Try searching on the forums for "ear pain" etc. Lot's of useful info. Like a bit of cotton does not negatively affect what you can hear.
My ears have already started bothering me. If it's under 70F, with a bit of wind...I'm a newbie so I'm trying to get all this figured out, also.
I like the balaclava idea. Also, that's a pretty cool "cool weather" helmet.