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ringringringringing in my ear.

azith28azith28 Registered User regular

Argh.

One of my ears appears to be getting infected. Ive had on and off ringing in it for a few days and wont be able to see my doctor for a few more but today its been going on solid since i woke up. Anyone know a suggested temporary fix for this? Short of jabbing a pen in my ear hole...which is on my list.

The only thing that gives me temporary relief is to open my mouth wide enough to swallow a shark, which isnt quite good office manners.

Stercus, Stercus, Stercus, Morituri Sum

Posts

  • EncEnc A Fool with Compassion Pronouns: He, Him, HisRegistered User regular
    Man, tinitus can be caused from everything from earwax to infection to perforation to natural, unfixable causes with how your ear is built, so it's a hard call.

    I'd say regularly wash your ear with warm, soapy water and get in to see a GP. If you have blockage they should have everything on site to flush your ear right there in the room. If you need antibiotics they should be able to confirm pretty quickly.

    If you are in the US and you cant see your GP quickly one of those "Centra Care" type walk in clinics could probably provide support faster (and more expensively) if it gets unbearable.

  • azith28azith28 Registered User regular

    Well I've had ear infections on a somewhat regular basis in my life...allergy problems from about age 5 to 25 had me with at least a yearly sinus or ear infection. so its very likely just fluid / blockage as ive seen it before, its just been awhile and I was curious if anyone knew any quick temp fixes to get me through the work day that i havent heard before. (Already tried gum).

    Stercus, Stercus, Stercus, Morituri Sum
  • EncEnc A Fool with Compassion Pronouns: He, Him, HisRegistered User regular
    If it is just blockage, you can get wax softener and an ear syringe at most grocery or pharmacies that should help you flush out your own ear short term. You should be extremely gentle if you use such and use clean (purified) water rather than tap. ~$5.00

  • tinwhiskerstinwhiskers Registered User regular
    Try hydrogen peroxide before to help break up the earwax. Also some real psuedo-ephedrine, not whatever bullshit they replaced it with, might help.

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  • DisruptedCapitalistDisruptedCapitalist I swear! Registered User regular
    If it's an infection you'll need antibiotics. Over-the-counter stuff won't work. See your doctor.

    "Simple, real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time." -Mustrum Ridcully in Terry Pratchett's Hogfather p. 142 (HarperPrism 1996)
  • The Black HunterThe Black Hunter The key is a minimum of compromise, and a simple, unimpeachable reason to existRegistered User regular
    As someone who has lost hearing in one and and is close to losing it in another;
    Don't go pouring shit in there, especially not bloody peroxide. Leave your wax alone and see a doctor asap.
    If you have a perforated eardrum, and fluid could deliver infection or damaging chemicals directly into your inner ear.

    The ringing sounds like tinnitus, tinnitus sucks and can last forever, I've had it for 11 years. Still isn't a good reason to pour chemicals into your ear without a doctor to say exactly what, how much or how often.

  • bwaniebwanie Posting into the void Registered User regular
    edited October 2015
    Another post towards "go see a doctor".

    Unless they diagnose that a simple blocking is the issue and give you the go on home-cleaning kits i'd hold off on going that route.

    bwanie on
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  • azith28azith28 Registered User regular
    I've seen a doctor. he says he didnt see much if any blockage in my ear and thinks it might be lingering effects of a viral infection. the day i posted this it was the most persistant and its gone back to being an on-and off again thing, which i dunno is a good thing or a bad.

    Stercus, Stercus, Stercus, Morituri Sum
  • Typhoid MannyTyphoid Manny Registered User regular
    so i was an idiot as a teenager and played extremely loudly in bands without any hearing protection, so i've had reasonably bad tinnitus for like more than a decade. the other month i found a really silly-sounding trick that actually works really well

    what you do is you put your hands over your ears such that your fingers only just touch on the back of your head. put your pointer fingers on top of your middle fingers, and then kinda snap them down onto your skull, so that you can hear them thumping. do this like twenty or thirty times and the ringing might not go away entirely, but it should be significantly less

    hope this helps, tinnitus is a major pain in the ass

    from each according to his ability, to each according to his need
    hitting hot metal with hammers
  • NoizlanifNoizlanif MMO-Whore Registered User regular
    so i was an idiot as a teenager and played extremely loudly in bands without any hearing protection, so i've had reasonably bad tinnitus for like more than a decade. the other month i found a really silly-sounding trick that actually works really well

    what you do is you put your hands over your ears such that your fingers only just touch on the back of your head. put your pointer fingers on top of your middle fingers, and then kinda snap them down onto your skull, so that you can hear them thumping. do this like twenty or thirty times and the ringing might not go away entirely, but it should be significantly less

    hope this helps, tinnitus is a major pain in the ass

    As someone with tinnitus, thank you! it mildly helps.

    Also, don't put stuff in your ears like q tips, or really anything, there's alot going on in there. What I find to help is olive oil, just a little bit, it helps to soften the wax in the ear so when you take a shower it helps to drain some of it out. I had some buildup a while ago, and gave it a shot dropped a few drops in a few minutes before shower time. It helped immensely afterward. YMMV tho!

  • PinfeldorfPinfeldorf Yeah ZestRegistered User regular
    Noizlanif wrote: »
    so i was an idiot as a teenager and played extremely loudly in bands without any hearing protection, so i've had reasonably bad tinnitus for like more than a decade. the other month i found a really silly-sounding trick that actually works really well

    what you do is you put your hands over your ears such that your fingers only just touch on the back of your head. put your pointer fingers on top of your middle fingers, and then kinda snap them down onto your skull, so that you can hear them thumping. do this like twenty or thirty times and the ringing might not go away entirely, but it should be significantly less

    hope this helps, tinnitus is a major pain in the ass

    As someone with tinnitus, thank you! it mildly helps.

    Also, don't put stuff in your ears like q tips, or really anything, there's alot going on in there. What I find to help is olive oil, just a little bit, it helps to soften the wax in the ear so when you take a shower it helps to drain some of it out. I had some buildup a while ago, and gave it a shot dropped a few drops in a few minutes before shower time. It helped immensely afterward. YMMV tho!

    A doctor of mine in Seattle said, "Don't put anything smaller than your elbow in your ears." Seems like sound advice.

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