Ear Ache

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Dawn Patrol
Dawn Patrol
WA
1991 posts
WA, 1991 posts
27 Oct 2008 5:53am
Well, felt sick for the past few days, and felt like i was better last night (this night) . Woke up at 1am with a slight pain, and instantly know, ahhhh crap here we go....
4hours of intense pain, and it released. Nothing beats the feeling. It almost makes it worth it. The crackling, squeaking, bubbling releasing sound it the sound of freedom. Freedom from the killer pain. Freedom to go back to sleep.
I used to have ear ache quite often when i was younger, until i was perhaps 9-11yrs old. Then i didnt have on for years. The first one being last year. I thought ear aches were something that people out grow, i guess not for me. Nearly every time i get sick i have one now. It must be because i get such a blocked up head.

So, does anyone have any pain relief/speed up the process to the release techniques? Normally i put a rice bag thing in the microwave, and the heat makes it less painful. Turns out that exploded in the microwave in the near history so i had no relief tonight.
I got some chewy gum though, just to keep the jaw moving, which seemed to help. And also put in Top Gun so i had something to keep my mind off the pain (love that movie).
Also took a couple of nurofens. Amazingly i havn't OD'ed on that stuff over the past few days. But it provides a laughable relief from the pain.

fearsome
fearsome
22 posts
22 posts
27 Oct 2008 9:37am
Have this problem occur from time to time and always it seems before I have to get on a flight somewhere.
DO NOT try to equalize the pressure in the ear using the technique that divers employ by holding nose and breathing out with mouth shut. When I was younger I did this after a day of nagging ear ache at work. Left ear equalized and seemed to improve the feeling but the right one wouldn't equalize so blew harder. Wrong!!! Much higher air pressure got past the mucus plug in the eustation tube and made the ear 10 times worse. After about 10 minutes of this eye watering fun got a sharp pain like someone was driving a wooden skewer into my eardrum, the hissing and bubbling noise of the release of air and promptly fell over.
My high pressure air plug was unable to pass the blockage in the eustation tube so it went through the ear drum tearing the membrane and out to atmosphere. Torn inner media I believe the ENT nurse at Freo Emergency called it. My very bored work colleagues seeing me fall over (due to a loss of balance from the ear rupture) and then blood coming out of one ear thought that i had suffered some sort of head injury and got the onsite ambulance to take me to the hospital.
As for the correct way to clear these, you are on the right track. Chewing gum or beef jerky is what I use after I go for a dive and have a bit of residual pressure, also the swallowing action can help some people and I have always found on the plane when I get this that moving my head around in circles and stretching the neck sideways away from the side that is giving you grief then nodding the head backwards and forwards does the trick.
Hope these help, cause ear ache is right up there with tooth pain as the most annoying.
Dawn Patrol
Dawn Patrol
WA
1991 posts
WA, 1991 posts
27 Oct 2008 1:40pm
fearsome said...
[
DO NOT try to equalize the pressure in the ear using the technique that divers employ by holding nose and breathing out with mouth shut. When I was younger I did this after a day of nagging ear ache at work. Left ear equalized and seemed to improve the feeling but the right one wouldn't equalize so blew harder. Wrong!!! Much higher air pressure got past the mucus plug in the eustation tube and made the ear 10 times worse. After about 10 minutes of this eye watering fun got a sharp pain like someone was driving a wooden skewer into my eardrum, the hissing and bubbling noise of the release of air and promptly fell over.



Yeh I've learnt that the painful way also. Except my ear drum didnt pop, the pressure just stayed there. My mum used to encourage me to do this....
I've also read that blowing a hair dryer on hot setting into the ear makes it feel better. But at 3am in the morning, the rest of the house won't be happy. I always get them at night time.
Now I have one ear that works well, and the other one sounds like an echoing robot, and feels really hollow. And is constantly ringing. Could be worse I guess.

user
user
WA
1140 posts
WA, 1140 posts
27 Oct 2008 7:02pm
No wonder you suffer from ear aches,if you keep watching Top Gun !!
hills
hills
SA
1622 posts
SA, 1622 posts
27 Oct 2008 10:44pm
A guy at work has re-occuring ear problems and he thinks he's going to have to have grommets. Its the first time I've heard of an adult having them. My son had to have 2 lots when he was younger.
Dawn Patrol
Dawn Patrol
WA
1991 posts
WA, 1991 posts
27 Oct 2008 11:36pm
user said...

No wonder you suffer from ear aches,if you keep watching Top Gun !!

Haha. But its pretty much my favourite movie of all time.
Yeh my sister had grommets because she had really bad ear infections. They seemed to fix her up.

I think it is weird an adult needing them. I really thought it was a thing that was outgrown. And i thought i was over it when i didn't have one for around 5yrs.

Its just a major pain in the butt.

Speaking of bad pains, anyone heard of cluster headaches? I came across these on the net, and lets just say I'm happy with the odd ear ache. These things sound like the worst thing imaginable. Chuck it into google, its kinda scary.
getfunky
getfunky
WA
4485 posts
WA, 4485 posts
28 Oct 2008 6:04pm
Be wary of grommets - they do work for many but create havoc too. Apparently they are not in vogue with many medical folks these days.

Ear infections are a major hassle for me as my ears are my work. Luckily I don't get them often at all, hope you find a solution Dawny.
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