01 August 2007 Wednesday

Ear unhappiness cont'd

[continued from previous entry]

As a record for myself:

I probably picked it up during [attempted] water skiing in lake on Saturday. Probably during my last wipe-out. I’ve never experienced anything like swimmer’s ear. Water in my ear tends to go away on its own.
I have always felt pain associated with congestion during landings on airplanes. I’ve found TylenolCold&Sinus to be consistently helpful for dealing with that. Aside from that, I tend not to take medicines in general.
I have never quite been able to blow the air out of my ears by pinching my nose shut. Yawning can work (and hurt when it breaks through my ears).. but deliberate force-blowing doesn’t quite work for me (and feels like I’ll rupture something important if I continue).
So, okay, I believe this is my first experience with an ear problem.
(I did try TylenolCold&Sinus on this, btw. The sensation was similar, so I was hopeful that the Tylenol might have its usual positive effect. Didn’t work.)

(It’s not been itchy, btw, which is apparently a big symptom of swimmer’s ear.)

Felt consistent pain and discomfort during drive on Sunday.
Monday was painful and bothersome at times as well.
Yesterday (Tuesday) morning when I woke up, it really hurt, more than the rest of the time.

Yesterday (Tuesday) at dinner it was agonizingly painful.. I could barely chew anything.. the ear itself was so painful I couldn’t help but wince and look miserable though trying to be stoic and manage the discomfort.. it was really, really bad though.. Through the day I’d been able to function through the pain, but the pain at dinnertime was not really function-throughable.
My dinner company was prompted to run a few blocks to CVS and picked up Advil, two brands of “ear drying aid” specifically geared to dealing with “Swim-ear”, and “Earache Relief”.. (Aside from the Advil, they’re all eardrops… These past couple days, btw, are possibly the first time I’ve ever poured anything into my ears.)

Eventually, blowing (with my nose pinched shut) to the point that I could feel whatever-it-is bubble in my ear without rupturing it (it’s a funny bubble feeling..cuz when I do the hard(slow) blowing, it feels like my ear’s collapsing inward a bit so that it blocks even more sound out), might have helped alleviate the pain a bit.
I woke up at 3am this (Wednesday) morning. The pain was worse than anything previous.. I was miserable. took an Advil. Tried the earache relief ear drops. let it sink into my ear… no improvement. miserable pain. tried shifting different positions. couldn’t fall back asleep though I was so tired.. the pain was too much. ended up taking another advil. put the the Auro-Dri ear drying aid in my ear.. no improvement. shifted around. miserable pain. must have eventually fallen asleep through the pain, cause I don’t recall it subsiding.
When I woke to my alarm for work, I was back to normal pain/discomfort.. Which is not at all fabulous, but at least I’m functional again and not simply writhing in agony.

Pretty sucky, yes.
And I still have to chew pretty gingerly (especially on right side of my mouth, though either side is felt by my right ear).

I don’t have a doctor, which is why I haven’t rushed off to see one.
Today I’m starting a regiment of “triple tickle cocktail”, which is three BioC’s, three garlics, three echiniceas.. every 3-4 hours. If things aren’t better by tomorrow, I will find a doctor/antibiotics.

[continued in part 3]