Last physical piece of the chain -ears. Upgrades?

Just turn it up!

No, seriously, the olive oil thing does work, though it won’t do anything to cure the upgraditis!

I’m now at the stage of having to depend on electric ears for my musical enjoyment, so buy some olive oil and count yourself lucky! ????

Electric ears - so you really can upgrade your ears.  Perhaps eventually you can wire directly to the back of your preamp

Nothing wrong with a regular application of olive oil in the lug holes to improve your listening experience - just remember not to use it for cooking afterwards.

Active ears are much better than Passive ears.

I thought the ear canal is pretty efficient at keeping itself clean without any additional help. If you're concerned that you are getting excessive wax build up then a trip to the doctor to get some advice might be worth doing ?

Last physical piece of the chain is the brain. Getting into the minds of those performing the music your listening too, and making sense out of all.

A few drops of colliodal silver in your usual beverage, and wearing lots of scrunched up silver foil shaped to fit around on top of your head helps enormously here.

Ear wax defiantly detracts from good sound especially HF.

I have had both ears blocked with wax at the same time. Not much fun. The more the ear is syringed the faster the build up of wax! Olive oil helps to soften the wax.

Two ways to remove it. A competent Practice Nurse can remove wax which needs a week prior of oil to soften things. This involves warm water, is messy and can damage the ear drum. Its on the NHS and its free. Some nurses will not do this fearing damage. As soon as the procedure hurts it needs to stop. More oil and a return visit.

The modern way and much the best is vacuum suction, not on the NHS to my knowledge, but safer and without the need for a lot of oil. Takes only a few seconds. Done with a miniature camera and tube. You can watch on a monitor You need to pay but worth it.

Douglas.

I agree with Douglas, I have suffered from ear wax and find the vacuum suction far superior, albeit more expensive. My music sounded vastly better afterwards.

I am an ENT specialist and far prefer vacuum suctioning to syringing, which can be painful, and could also damage the tympanic membrane.  However, sometimes the patient will still need to apply olive oil to the ear canals to soften the wax before suctioning.  Sometimes suctioning can be quite challenging.  Often the impacted wax is due to Q-tips, which should not be used to clean ears. 

Like most things, this topic has come up before. Someone reported getting tinnitus from having his ears syringed by an overly enthusiastic doctor.

My other half has glue ear and has in the past had big old wax plugs blocking. Lately looking with a micro light I could have believed I was looking at a big black lump. Later going to an ear specialist they found no plug but a blocked eustacian tube was behind the distorted look of the ear canal. If it had been syringed by another doctor it could have had a nasty consequence.  Best to get your ears looked at by an ear specialist.

TOBYJUG posted:

My other half has glue ear and has in the past had big old wax plugs blocking. Lately looking with a micro light I could have believed I was looking at a big black lump.

Your wife's earhole sounds well notable. I took an odd pleasure when the nurse syringing me a few years back said the wax lump flushed out was large. But to me it didnt look much.

Your checking your partners ear is basically grooming -  like apes do to those close. It's still in humans, a natural and pleasurable urge

My sister in law eventually squeezed and burst a very large red spot /swelling on her dad's back she'd for years wanted to pop. The whole family swear that an insect (apparently beetle like) came out and flew off. And the whole house then reeked of his puss.

douglas posted:

 The more the ear is syringed the faster the build up of wax!

 

Man that is so true. First blockage was worst. Both ears, I was only just hearing in one of them. After syringe instant riddance, Had to have the jet then - couldn't function at work before. That aged 36. Never built up before but now always there. But easy to treat and so it's a forgettable medical issue. 

Certainly the way now is olive oil. Slowly  (just doing it each day when you have the problem) and eventually it does the trick, the full job. Doesnt come back again any time soon. And so cheap.

thebigfredc posted:

Nothing wrong with a regular application of olive oil in the lug holes to improve your listening experience - just remember not to use it for cooking afterwards.

Never heard of this..., sounds strange...

Try snake oil.

According to my wife, who was a nurse for more than 40 years, the last 20 a practice nurse, it is much better to avoid any form of wax evacuation unless absolutely medically necessary. In her experience the first syringing, or vacuum treatment (her surgery employed both methods), resulted in greater wax production in over 90% of cases. Some of her patients were having to be treated every 6 months. By all means use warm olive oil before bed (pour in ear canal the plug with cotton wool, cover pillow with towel). This will soften any old, residual wax and encourage natural, gentle evacuation. Avoid Q Tips like the plague, and seek practice nurses’ advice rather than GP!