Doing the see a doctor?/wait it out? dance

[mollyfin]

I've developed a very annoying symptom.  Over the last few days my right ear has been feeling clogged and I can't hear clearly out of it.  Didn't think much of it, since I get this feeling a lot in my left ear and figured it was more of the same on the other side.  But now I have a high-pitched ringing and if I tilt my head to the right there's a thundering whooshing noise.  Sometimes it matches my heartbeat but occasionally it's constant.

Is this a see a doctor thing?  I'm trying not to google but I don't want to do damage to my hearing (especially since my right ear is the one that hears better) if something could actually be wrong.  Little to no pain, unless you count the constant high-pitched shriek in one ear.

[megaT]

Sounds annoying.....  Could it possibly be a wax blockage ??

[sassparella]

Yes I was going to say that, or a bit of an infection in the ear that has maybe caused a build up of fluid. Either way it's easy enough to sort out, but if it continues it might be worth going to the docs in case you need antibiotics or your ear syringing out.

[hamsterswheel]

Have you had a cold?

Usually it's ether a build up wax or fluid/mucus. Can be from sinuses, cold, post nasal drip etc.

This is common for me and usually I take decongestant tablets for a few days and it clears it up.

I'm going through it just now only mine is severe and is related to my pregnancy. Last week it got so bad I couldn't heard at all out my left ear and it wouldn't pop when i held my nose and blew out. Try this.

Anyway doc finally gave me a decongestant that is safe as I'm at end of my preg. Not even been on them a week and wow what a difference!

You can buy them over counter, sudafed etc.

[livelaughlove]

Do you clench your jaw a lot or grind your teeth at night? Back in december i could have sworn i had an ear infection. But the doc looked in my ear and said it looked completely normal, no redness or infection. So i must have been clenching my jaw when i was sleeping. I put a heating pad on my jaw/ear and it went away in a few days. My ear felt clogged and hurt really bad, but also my jaw hurt on the same side near the joint.

[marc]

I agree with hamsterswheel and livelaughlove. My ENT physician told me that in many instances the
cause of ears ringing is never found. I have had this myself when I had an ear infection, sinus issues,
a cold, post nasal drip, etc.

[mollyfin]

It seems to be resolving on its own so I'll leave it.  I do have a lot of jaw tension and pain, so it could be related to that, and I have allergies and a lot of congestion recently.  My head is still cloggy but that horrid ringing sound is gone so I'll let it go and see what happens.

[hypomom]

I've had this and with ME it was a bit of water that got trapped behind a clog of hardened wax. Take your oposing hand and bring it around behind your head and pull your ear backwards and lean with your head toward your shoulder and shake your head hard. It dislodged the wax for me and let the water out. It's SO annoying!

[mollyfin]

That's also a possibility since I'd been trying to flush the ear out pretty recently.  I'll give that a try and see if anything happens - I do have a tendency towards earwax clogs.  I wish I had one of those powerful syringes my doctor uses to flush them out...it'd be so much easier than trying to use ear drops and hoping they work (they never do).

[hypomom]

I have them often too. You can buy those syringes at a pet supply store  I got one at Tractor Supply !

[Slangevar]

Mine got bad enough that I finally went into the doctor to get an ear lavage (where they use the syringe on you). I had two big globs of wax in there that were blocking my hearing and making it hard for my ears to drain.

Now that they're clearer, I stay away from Q-tips and use Mucinex whenever I feel my ears getting a little cloggy. It clears them right up.