quick question for canalphone users...PLEASE HELP ME

[iPod Dance]

hi

i just got my wonderful ER6i's.

I see a lot on these boards about how one should stick them DEEP into the ears.


in my ears, there is a flap of skin that keeps my finger from poking in more then a quarter inch. If I push really hard, I can force the smallest tip of the earphones past this flap and into my eardrum.

Is this what you are supposed to do? It seems a tad painful.

PLEASE help me... i really don't want to injure myself.. but supposedly I'm supposed to really jam 'em in?

when i twist them out they remove massive amounts of earwax.

[Interpol]

I don't think anyone can stick their finger more than a quarter of an inch into their ears. At least, I can't.

The tip of the earphone should NOT be touching or poking INTO your eardrum - that is way, way too deep and you could puncture your eardrum that way.

Do you have this 'flap of skin' in just one ear canal, or both? I'm still trying to figure out if this is normal or not.

Also, I suggest getting your ears cleaned. You can have a doctor do it, or you can buy a cleaning 'kit' at your local drugstore. "Massive amounts of earwax" may affect your hearing as well as earphone fit.

[iPod Dance]

thanks for the help.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/anatomy/ear/earanatomy.GIF
the 'flap' I'm referring too is the eardrum


It's funny how over and over I see comments about putting the er6i's FURTHER in, but nothing about inserting them too far.

I think I know how to do it safely. I mean.... I swear to god...I came really close to losing the entire earphone into my eardrum area. That would be bad. The earwax wasn't from my ear canal, it was from the area behind the eardrum.

[yinyang]

you may want to try a common 'mod' to the flange - cut off the smallest flange and see if that makes any difference. also try the foamies as well to make sure that you can tell the difference when you've got a good seal.

[bobb-mini]

Originally posted by iPod Dance
in my ears, there is a flap of skin that keeps my finger from poking in more then a quarter inch.
if this flap is your eardrum and it comes into contact with the phone's tip, the searing pain will tell u.

Try what YinYang says.

You haven't read ALL of the canal posts, 'cuz a useful technique is... to insert the left earbud, reach with your right hand behind you and pull left ear back and up, and that will open up your canal a bit to facilitate the bud's insertion.

If it's painful, you are doing it wrong - there is another way.

[iPod Dance]

Originally posted by yinyang
you may want to try a common 'mod' to the flange - cut off the smallest flange and see if that makes any difference. also try the foamies as well to make sure that you can tell the difference when you've got a good seal.

Actually, the er6i's come with 4 different sets of tips, which I wasn't expecting.

There is the foams, the regular 3 flange, 2 flange (same size as the larger two flanges of the 3 flange) and another 2 flange that is very small.


Anyway, thanks for the help.

I am doing it right now. I found that the large 2 flange works exceptionally well for me, as my ears are not deep enough for the stock 3flange.

thanks!

[Cakbar]

If you also want to try different sizes of foams, just email Etymotic and ask for a sample pack. They will send one out to you with a set of sm/med/lg foams and sm/med/lg flanges. If you end up using a set of the ones that originally came with your earphones, at least you will have a spare set now.

[Shane1]

this thread is frightening me, ipod dance be careful lol

try sqeezing the foam inserts the insert them into ur ears and let them expand

[shixun]

Originally posted by iPod Dance
The earwax wasn't from my ear canal, it was from the area behind the eardrum. I don't think this is likely. The "area behind the eardrum" is the middle ear. The only way to get there would be to perforate the eardrum, or tympanic membrane.

http://www.entcolumbia.org/tympperf.htm