Headphone Jack Short Circuit

So, I found out that a ring pin or a tip in my headphone port may have shorted out. Today, I plugged in my headphones and I heard all the instrumentals just fine, but Jeff Buckley's wonderful, awe-inspiring voice was almost inaudible and very, very echo-y. All songs on my iPod follow this trend of clear instrumentals, and nearly inaudible vocal tracks. This only applies to when I listen through headphones, however. When docked, my iPod plays just fine through my home speakers. I tried my iPod using several other sets of head/earphones, so I'm certain the trouble isn't in the phones themselves. I also managed to find a quick fix for the audio problem: by pushing the headphone jack harder into one side of the port, I was able to hear the original track. But here, there's the risk of breaking the male connector and permanently damaging my port.

Can Apple do anything to fix this? I mean, this was through no physical damage at all--it simply seems like a hardware failure (it is, after all, a short circuit). If not, is there some [qualified] homebrew method that I might bother giving a shot? Thanks much, everyone!