Ear completely blocked/sinustitis

[mollyminniemo]

Hello
I have basically had recurring sinusitis since December. I've had 3 rounds of anti-biotics, it cleared with the last, 3 day course of the expensive stuff they never want to give you at first- only to return last week after catching a cold from DS. It could just be a cold, but I've had the runny nose for a week now. Then last week after removing a waxy earplug (not the foam types) my ear kind of popped and was half blocked, then seemed to get worse and now I literally cant hear a THING from my left ear. This has been 4 days now. I've been to doctor, she refused me more antibiotics. She looked in ear, saw wax, told me to use warm olive oil and that it would restore in time. But nothing works. I've never had a completely blocked ear like this where I cant hear anything or for this long.

Has this happened to anyone else? Any tips on clearing it please? I'm getting very upset with dealing with this now and also a bit worried! Thanks.

Eustachian tube dysfunction? I get it maybe once every two years. It's horrible and there's no cure as far as I know. When I get it I take antihistamines, ibuprofen and this nasal spray. All bought over the counter.

buster thanks so much! I will try all of this. How long did your ear take to heal? So do you get the combination of sinusitis/blocked ear too with this?
It seems to have only happened to me in the past year but at intense periods of stress ie. after my daughters birth, at Christmas when run down/no sleep with baby, now as returning to work...

I will get all 3 of those things on my lunch break, thankyou

Get all 3 for sure, it takes about two weeks. The nasal spray and antihistamines are vital! Is your own voice really loud? Can you hear yourself eat to the point that you hate eating?

Buster yes! To be honest I love my food but blocked nose/ear has seriously drained my appetite. So irritating!

Welcome to the world of the dreaded ETD!!!!!

You get it when you are run down, are recovering from a cold, times of stress, maybe environmental! I just don't know, I'm not a vision of health mind you as I've also got Crohn's so I'm pretty f**ked in that department! 😂

If you have an ear full of wax, it will need to be syringed after a week of olive oil treatment - that could solve the problem.

I personally would try not to go down the syringe route. I had mine done when I was about 4 and I often wonder if that was the start of my ear problems!

And this doesn't sound like ear wax blockage!

has your hearing totally gone? I would go back to GP to get referred to ENT. There can be other and more serious reasons for a sudden and total hearing loss.

MissAdaSmith - Beat me to it. DH had sudden single sided hearing loss 18 months ago. Because it coincided with a severe cold, it was wrongly assumed to be temporary. He was prescribed strong steroids once the GP realised that his hearing loss in that ear was total, rather than partial, as that has been proven to occasionally help with reducing the severity of sudden senorineural hearing loss, but by then it was already past the very short window of there being any chance of it helping. An MRI ruled out anything like a tumour or vascular cause, so that leaves the most likely cause as being a viral infection that has permanently damaged his auditory nerve.

OP - can you try this quick test for me, please, and it should help work out whether you're experiencing a conductive hearing loss (such as described by a PP and hopefully the case!) or whether it could actually be sensorineural hearing loss:

Acute conductive hearing loss is generally not an emergency, but acute SNHL absolutely is. A simple test can often make this distinction. The patient who reports acute unilateral hearing loss is instructed to hum out loud and is then asked which side hears the voice better. Conductive hearing loss will lateralize sound (seem louder) to the blocked ear, while a sensorineural loss will lateralize sound to the good ear. Thus, one can remember that “hearing the humming in the bad ear is good and hearing it in the good ear is bad.”

Glue ear?