil or nut oil in to your ear. That helps loosen things up so the ear can naturally shove the gunk up and out to where you can clean it up.

    We ended up getting some pipettes from eBay to help get the oil in the right place, as dropping it in there from a teaspoon was very difficult. This gets rid of the warming the teaspoon first, which if you do it with the olive oil in, feels a bit like a very middle class version of freebasing.

    Also, if the docs decide your ear needs hoovering out with a water jet, they usually say you have to do several days or a week of softening the gunk by putting oil in twice a day. So if you think you're getting blocked up and might need the water jet, start putting oil in now and you might save yourself a few days extra wait.

    Docfoster - it might be worth trying to get some oil in your ear for a few days as it might help release anything that's left down in the depths. 

    (Filed under: discussions I didn't expect to be having today.)
  • we want photos  :0&
  • And I always thought the best way of getting things out of your ear was with your SO's tongue  :-& :-D
  • I was once occupying a remote beach with a lass, and found a wonderful little pebble which rested beautifully in her ear.  It was snug, it was sun-warmed, so in it went.  She commented on how nice it felt and that was that.
    On life went, it was only some number of week later that she fished it out, having been commenting on a drop in hearing for ages.  I can remember thinking of ditching her as I thought she was ageing before here time 
    :X
  • I was once occupying a remote beach with a lass, and found a wonderful little pebble which rested beautifully in her ear.  It was snug, it was sun-warmed, so in it went.  She commented on how nice it felt and that was that.
    On life went, it was only some number of week later that she fished it out, having been commenting on a drop in hearing for ages.  I can remember thinking of ditching her as I thought she was ageing before here time 
    :X
    Brilliant!  :-))
  • yea, i operate on a higher plain as you can clearly see  :)
  • Thanks for all of the responses folks. Useful and amusing...!

    I apologise for the many spelling/syntax mistakes in my original posting. I take personal responsibility for some of them, but as I usually post from my iPhone my posts can fall victim to predictive text errors...

    :(
    BTW I will try and get some photos of the offending lump of wax. It's currently sitting on my bedside table like an exhibit in some Victoriam museum of curiosities.
  • Can't wait...  :-& B-)

    The dark glasses are so I don't have to see the thing :-)
  • .... gotta pair of ear 509s if that's any help ....
  • ...sorry , waxing silly there ... 
  • I asked my Doctor about clearing my ears last year, I was angling for a syringing as I was there for another problem anyway, and it seemed silly not to ask given my hobby. She advised against that, and said that the best way to clear ears is in the shower.

    What she told me was to spray (with not too powerful a jet) warm water in to each ear for a minute or so, and then shake out the water. Earwax is heat activated (like any wax) and also water soluble, so washing the warm water around in there for a minute gets it all out. Do this a couple of times a month and I would have perfectly clear ears she told me.

    I went back in a month at the resolution of the other issue, and I asked the locum doctor who was there about ears and got the same advice. He then checked my lugholes and proclaimed my ears the cleanest he had ever seen - I had been doing the ear-wash thing twice a week just to get them cleared out.

    The only drawback is shaking my head like a wet Labrador in order to get the water out, but it was good advice which worked for me.
  • Funnily enough, I do that shower thing to keep my ears all lovely.

    Nice to know the doc recommended it.

    Sorry to hear they couldn't do anything about your musical taste, though 
    :-D
  • edited July 2011
    Henceforth, my username shall be 'HandsomeMusic'.
    :p
  • Elvis lives!  @-)
  • U-Huh. B-)
  • I'll have you know I'm not gonna be your teddy bear  =;
  • edited July 2011

    Reminds me of when I was on a residential course related to my work. At the beginning of the week my ears were a bit claggy but usually cleared by 10 O Clock. By Wednesday this was not so and I couldn't hear the lecturer so off i was despatched to the local health centre were I signed in. As I expected a lenghty wait with not being a regulat there my impatience finally got the better of me after over a 2 hour wait. Upon enquiring at reception if my appontment with the Doctor for the ear synging was still valid i was informed the Doctor was about to go home for the day and seeing as they had been calling my name they had assumed I had left the building --------

    When the good Doctor did get around to inserting the syringe he passed the comment that he had never seen so much wax emerge from a syringing. There was enough to fill a tin of Johnsons, well the most I've ever seen on my subsequent syringing treatemnts.

  • image
    Hope you weren't having your tea...
  • image
    Hope you weren't having your tea...
    thought i had finished eating my tea but i think it may be about to make a slight return! what is that??
  • That came out of my ear. (The 5p came out of the penny jar).
    How I was able to hear anything at all is remarkable.
  • that is unreal ! it really must be like someone has slipped in and replaced your hi fi ,
    :O
  • edited August 2011
    Why don't I post it to you. You could try for yourself...
  • edited August 2011

    :0&
  • Why don't I post it to you. You could try for yourself...
    lol, preserve it in clear cast resin and keep it beside your system as a memento of the day you heard in stereo.
  • Does this mean NVA is so good that it penetrates ear wax by the tonne, or that we NVA users can't tell the difference between waxed and unwaxed sound?

    Just thinking out loud... 
    :-"
  • it
    Does this mean NVA is so good that it penetrates ear wax by the tonne, or that we NVA users can't tell the difference between waxed and unwaxed sound?

    Just thinking out loud... 
    :-"
    Dave, my hearing is now so good you don't have to be thinking out loud for me to be able to hear your thoughts...

    You dirty old bastard.
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