Hearing Problem

[Ifeelspace]

Hello watmms, I've had an issue with my hearing in my right ear for the past few months, which is really destroying my love for music and getting me down :(

 

My right ear always has a 'full' feeling and everything sounds 'muddy'.  It feels like I can only hear parts of the sounds in that ear (I only really notice drums in left ear, not the right).  If I remove my right headphone I can tell there is less noise, but it feels different to when I remove the headphone from the good ear.

 

I've had a number of ear infections over the years, with a particularly nasty one last year at which point they gave me gentamicin to take for 7 days.  I know this can be ototoxic, but i'm hoping it hasn't trashed my ear for good.

 

When I do the valsalva manouevre I sometimes get a 'crackling' in the affected ear and it feels like it pops without me swallowing, almost like the air is escaping (but the 'pop' is never as clear as in the other ear).  Is it possible that I have a perforated eardrum that wont heal?

 

I do have a doctor's appointment booked (unfortunately not until the week after next) but I've left it too long for an emergency appointment to be of benefit.

 

Just wondered if anyone had experienced similar issues in the past.  Have I buggered my right ear with all the bassy music I have listened to over the years? 

 

Sympathy/advice/mocking encouraged,

 

Cheers

[TubularCorporation]

After an ear infection, fluid often builds up behind the ear drum and can take a month or more to clear.  It sucks but it's totally normal, happened to me for 6 weeks once.  It shouldn't be permanent or cause any damage, but it can last a long time.  If it hasn't changed in a few weeks or if it develops in your other ear to, you should check in with your doctor, and if it's really stubborn they can make a little incision in your ear drum and drain the fluid out, which is routine and harmless but according to every person I know who's had it done it hurts quite a bit.

[Ivan Ooze]

i hope it passes man, sucks

i'v been having a weird sharp pain in my left ear that comes and goes for 2 years now, mostly have it for like a week after i played music in the living room too ridiculous loud, think it might be by the subwoofer

[koolkeyZ865]

It could possibly be a buildup of ear wax inside your ear, especially if your body produces a lot of it. After several weeks of concern from my right ear being significantly "duller" than my left, I had it checked out during my physical. When the doc checked out my ear so much ear wax had accumulated that he couldn't even see my ear drum. Pretty disgusting thing to admit to WATMM but it could be a possibility.

[TubularCorporation]

Probably what happened is you had another ear infection that was mild enough you didn't actually feel it, but it caused fluid to build up.  That's what mine was like.

 

According to the doctors I've talked to about it over the years, they don't start to consider it worrisome until it's gone on for more than 3 months or so without any improvement, but even then it's not out of the realm of possibility.  A friend of my parents had it last for two years and then go away quickly in a matter of days, and someone I know through work had it for a couple months this spring, both from minor ear infections and both completely temporary.

 

 

There are serious conditions that can start that way but they're exceptionally rare and you'd probably have other, more serious symptoms by now.

[Squee]

Second the building up of fluids - or maybe your ears are simply all waxed up. I'm not gonna recommend you to do anything before you've visited your doctor, but my old doctor gave me a trick once. I woke up one morning and couldn't hear jackshit on my right ear. I tried flushing it with that wax solvent liquid but nothing helped. My doctor then told me that since I had just had a cold and have allergy it was probably a bunch of wax that has built up in the inner ear. And this wax has the consistency of mashed apples. So he told me to pour myself a glass of water, take a good sip of it, keep it in my mouth, then with two fingers clam my nose shut, and then swallow. This creates a vacuum and sucks out the wax from the inner ear and down into your throat. It's disgusting but holy shit did it work.

 

I used that trick again late last year because once night my left ear got so clogged that I could barely keep my balance. 

[user]

Echoing what others said; it's probably a buildup of fluids and or wax.

 

I walked around with a sloshing ear for about three years before getting it checked out by my doctor. He cleaned it, after one spray with the watergun he took  a look inside and said "holy shit, there's more" and had to do a second cleaning. A plug of about 3 cm came out. The feeling afterwards was incredible, it was like getting a new ear, the biggest downside is that the hearing in that ear has never caught up completely to the other one.

A couple of years after getting it cleaned I asked my doctor if he could look at his notes and tell me which ear was the clogged one because I forgot. His only note for the session was "unbelievable amount of wax".       

[Guest Chesney]

You may have damage but does sound like a buildup. Hopefully it's not a nest of tiny spiders! Stranger things have happened in ears.

Def get it probed by a professional.

 

I have an in built lpf in my left ear which I don't notice listening to music, I don't think. But when it's quiet in bed if I turn over I can tell a signifcant difference in what I hear.

Pretty sure it's permantent damage from standing to the right of my bro's drums gigging for many years.

 

Hope yours gets sorted man! keep us posted.

[joshuatxuk]

It could possibly be a buildup of ear wax inside your ear, especially if your body produces a lot of it. After several weeks of concern from my right ear being significantly "duller" than my left, I had it checked out during my physical. When the doc checked out my ear so much ear wax had accumulated that he couldn't even see my ear drum. Pretty disgusting thing to admit to WATMM but it could be a possibility.

 

My right one does this on occasion. I have been to the doctor twice when it's been really muffled. First time I went, about 10 years ago, when they cleared it out it was dramatic how improved the hearing was. The air conditioning in the office sounded insanely loud, a dropped coin sounded like clashing. My gf (now wife) had to whisper the rest of the day. Took a good 24 hours for me to adjust.

 

I produce a lot of ear wax but the cause is actually not the ear wax myself but the odd angle of my ear canal that makes it a lot more prone to blocking up. I had ear infections fairly often as a kid, I think in hindsight they were caused by that.

[TubularCorporation]

We should start a "fluids vs. wax" betting pool.

 

 

I'm coming down strongly on the side of fluids because of the crackling sounds.  If your ear starts to occasionally pop as if you just got out of an airplane, then you're probably getting to the end of it.

 

 

Seriously though, having been there before this sucks and I really hope you don't have to deal with it much longer.

[TubularCorporation]

A long time ago my girlfriend at the time had a roommate who had really bad, impacted wax and her doctor told her to get a cheap (i.e. low power) dollar store squirt gun, fill it with warm water, and have a friend spray it in her ear from a few inches away until the wax softened and cleared out.  It took about 45 minutes of me and my girlfriend and their third roommate working in shifts shooting water in her ear but it did end up working really well and the whole situation was so ridiculous that everyone had a pretty good time with it.

[mcbpete]

We should start a "fluids vs. wax" betting pool.

Going for wax - A good ol' ear syringing from the GP will hopefully sort you out.

 

P.s. Serious talk: if that is indeed the case DO NOT go to a Chinese herbalist-y place for ear candling. There's a very good chance you could get permanent ear-drum damage ...

[Squee]

More serious talk: Do not try to clear your ears by holding you nose and blow.

[Ifeelspace]

Seriously, thanks for all the advice folks

 

It's entirely possible i have impacted wax from using q-tips i suppose (I know it's a nono and if whatever this thing is can be cured i'm never even looking at one again).  I think I may even have caused damage by overuse of olive oil - i know the affected ear was too dry as when i was yawning in the evening that ear started to 'flutter'.

 

I've also considered eustachian tube dysfunction due to the crackling, watched all sorts of vids about neti pots and possible sinus issues.  My right nostril is definitely always more blocked than my left.

 

And squee, I may even have caused this by doing just that a few months ago (valsalva)

 

Basically I have been a bastard to my ears over the years and it would probably serve me right if i have fucked one of them.  I omitted most of the above from my earlier post due to shame/fear of telling off (which i know the doc will do anyway)

 

I don't know what it is about me, but i am terrible at visiting the doctor.  Anyway, all of the above helps folks.  So thanks once again.

 

To describe what i can hear a little more, it almost feels like certain frequencies have disappeared, some of the higher meolodies i seem to hear equally in terms of volumes but it's just not as clear in the right ear.  and bass is not really detectable  - it all sounds like it's coming from the left.

 

I wonder if any of this info will swing the fluid/wax 'vote' ;)

[Braintree]

I use ear plugs a lot so over the course of a year there tends to be a lot of earwax that gets crammed in there. I just go to an ENT doctor and get him to suck it out once a year.

 

Only hearing muffled noise out of one ear is very disorienting and puts me in a real sour mood.

[Ifeelspace]

I use ear plugs a lot so over the course of a year there tends to be a lot of earwax that gets crammed in there. I just go to an ENT doctor and get him to suck it out once a year.

 

Only hearing muffled noise out of one ear is very disorienting and puts me in a real sour mood.

 

Yeah, it's really put me into a funk -i just hope it can be resolved.  if not, i probably picked the worst kind of music to enjoy!  Miss that panning stereo sound

[auxien]

Hey, the doctor will give you the actual important stuff...I'm just gonna do the WATMM support duty by saying that one of the Autechre guys has pretty bad tinnitus and has had it for years, and obviously still able to be in Autechre making and listening to all kinds of crazy shit. So ya know, shit can be dealt with is what I'm saying. I'm not very good at uplifting words and such.

 

Report back after the doctor tho, will be curious to hear ( ) about what it is.

[romanticdude]

DEFINITELY sounds like you have some fluid there, if this lasts go and get a paracentesis – I work in ENT and we do this shit all the time, it's no big deal but I can see how it affects your psyche. 

also, as others said, it might be in combination with a load of cerumen (as it's called in the trade). 

[Braintree]

 

I use ear plugs a lot so over the course of a year there tends to be a lot of earwax that gets crammed in there. I just go to an ENT doctor and get him to suck it out once a year.

 

Only hearing muffled noise out of one ear is very disorienting and puts me in a real sour mood.

 

Yeah, it's really put me into a funk -i just hope it can be resolved.  if not, i probably picked the worst kind of music to enjoy!  Miss that panning stereo sound

 

 

 

You'll feel a lot better when the doctor puts that weird needle-looking thing in your ear and you hear a maelstrom of noise and then suddenly nothing but clarity. I hope it's just wax!

[Squee]

 

And squee, I may even have caused this by doing just that a few months ago (valsalva)

 

 

Good god!!!

[Ifeelspace]

So there is nothing wrong with the eardrum. Doc thinks it might be sinus related so I have fluxonase drops to shove up my schnozz twice a day and see what happens. If they’re not doing anything he will send me to an audiologist

[Squee]

There you go

[Tricone RC]

Ifeelspace do you ever hear an echoing of your own voice, heartbeat, muscle movements etc in the affected ear? I have patulous eustachian tube, which causes the ibfuriating echo as well as the "full" feeling and the crackling as you describe it

 

One diagnosis is that your eardrums can be observed vibrating when you breathe forcefully, but some ENTs dont seem to be aware of this for some reason (first two I saw thought I was nuts and was bullshitting the symptoms. Third time lucky)

[Ifeelspace]

Ifeelspace do you ever hear an echoing of your own voice, heartbeat, muscle movements etc in the affected ear? I have patulous eustachian tube, which causes the ibfuriating echo as well as the "full" feeling and the crackling as you describe it

 

One diagnosis is that your eardrums can be observed vibrating when you breathe forcefully, but some ENTs dont seem to be aware of this for some reason (first two I saw thought I was nuts and was bullshitting the symptoms. Third time lucky)

Yes - I have experienced hearing my own voice more loudly internally on one or two occasions but not for many months, I have also felt my heart beat in that ear and yes, muscle movements often (particularly when very tired after yawning).  

 

When i do the valsalva i get crackling/popping in each ear before i swallow to clear the ears.  The left ear always pops nicely when i swallow, the right, not so much

[Ifeelspace]

Update: had an appointment with audiologist a few weeks ago and I have basically lost all hearing at 6000hz and above in my right ear. I’m now sat waiting for an appointment with ENT. I’m not hopeful they will be able to do anything as audiologist said it was sensorineural loss.

 

Sucks!

 

Look after your ears wAtmm!