My DC(6) has a blocked eardrum. I have already taken her to the GP's practice nurse (who said impacted wax, just use olive oil and it will pop out) and to A&E later when she seemed to be in much greater pain than before. She was given amoxicillin at A&E but the doctor said the same thing as the nurse, that she had a wax blockage covering her eardrum quite a long way down (he thought it might be infected as well).
No fever, fine when painkillers are working but in bits when they wear off, which is happening a bit earlier than I would expect. They then take ages to kick in. She is taking paracetamol and ibuprofen alternately and we are also massaging with olive oil drops as directed.
I would take her to get the wax removed privately (NHS will not do it) but she has to have been using the drops for at least 2 weeks first and also not have an infection so she needs to finish this course of ABx first.
I really just want to have an idea of whether this level of pain is something that can happen when your ear is blocked, or whether I can/should be asking for anything else in terms of treatment or diagnosis?
I'm very happy to be told that sometimes impacted earwax just hurts and we just have to sit it out until we can get the wax removed, but it's not much fun for anyone right now so any experiences would be appreciated.