Please help diagnose me! I'm going bananas!!

[fieryred33143]

For the past 2 weeks I have felt a pressure in my left ear that came and went and only when I was sleeping.

Last night it started and hasn't gone away! It's the pressure you feel when on a plane but a lot worse. I took a decongestant to see if that would help it but nothing. I can hardly hear out of it. And the ringing!!!! Make it go away please!!!!

I tried some drops from the pharmacy to see if it is wax build up but nothing. I have an intense week at work and won't see a doctor until Saturday if I'm lucky.

 

[random_thought]

I get this once in a while too and I think it is just like if you sleep on your arm funny? Mine tends to go away eventually. It definitely is not fun though, that is for sure! Feel better soon!!

 

[Kaleigh]

Fiery,
Oh the ear stuff drives me nutso. You said you can't see a doc till Saturday... Ask your pharmacist , I know there are meds for the ringing.. Not sure if they are Over the counter.. But best to ask.. I know how annoying it can be. I had a fluttering in my ear, like a moth was in it. It went away on it's own., But sure hade me freaked out...

 

[packrat]

They have herbal type drops to give kids when they have ear aches and swimmers ear, and I've used them when I've had weird ear issues. I pull on my earlobe and then push up on the bottom of my ear and sometimes that helps it open up and relieve the pressure and help get the drops in. I have to do both sides tho, even if the other side doesn't hurt or have pressure. I have to make it "even", and the feeling of drops in my ears makes me want to kick somebody in the shins but it seems to help. Ear things are horrible. Maybe try blowing your nose really hard..make yourself yawn really big..or..um..take the heel of your hand, turn it sideways the length of your ear right over the opening and push in and then take it off really fast-it makes a vacuum feeling and maybe that would help your ear to pop? Maybe lay on a heating pad on that side?

 

[Winks_Elf]

Do you have any other symptoms such as a running nose, headaches or fever? It sounds like an inner ear infection. Are you feeling any dizziness or off balance at all? The best thing you can do right now is manage the pain, and go see the doctor as soon as you can. Adults get swimmer's ear as well as other ear infections.

Feel better soon!

 

[SarahRN]

Any history of sinus or jaw problems? TMJ? Any new problems with balance? Dizziness? The things that come to mind are eardrum rupture , inner ear infection, or Meniere's disease. It could be something as benign as severe sinus pressure but with the tinnitus it's less likely. You can try nettipots. Buy the kit at a drugstore. It looks like a small blue kettle with saline packets that you put in and mix with warm water, then lean your head forward and let it run in one nare and out the other. For severe congestion you can try mixing two packets to make it hypertonic. If it's sinus-related you may feel some relief.

 

[SarahRN]

Also, not to scare you, but here's something I thought was important for you to see. I don't think you should wait until Saturday to get checked out, by any means.

Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSHL).
Sudden sensorineural hearing losses (SSHL) are medical emergencies. You need to see your ear specialist (preferably an otologist or neurotologist) immediately (not your family doctor—he is not qualified and it wastes precious time you don't have).

By definition, you have SSHL if you have a hearing loss that occurs within three days (often within minutes or an hour or two) and your hearing loss is greater than 30 dB over three adjacent octaves (test frequencies) as shown on your audiogram.

About one-third of the people with SSHL discover their hearing loss when they wake up in the morning. They go to bed with normal hearing, and in the morning they realize they are deaf in one or both ears! Fortunately, SSHL only affects both ears about 2-4% of the time. Other people discover their loss when they go to use the phone and realize they can't hear the phone with one ear any more.

SSHL may be almost instantaneous. In such cases, you may notice a loud sound or a loud "pop" just before your hearing disappears. You will also experience dizziness or vertigo 50% of the time and tinnitus (ringing in your ears) about 70% of the time. Incidentally, the intensity of your vertigo often roughly corresponds to the degree of your hearing loss. You might also have a feeling of fullness in your ear(s) and a headache.

How common is SSHL? It varies, but the average seems to be that about one person in 10,000 experiences SSHL in any given year.

 

[lulu]

I had the same thing last week. I kept taking sudafed thinking it was my sinuses, but it was allergies. I started taking an antihistamine and it went away.

 

[mayerling]

I had the same thing a couple of years back.

It involved severe pain in my ear for 2-3 months that no medicine could kill. I tried paracetamol, ibuprofen, even codeine, and nothing worked. I had my teeth checked thinking they were the cause. I had my ears checked. I did everything I could think of and nothing would make it go away. In the end I saw an ear, nose, and throat specialist who said that it was just a ligament on my jaw that was causing the problem. He gave me an analgesic cream which I applied 3 times a day for a few days, and the pain went away and never came back!

 

[fieryred33143]

Thank you for all of your suggestions. I have been feeling dizzy lately, not sure if it's related although I'm assuming it is. Someone suggested I check my blood pressure to make sure it isn't high. I have never had high blood pressure but I also haven't checked since having my daughter so it may very well be high now

 

[Little Monster]

Fiery,

You could have a inner/middle ear infection. They can cause an earache, headache, possible fever, feeling of "fullness" like you get from altitude, dizziness, vertigo, loss of balance, temporary hearing loss (or muffled hearing). Your doctor will take a quick look in your ear & write a wonderful antibiotic &/or ear drops script... symptoms go away pretty quickly (though never quickly enough!)

I don't have any at-home suggestions (except don't go swimming until you clear this up)... I hope you can get to your doctor sooner so it stops hurting -- I know that feeling & it is miserable!!

 

[TooPatient]

Scary. I never really thought about ear stuff being THAT severe... I knew it could be bad, but I didn't realize it could be that bad. Thanks for sharing this information.

Fiery,
I hope you can get this checked soon! Ear problems are never fun.

 

[Todd Gray]

Ear problems are a funny thing and they can be very difficult to diagnose. A few years ago I experienced sporadic ear pain in the form of what felt like somebody stabbing an ice pick into my left ear! Oh yea, it hurt bad. It started shortly after I got back from a scuba diving trip, so naturally I assumed I had damaged my ear drum during a dive and scheduled an appointment with an ear, nose, throat (ENT) specialist. With exception of noting that my septum was severely damaged from being broken 10 times (Water Polo Goalie in HS) the ENT could find nothing wrong, so he scheduled me for an MRI which also did not reveal anything wrong...

The day after the MRI, I ended up in the emergency room thinking that I was having a heart attack! I had dropped to the floor of the shower with really intense shooting pains in my ears, across my chest and traveling down my arms and legs. Thankfully I had not had a heart attack, the cardiologist ran a bunch of tests and determined that I had been born with mitral valve prolapse which means that the mitral valve of my heart is a little larger than it is supposed to be and apparently when I'm stressed, it bangs a little harder and causes all kinds of bizarre side effects including a severe stabbing pain in my left ear. The body is an amazing and sometimes very strange thing.

 

[radiantquest]

I would go to the doctor as soon as possible. It could be as simple as wax deep down inside that is blocking it or something more serious. Although many of us are able to give advice a Dr could do a way better job since they can physically look in your ear. Hope things go well. Please come back and let us know what it is.

 

[redfaerythinker]

Definitely go to an ENT doctor. I had those same symptoms once and my eardrum ruptured because of the pressure. Never go to a GP for ear problems. I did once, when my ENT was on vacation, and they took one look, and said "Yeah, I'm not gonna touch that".