What could be wrong with my ear? I had a lot of problems last saturday when I flew with blocked ears. They were blocked because of swelling, not mucus. The mucus hadn`t developed then although it has now - at least it has in the sinuses and nose. There is no infection (according to a walk in centre on Sat) and no perforation (according to the GP yesterday) I have had a lot of tinnitus and muffledness and a slight loss of hearing though. The right ear clears when I hold my nose and blow but the left one doesn`t. It did seem to have settled a bit but a little while ago, I bent down to crawl under the sink for something and now the ear is back being as uncomfortable (hissing, ringing and a blocked, deaf feeling) as it was last Saturday. Could I have done some permanent damage to my ear?
I am no medical expert but I had a similar problem recently that lasted for weeks and the thing that fixed it was pressure, we were driving and I had to pop my ears and it solved the issue.
It sounds like congestion which I had recently. There's probably fluid in the eustation tube and that can takes weeks to work its way out. Sugared might help.
Thanks. What`s puzzling me is the feeling that something has moved and is pressing against the drum. I`ve been through the Ottrivine/Sudafed/Ipuprofen stage since last saturday and it hasn`t made much difference. It`s just this weird muffled, ringing deafness - I`ve never had it before even when I`ve had barotrauma.
Thanks. I might go back on the Sudafed then. I don`t have flixonase (I think you can only get steroid sprays from the GP so I`m surpised she didn`t suggest it. She did say the ear drum was a bit red so I hope it`s not developing into Otitis Media. I do have Fluticasone which I have used in the past week but I`m not sure how effective it is because I had it for hay fever. I weaned myself off the Otirivine because (like Sudafed spray etc) it clears the nose beautifully but when it wears off, the inflammation comes back two fold.