Listening to earbuds 8-10 hours a day... wake up with clogged ear?

Submitted by photoshopuser1 t3_y29l9d in headphones

I listen to white noise/waterfall sounds while I work and I have my earbuds (Skullcandy Sesh Evo) on all day.

According to my IOS device, the earbuds are outputting 56db to 60db which is marking it as an 'OK' headphone level.

However, every morning when I wake up, one of my ears is super clogged and usually will go away but the fear that I might be doing something wrong still lingers. I keep my earbuds pretty clean and clean out any earwax frequently.

I am fearful of tinnitus and hearing loss if I keep doing this. I've been working this way for about 6 months or so. Any advice? Would noise cancelling earbuds set a lower db be better?

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maXXXjacker t1_is1qxoh wrote

You would probably want to discuss this with your doctor.

- I can't imagine using in ears for 8-10 hours out of the day, assuming you even let your ears have some time to rest and 'breath' during that time.

- 56db/60db is perfectly fine, I don't think volume is your problem.

- If you are going to have that long of sessions and are running into these problems, maybe try switching to a lightweight headphone that is compatible with your iOS device to give your inner ears a break while you sort out whatever issue you are having or sit down with your doctor.

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quaefus_rex t1_is1x98s wrote

At an old job I used to listen to music through one earbud. One day I could barely hear anything out of it and I was cleaning wax routinely. Turns out it was totally clogged and got it all flushed out.

It could be worth checking that out, dropping the volume a little, and maybe trying on-ear headphones.

Alternatively, I play sleep sounds out of my phone speaker and set a 2 hour timer on them.

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_Reiks t1_is1xma0 wrote

I get similar issues if I listen to my headphones all day for several days in a row. If I cut back, it quickly goes away. I'm no doctor, but I think ears just need some air every once in a while.

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whatistheformat t1_is1z66y wrote

Replying to quaefus_rex (#87,849)

This happened to me too- scared that I was losing my hearing... long periods of earbud use forced my earwax into a cone that looked pretty much like an earplug. My doc pulled it out in one lump and my hearing was back.

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snozerd t1_is47sss wrote

How would your iphone know what a 3rd party headphone is outputting? Afaik that only works with their own products.

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ThelceWarrior t1_is9pj4e wrote

Honestly if the reason you are using IEMs is you need sound isolation you may want to buy a pair of Sony XM4s or XM5s (If you can afford them, of course) people here will blast me for this suggestion but their comfort is very good, you generally don't have wax build up issues like you do with IEMs and you can EQ them to sound much better than they do stock too.

Otherwise do check out the JBL 760NC, they have excellent tuning while still offering NC features.

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