Earache

This has been a week of battling the great earache. *sigh*

Usually it just torments me for one day, then goes away. This time it's been going away at night then coming back in the morning. I have been using some homeopathic ear drops, and they help, but it takes them a while to take effect. I'm thinking that next I may try a herbal drop mixture of willow bark and garlic -- painkiller and anti-bacterial in one!

Still, it is tiring. I have been to doctors for it before, and they all look in my right ear with the otoscope and say "Hmm." Apparently it looks a bit red, but that's about it. So they give me antibiotics (which make me ill and don't do anything useful) and decongestants (which make me edgy and paranoid and don't do anything useful). Nothing much happens, the ear finally gets over itself and calms down, and there matters stay until the next occurrence.

I've figured out that it has something to do with changing air pressure (I never fly without my uncomfortable but vitally necessary air-pressure-relieving ear plugs), since it acts up most when the weather changes or when I experience a change in altitude. I suspect that the ear canal is smaller and more pinched than the other, perhaps a legacy of jaw-manipulating orthodontia, bruxism and a face that's a bit crooked.

There is no quick fix, at least not one I've encountered. So mostly I endure, try not to think about it, and occasionally experiment with over-the-counter treatments if I think they are cheap enough and safe enough to risk. I'd like to think that this ability to endure is a sign of maturity, but I think it's more akin to the same sort of stolid perseverance that enables other animals to endure the aches and wounds that living brings.

It would be nice if a earache were the only such burden I have to carry in my life.

It would be even nicer if my ear were well!

Comments

[cindy]

Having been plagued with a "Hmm..." type of ear infection (condition?) this spring, I would say it isn't a little thing. For the past few years, I've been as you've described--suffering annoying, recurring ear pain. Flying is a nightmare for me. The only thing that seems to work is the flight attendant's down-home cure of paper cups with hot, wet paper towels in them.

It took three rounds of antibiotics this spring to give me some relief. The first one destroyed my stomach, the second one did nothing and the third gave me hives! After a few weeks of relief, last night I had sharp pain again every time I touched my outer ear or turned my head. But I'm not going back on an antibiotic any time soon.

Sometimes I feel like a little kid (aren't they the ones who are supposed to get ear infections?)

I hope you feel better. But if it goes on for too long, maybe try another doctor.

[Michelle]

Eek, earaches are the worst. Hope you get better soon.

[Rana]

Thanks for the healing thoughts! As I said, it's largely something to be endured until it goes away. I do have hopes for the new ear drops, as it's a painkiller I want more than anything, and I'd rather not be popping pills unless I have to.

If it were persistent non-stop pain, I would go to the doctor. Instead, it's been a bit of a rollercoaster; it gets steadily worse during the day, settles into a dull roar in the afternoon, then I put drops in at home (I'd put them in in the morning, but they'd drip) and it dies down, then I'm fine overnight. The next morning I wait to see if it feels congested, because then the cycle resumes. (Usually it's a one-day thing.) All in all, it's a mystery -- an annoying one!

[LiL]

You're right about the antibiotics. I think they're way overprescribed nowadays, which results in the fact that they mostly don't work anymore.

I hope you will find a conscientious doctor someday who will give you better answers and help you figure out what's really going on. They have got to exist.

In the meantime, I hope you feel better soon - and sleep it off by tomorrow!

[dale]

Hugs. Have you tried (don't tell Chris I proposed this) getting your feet rubbed? The relexology people say the ear area is right around where the two littlest toes join the foot. Have someone rub your feet and pay special attention to that area. I've never found that specialists are any better than anyone else at this, so get your boy to do it. (I don't know if it works -- the theory is clearly cockamamie -- but it doesn't, hell, you've still gotten a foot rub out of it.)

[Mel]

What I have found really helpful: peel a small thin clove of garlic and place it in your ear. (You may have to cut off a smaller piece to do this, although it's less stinky if you don't have to cut a clove.) You don't have to push it too far in -- I usually do it so it's just inside the ear opening. Put a small piece of a cotton ball in the ear opening to hold it in there. Keep it in there for 4-6 hours, or overnight. When you remove it the garlic will have shrunken, because its moisture and its antibacterial, antifungal qualities have gone into your ear and sinus system. You will smell garlic in your nose for a while, but it really does clear up ear problems.

Since it varies at different times of day, it might be allergy related too (ear's defenses against the environment). You can try capsules of stinging nettle herb (Nature's Way makes a good line) which work like antihistamines but don't make you drowsy or irritable. 1-2 capsules as needed for allergy symptoms, every 6 hours or so.

[Rana]

Garlic and foot rubs. Worth a try! (Especially the foot rubs.)

The ear's a bit better today -- stuffy but not painful (fingers crossed) -- so here's hoping. Meanwhile I'm going to pray for a change in the weather and lay off things like milk and orange juice for a while (they increase mucous secretion).

So many variables -- it's difficult to pinpoint which ones to address, since it's the combination that is the real problem!

Thanks for the sympathy and suggestions, everyone!

[Paige]

Do they have ear candles where you are? (They'd be at a health food store, if anywhere). They're weird, but they work, in my experience. The only other thing to watch out for would be the prospect of it being a dental problem, though usually you can tell...
Anyway, I hope you feel better soon.

[Rana]

Hmm... I hadn't thought of ear candles. Unfortunately, if they produce a vacuum, they might not work; the pressure seems to run the opposite way. But I'll keep them in mind!

And, yay, my ear has been good for the past few days (fingers crossed). :)