Ok, I don't know how many of you this has ever happened to, but it is the second time for me.
My ear is completely plugged with a big yucky mess of ear wax. I can't hear a darned thing, I keep shouting 'what' at the kids, and it feels like some vindictive insect spent the night jamming himself firmly and disgustingly in my ear canal along with several of his closest friends.
That's how I woke up this morning, God only know what happened last night, and YES, I stuck my finger in my ear this morning to try and find out what is going on, indeed I have about a thousand times today because it is driving me NUTS!
And YES, I know. Nothing in your ear smaller than your elbow. So don't tell me I should have left well enough alone.
I know.
You walk around with Winnie-ther-Poo wedged half inside your head, and don't touch, go on, I challenge you.
Now back in Canada, my lovely Doctor hosed out my ear with warm water and out came a really gross soupy mess, and low and behold I could hear, and hear well. If felt a little chilly afterwards, but bless me, I felt better.
The doctor here says he cannot do that, we need to use some fancy vacuum thingy (god forbid, a Hoover attached to my head), and of course it is only available in the next town and not until Monday.
That would be the day of my oral Catalan exam. The one I won't be able to hear.
Ho hum.
The Doc told me (I think he told me, the man only spoke Spanish, which I still find a struggle) that I should drip water into my ear three times a day and in a week or so I'll be good as new. Now let me tell you I want to get pee-wee plug-my-head out of there a great deal sooner than that Thankyouverymuch.
SO
Like everyone else out there, I did a little internet search about my problemo....seems I have some options, indeed that hosing out the ears with water thing that the Canadian Doc did is quite the approved home remedy...as is softening the goopy, well not goopy, rather hard and lumpy mess with a little oil, preferably olive oil. I swear, they are going to discover that olive oil fixes EVERYTHING.
Are you enjoying this post yet or are you all off gagging somewhere in the background never to return?
Anywhoooo,
I went in and used a handy-dandy give-the-kids-the-correct-dose syringe thingy to spray some water around, with extremely limited results..except that eldest swore she is never ever taking pain killer from THAT syringe again...
Now I am perched deafly on the couch, with my head tilted to one side waiting for the newly applied olive oil to work it's magic. Then maybe I will be free to hear again, and I may understand the instructions at the exam on Monday.
I am such a loser,
it is a wonder I can type at all.
I did however manage to post a new slide show with a geometric kind of theme from the trip south. It is on that side bar, and maybe, if you click on it, it will get large enough to see it without a microscope...all three of you left at the end of this disgusting post.
10 comments:
Oh I love this subject!! LOL Many years ago I remember getting furious at my dear hubby when we were driving on the Autobahn... telling him that he should speak up because I was sick of him whispering all the time. And so it went for about 2 months.... me getting more irrational about people muttering... then I got a fab dose of Tonsillitos (?) and was sent to the Ear/nose/throat specialist. "It is a wonder that you can hear anything at all Mrs LULU... one ear is completely compacted with wax and the other is almost there.... when he cleared it all out I felt like I was living in a rock concert for a few hours... so loud! Boy did I feel like a boof! Hopefully it will be better for you tomorrow.. warm olive oil.. try to sleep on that side. Amazing how something so little can make you so miserable.
Olive oil is traditional , though in the UK the chemists sell something to soften up the wax and nowadays the doctors hardly ever syringe your ears anymore, they let the softening up process gradually dislodge all the gunk. Not as spectacular or as quick. Sympathies anyway
Try Otocerum, you can find it in any pharmacy, it's supposed to soften up the wax so it'll come out. Hope that helps. :)
never had the issue, but yes, I know some people who have, and yes, they used the "magical hot water" thing. And it worked. I don't know why your doctors here wouldn't do it. I just hope you'll get better enough for your exam on monday :/
You are NOT a loser for having wax in your ear! I used to get it a lot after swimming underwater every summer. I let the doctor deal with it - I was terrified of damaging my ear.
Best of luck because it is a drag!
(Hope the exam goes well despite the temporary hearing loss.)
I once saw the results of ear candling when a friend did it. It was gross but it sure got out a lot of stuff. You can check it out here:
Rattling Around
Ever since our kids were little, each time I go to the doctor, he tells me my ears are full of wax, and he can flush them out if I want. I am completely spooked by the procedure, so have never had it done. Now when I had 4 kids under 6, he told me they were waxy and he could fix it so I could hear better. I said "I have 4 kids under 6 and you think I want to hear better?" He told me to use warm mineral oil, and tells me this every time. Whenever I feel it as bad a 'Winnie the Pooh stuck in Rabbits entrance', I get my elbow (okay a Q-tip) and dip it in baby oil (pour on the baby oil) and do a bunch of digging around. Some comes out, and I make sure it is quite soaked at the end. In the night, with laying on each side, the heat softens the wax (not so it comes out), so in the shower, I can clean it out in the morning. I do this every month or so, but it doesn't seem to make a difference when I go to the doctor, perhaps if I do it a couple days before my checkup. I hope you get it cleared up before your test.
I don't know if this was a fluke or not, but a while ago I had ear wax and a sore ear and I remembered a friend of my dad's used to stick garlic cloves in his ears when they were sore (I know it sounds nuts).
Anyway, I gently smashed a clove of garlic so it still all held together and kept it in my ear for an hour or so... finally it was driving me nuts and it was uncomfortable and it smelled so I took it out and there, attached to it, was a huge chunk of ear wax (gross I know but so was your post!)
Since desperate times call for desperate measures, you might want to give it a go.
Good luck!
(I'm kind of embarrassed that the first time I commented on your blog was about ear wax but oh well. I visit now and then through Trish.)
Lynda, I feel so much better. That was hilarious....your poor husband....I can just picture myself screaming at people to just stop muttering d*mn it!
Helen, thank you very much...the olive oil seems to have worked, and then my husband had the frankly brilliant idea of having a hot hot bath...I spent an hour with my head submerged, waving water at my ear, I am sure some Ear nose throat guy is shuddering, but you know what? I can hear today, and I could after the bath as well....
Theresa, thank you very much indeed for that brand name, not knowing them adds to the challenge. As I can hear today, I am going to leave well enough alone until after the exam, then I will probably get some of that stuff and see if I cannot solve this once and for all. It is still uncomfortable, but I can hear.
Elpadawan, he may have been concerned that my ear drum was ruptured, in which case hosing water around is a bad idea....I wish he had done it though anyway.
Beth, thank you, it does feel like a kind of freaky sort of unwellness...
Sirdar, I went and looked, your right that was gross...though it looked effective, I have heard of ear candling before, it seems dangerous, what with lit candles and hair all in the same location...
Dawn, "I have 4 kids under 6 and you think I want to hear better?"
HA HA HA HA
Thanks for the tips in reality...
Michele, thanks for coming by...the idea does sound kind of weird, but frankly if it works....I'd try...it cannot do much harm...though I would hate to try to explain to a doctor (in Spanish) why I have a crushed garlic clove jammed in my ear and I cannot get it out....
yeah, you chimed in for the first time on ear wax, but it was also to help. Thanks for coming by, and your blogs look fascinating...and yummy.
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