My ear is killing me- so blocked!

[4pmwinetimebebeh]

I posted recently about a cold thats been going on and on and on. Feeling slightly better by my left ear is now completely blocked.
I used otex drops for 2 days with no change. Went to GP who said ear looked a bit red but not infected, eardrum obscured by wax so likely that blocking it. My friend lent me a device with a camera to try and remove this myself (be gentle I know these arent great and I really regret it now)- this didnt work.

I just cant hear a thing out one ear. Do I use more otex? Use olive oil? Otravine spray (is that right sp?). Do I book for micro suctioning? I know it sounds stupid but its really affecting my life i cant hear my kids properly, I work with the general public and just can't hear anyone properly. Today my ear is aching where we prodded it yeserday and I just feel very stupid and sorry for myself!

My neighbour is a ENT consultant and my son used to get a blocked ear a lot when he was little. You get sodium bicarbonate ear drops from boots. In a little glass bottle with a dropper. Worked a treat for hard ear wax if that’s why yours is blocked.

https://www.boots.com/care-sodium-bicarbonate-ear-drops-10ml-10301739?traffic=paid.shopping&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=19965642474&gbraid=0AAAAA-AdmwQDYd2gy-zL1Ciuup3CZWIKg&gclid=Cj0KCQjwlMfABhCWARIsADGXdy-1VZTlmQljbMM9ArfikhAtpHu7hPGUSfZyvmCD1grqPOQnYJ_72FwaAqNvEALw_wcB

I agree with sodium bicarbonate ear drops, tip your head slightly so the liquod stays in and wait for the magic to happen!

Keep on with the drops for a few days and try to book an appointment for microsuctioning. I had this a couple of years ago and it was thoroughly miserable. A week of Otex Express helped a bit but microsuctioning sorted it out in minutes. Try a decongestant as well, in case your middle ear is congested.

Specsavers microsuction is about 50 quid and you can return at no more charge if they don't get it all the first time. Worth it in my opinion. I agree it's awful being blocked.

Thank you so much honestly Im so miserable your kind replies have made me well up. going to get some sodium bicarb ear drops today and try for a few days and book for micro suction next week if no job. Too nervous to go before then as my ear is so sore and Im fairly certain they will refuse to do it at the mo!

I brought one of these, best £15 spent ever. Before that I’d have to pay £80 to get it syringed by a nurse.

https://amzn.eu/d/2R4TUJg

microsuction!

look up an ear clear clinic near you or a optician with audiology.
costs a little but very worth it.
if something looks funny with your ear they will give you a summary you can take to your gp for further investigation or treatment.

If you can't hear a thing i.e. complete hearing loss, you need to speak to your GP or 111 urgently in case of sensorineural hearing loss.

If it's severe muffling but you can hear and feel like your ears won't unblock with a valsalva manoeuvre, if might be eustachian tube blockage due to your recent illness. The eustachian tubes aerate your inner ear and can become blocked with e.g. viruses/coryzal illnesses.

I would stop any decongestants - these can cause a paradoxical increase in secretions after a few days, and consider using beconase nasal spray (steroid nasal spray) from a pharmacy to open up the tubing and allow the inner ear to aerate/dry out. That may improve symptoms.

Your eardrum isn't occluded with wax - your GP said so. I really can't see the rationale for otex/sodium bicarbonate drops/olive oil or micro suction.

If you're getting to persistent internal ear pain, GP may wish to look again and prescribe otigo (local anaesthetic drops).

@LovingLimePeer thank you for this- sorry the GP did say it was occluded by wax, someone else suggested beconase so I might try that too

My mistake - read your entry as tympanic membrane not obscured in error. Micro suction likely better than drops in this circumstance. As GP can't visualise tympanic membrane they wouldn't be able to exclude a perforation.

I used beconase to clear a blocked ear after a string of colds. Took a good couple of months to clear but it does work.

I've been there OP, I couldn't work! I went for microsuxtuon and it was too stuck so I had to do ear drops and go back, keep the ear drops up and book an appt for a few days when it's loosened.

strange thing To
come on here and see this

I've got the same problem. I had a cold a couple of weeks ago and I nearly booked a micro suction but it went from blocked to fine in just one day.

Now I wish I had booked because it's gone really bad again but in the other ear.

I actually rang round this morning and everywhere seems to be fully booked for a couple of weeks! I did try otex in the meantime and it didn't help.

I'm not sure what to do now because with it being a different ear, it may just be that my cold hasn't gone.

I'm so confused what the right thing is to do. I have had my ears micro suctioned before. But I hadn't had a cold, it was just one ear blocked with wax.

I really don't want to risk buying a kit online and sticking something in my ear myself.

@Huckleberries yes my other side was blocked first! Now it’s switched. I know it’s a waiting game but honestly today has been such a pain ear is agony ringing and blocked. Dreading work tomorrow. I feel like im shouting or whispering and can’t regulate my volume my patients will think I’m mad!

Put vicks in a bowl of hot water and inhale the steam ( put a towel over your head and the bowl) do this several times a day. It should shift it immediately are you drinking plenty of fluids? To keep things moving in your tubes. Also using a straw to drink helps.

Sending you sympathy

@4pmwinetimebebeh that suggest it's a cold doesn't it? It's switching sides.

I don't know. I'll see how I feel in the morning. I hope you feel better as well. I hadn't thought about regulating volume. Thank you for saying that - I'll be aware of it tomorrow.

@LovingLimePeer can I clarify what you said about decongestants: so even pseudoephedrine tablets can cause an increase in secretions? My professional, but limited, understanding is that decongestant nasal sprays (so not Beconase for anyone else reading this) can cause rebound congestion but not tablets. I'm not an ENT doctor or audiologist so my question is about checking my understanding, not questioning you as such.

Interesting question - never seen it with oral decongestants, typically topical. Looking at the Wikipedia page for rhinitis medicamentosa, it can be caused with use of certain oral sympathomimetic amine drugs, of which examples are sudofed/oxymetolazine but looking at the BNF info, it doesn't break side effects down between oral and topical.

@LovingLimePeer Your experience fits with my understanding. I had a few minutes spare earlier today so had a quick search.

journalotohns.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40463-019-0392-1#:~:text=Rhinitis%20medicamentosa%20(RM)%20is%20a%20non%2Dallergic%20form,prolonged%20use%20of%20topical%20nasal%20decongestants%20[1].

casereports.bmj.com/content/14/11/e247051

Does indeed appear to be decongestant sprays.

The bicarb bottle drops and pipette cleared mine dr prescribed. You have to do it a lot squeezing whooshing and suction works

If it’s blocked after a heavy cold, it’s not wax that’s causing the deafness, it’s gunk in your Eustachian tube. Drops won’t help much. I had exactly the same a few months ago, tried every ear drop on the market, nothing worked. My ear gradually cleared itself after about three weeks. Try holding your nose and blowing. That can help.

I watched youtube video showing how to clear blocked ears I tried them out really helped and the bicarb drops being whooshed in using pipette