No wonder babies get so cranky...

[RIDE-RED 250r]

I think I am experiencing my first ear infection as an adult, and I gotta say IT SUCKS!!

Left ear has felt like it needs to pop for 5 days now and my hearing in that ear has gotten worse every day. Can hardly hear anything at all out of it at this time. It's like having a shooting earmuff over that ear. Really annoying and sore at times. Hopefully the antiboitics get this fixxed before I get suicidal (figuratively)...

No wonder the younguns get so miserable when they get an ear infection.

[Jeepermc]

Agreed. I used to get them as a kid and still get them under the right conditions now....THEY SUCK!

[tri again]

Hard to decide whether to head dip in a warm bathtub ?
or leave it alone and wait for the anti biotics to work.

Kinda like breaking off dental floss in a tooth that driving you crazy.
Sure don't want to make it worse.

Didn't the doc office offer to try and clean it out? or is it inner ear.

Good luck. Try to stay out of the wind.

If it's behind the drum, you can actually kinda massage the front of your throat
down from the jaw angle and it can help to drain pressure.
Maybe try it on the good side first.

Or cross fingers and hope it's simply gone after a nap.

[atc007]

I've never had one,but when pain is that close to the brain. It is inescapable. Really sucks. If you're on antibiotic,you should be a different man by tomorrow afternoon.

[ATC-Eric]

I had one so bad a few years back it sent me to the ER for pain meds, and I have a very high pain tollerance. Be thankfull you just cant hear. When they get painful it sucks.

Couple things you can do at home, a hair dryer on low blowing in your ear for a few minutes, cotten balls, theres more then a couple of home remedys that can provide good relief.

[rjs89ia]

get a heating pad and lay/sleep on that, i had a lot of problems when i was younger multiple surguries for tubes and stuff and boy did it suck i still hate gettin water in my ears because of it. i had ear infections all the time and i did a lot of sleeping with a heat pad under my head its hot as $#!t but if i remember correctly it helped out. if anything you've just got fluid build up and might need a tube put in which is like a super short outpatient procedure now.

[RIDE-RED 250r]

Thanks for the tips and sympathies fellas. Not really painfull yet, just INCREDIBLY annoying with the pressure and loss of hearing. Will try some of the home remedies suggested.

Again, many thanks!

[Popeye]

I never had ear infections, but had swimmer's ear a lot. They are both infections, but I think swimmer's ear is bacterial and a regular ear infection is viral. If you get a cold or something you are more likely to get an ear infection. But if you get water caught in your ear you can get the bacterial one. Using google sucks when your trying to find out why your ear feels like it's gonna explode lol.

[yaegerb]

I hear ya. Had ear infections as a kid and had one last weekend. When it starts hurting (if it does) I always suck up some hydrogen peroxide in a syringe and fill up the canal that's hurting. Let it sit for about 10-15 minutes then repeat. After that you're right as rain.

[thestud25]

Go to Walmart or walgreens and get "Sweet Oil". Put it on a cotton ball and put it in your ear. It will help break up crud and get water out if there is water in there.

[300rman]

When I get an ear infection, I suffer all of those said symptoms, except mine are excruciating ALL the time.

Hope it gets better soon! Oral Antibiotics always worked the best for me

[Thorpe]

I am gonna go old school here, but take your antibiotic, and get yourself a case of beer... (but if the ear infection isnt gone, by the time the hangover sets in, remember how much you paid for this advice!)

[atc007]

How's that ear feeling?

[just ben]

Go to Walmart or walgreens and get "Sweet Oil". Put it on a cotton ball and put it in your ear. It will help break up crud and get water out if there is water in there.you beat me to it,thats the best remedy there is in my opinion.

[atc007]

The sweet oil softens hard/dirty wax. 2 or 3 nights treatment,then,It will flush out in a hot shower,or/ more direct,a babies nasal bulb,with hot water,hydrogen peroxide. This is ALL maintenance,,not what I'd be recommending for an already infected ear.

[just ben]

The sweet oil softens hard/dirty wax. 2 or 3 nights treatment,then,It will flush out in a hot shower,or/ more direct,a babies nasal bulb,with hot water,hydrogen peroxide. This is ALL maintenance,,not what I'd be recommending for an already infected ear.when I was a kid my mom warmed the sweet oil before putting in our ears with a cotton ball. the next day the earache would be gone. It always worked for me

[maxdallasfan]

I never had one. Sounds like they suck.

[atc007]

when I was a kid my mom warmed the sweet oil before putting in our ears with a cotton ball. the next day the earache would be gone. It always worked for me

Cool. My only experience is with my Brother and oldest daughter,,they both need it occasionally to soften up the wax. I had no idea it could treat pain as well!

[RIDE-RED 250r]

How's that ear feeling?

Well, today marks 1 full week since my ear got plugged up to begin with and it still hasn't gotten better. I have been taking some leftover anitbiotic I had in the med cabinet.. I know, I'm being naughty. But I make my living as a truck driver and even though I am home daily, my schedule isn't really predictable sometimes. So, I'm trying to take care of this thing as best I can without missing work as my family depends largely on my income to keep the bills paid....

Someone mentioned swimmers ear. I was on my way home from our family vacation the day it first got plugged up. I did alot of swimming, but I don't recall an instance of getting water in my ear. And when I do I can usually shake it out. But maybe that is what I have. I really doubt it's a wax/debris problem as I am pretty anal (for lack of a better term) about keeping my ears clean.

I have been taking the antibiotic for 4 days now and have had no improvement. Hasn't gotten worse and no significant pain to speak of. Just a little twinge now and then. Just REALLY annoying not being able to hear worth a darn. So far I haven't really had any balance problems or dizziness.

It was really strange how it came about. I was driving home from camping with my family and all of the sudden, like a light switch both ears felt like they needed to pop bad. Got my right to pop, but the left would not and still won't....

If it still shows no improvement tomorrow I guess I'll have to make time to go to the Doc....

I'll tell you one thing, I now know firsthand what it's like to suffer significant hearing loss and it's not at all fun! Although I take much more effort in protecting my hearing now in adulthood, it makes me regret the carelessness of my youth as pertaining to my hearing and it's preservation. I used to do a fair bit of shooting, running chainsaws and other noisy things with zero hearing protection when I was young and dumber... Over the last few years of truck driving I have noticed that I seem to be suffering from tinitis, the constant ringing in the ears. I'm 34 now and I expect I will be needing hearing aids in 10 or 15 years from now.....

[atc007]

Man that sucks.. What antibiotic? Bactrim,Cippro,Keflex,Augmentin,Amoxicillin? Augmentin being the preferred. I don't know what to tell ya...Have you tried the warm sweet oil?

[RIDE-RED 250r]

I haven't tried the warm sweet oil as this is the first I have been on to see the replies since my last post yesterday.

I did however try a heat wrap last night. It is a cloth bag filled with corn that is heated in the microwave for a minute or so. Applied that for about 20 minutes or so last night and it did seem to improve it a little bit while the heat wrap was on the side of my noggin. But by about 15 minutes after I got done applying heat, it went back to fully stopped up again.

The antibiotic I'm taking is Zithromax. (spelling?)

If it isn't at least improved tomorrow, I plan to see about going to the doc on tuesday..... I think it might be time for someone have a look and see what the heck is going on in there....

[atc007]

Yep, Zithromax. That's a good one,that really should have knocked any infection out in a few days.. Let us know what they find Tuesday.

[El Camexican]

I'd look for a good E.N.T. Doctor and I'd do it F.A.S.T. This is an important thing that you need to deal with ASAP. DON'T WAIT!

[atc007]

Agreed^ I think he is tomorrow? My Aunt just went to the ER for water in the ear. I thought it was ridiculous,as it was only overnight. But she has swam a lot all her life. The ER doc gave her a recipe to make for it. Vinegar and Hydrogen Peroxide together with warm water to thin and warm. She ended up just having it flow out as usual without tying the concoction.

[RIDE-RED 250r]

Well, I'm happy to report that I have had some improvement today. Not back to 100% but now getting better, which is a darn welcome feeling after 8 days. It was the same as it has been when I got up this morning, then all of the sudden just like when the problem appeared I was able to partially equalize the pressure in the bad ear tonight on my way home.

Hopefully tomorrow it will continue to progress.

[El Camexican]

FYI to all of us that “pop” our ears by holding our noses closed and blowing; DON’T! I did this for years when flying and besides reliving the pressure that drives us nuts it also forces the crud in the tubes that connect our ears to our throat back into your ears. This gunk is meant to flow into your throat from your ears where it disappears into your saliva. Pushing it back up the tubes can cause an infection and trap fluid up there which (in my case) can lead to dizziness, or vertigo. Thank God a doctor on the ball figured it out and told me how to treat my ears which are already messed up from three ruptured ear drums (yea, you can do it more than once to the same ear and it’s a bloody mess)
Here is what he told me to do and its worked for years:
- Stay hydrated, especially before flights, this makes the fluid in your ear thinner and helps avoid headaches and muscle pain as well.
- If you must pop your ears do it by swallowing which opens the tubes without pushing crud back into them. Gum helps a lot.
- If you get water in your ear from swimming tip your head to that side and bounce on one foot until you feel it come out.
Your ears play a huge roll in your balance. We need balance to ride bikes, trikes and walk. Take care of them.