I woke up at 2 am this morning (as I have for the past four days) to a completely pressure-blocked left ear and throbbing pain inside of it among other symptoms of this illness that has ruined every day since Christmas eve. Actually, my ear had been backed up since I got back from Morongo, with the drive back home on intensifying it. A hot shower upon return seemed to do just the trick. My right ear would feel fantastic for the next 12 hours but the same can't be said of my left. Before bed (Around 11, with this sickness, I could barely keep my eyes open after) my left ear started acting up again and I prescribed that it would be fine with a good night's rest. I was wrong.
So how did I assess the situation at 2 in the morning? First I heated up a mug of water and drank it. It helped clear my stuffed nose and ease my coughing, but had no effects on my ears. I head back to bed. Come 4 am, I wake up again this time with pain in my blocked left ear. I decided to whip out my iPad and do some research. Here is one of the articles I found:
www.md-health.com/Pressure-In-Ear.html
I derived my own solution that seemed to work from the suggestions written in the article. At 4, I heated another mug of water. This time my throat and nasal cavities weren't as clogged up with mucus. I inhaled the steam from the water which cleared up my blocked nose, and then I turned my head to the side with the affected ear facing down and plopped it over the mouth of the cup. And I waited. I heard the telltale crackle in my ear and lifted my head and yawned a bit. It cleared a little. I repeated the steps again and again until finally, my left ear was more or less crystal clear! This however still left the biting pain in the middle of my ear which I had no choice but to assess during the day.
My diagnosis? Based on bits and pieces of information I gathered over the internet, I believe it had to do with mucus buildup. I had been hacking and sniffling all night. The article mentions something about diluting mucus to relieve pressure in the ears.
Mind you, I doubt that the general population suffers from a pressure backed ear from the cold but I've suffered from ear problems since childhood (I can hear crackling most of the time when I swallow or yawn and I'm constantly having to do so to clear my ears) and based on the article, I believe that I have Eustachian Tube Dysfunction. I'll save the story for another time, but I certainly didn't have the problem when I was born. I developed the issue in second or third grade. It's never been severe enough to disrupt my day to day life (even in my first year of college where I was catching colds left and right) but this holiday was the exception.
I'm doing slightly better now, except for the fact that my right ear is starting to act up and my throat is still very raw. Mucus continues to build up and I have chill spells. My appointment to see a doctor is still set for tomorrow to check for an ear infection. I've also canceled my RSVP to a friend's New Year's Eve party.
I hope I've done my duty to inform those of you who are in situations similar to mine and hope for a speedy recovery.
Regards,
Black Hat Lex
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