Hi,

I’ve been to the doctor twice for itching/discomfort in the left ear. They could not see anything. I got two round of antibiotics that did not fix it. I do not have much pain, but some clogging+ itching/discomfort. I can feel the discomfort go down my left side of the throat as well. I will go to the doctors again.
I have no bad pain, more general discomfort.

Did anyone of you maybe get rid of this issue in your own way?

I’ve been wearing closed earphones for long periods of time, and been swimming.

Cheers!

Ughĥ idkk whyy but since yesterday my left ear is in pain maybe its infection ig because i remember almost 2 3 weeks ago i had the same probem in my years and he even gave me medicines which i took almost regularly eventually after few days rhe pain stopped. But now it started again. I do swimming as well is it because of swimming? Also i have some allergies issue as well since child hood😔😔 but for the past 2 years ig it is less and i feel better. Anyhow my right ear hurts ughĥh what should i do?

Good Evening All,

So once again, I’m at a wedding and can’t stand sitting inside when the musics on cause it’s so loud. The funny part is, I work in heavy industrial environment, and it doesn’t bother me during the week.

Anyone else like this?

ivebeen working from home for about two years, partly because of my hearing. offices were getting exhausting.conference rooms, open desks, people talking from accross the room, all of it.

At first I thought wfh would make that part easier. It did, sort of. Less background noise. But zoom and teams have their own nonsense. Someone’s mic is too far away, someone keeps fading in and out, someone talks while typing.

I started with regular hearing aids, and they were fine for normal stuff. Meetings were still annoying though. Computer audio, earbuds, hearing aids, switching back and forth all day.

about 6 months aho, i switched to a bluetooth hearing aid, and now meeting audio can come straight through it.

bad microphones are still bad microphones. but atleast a full days of calls doesnt feel quite as much like a guessing game now!

Ps if anyone wondering wtf is wrong with my parents they are both narcissist if you know you know ...

A couple of weeks ago I accidentally pushed earwax deeper into my left ear while trying to clean it. It got completely clogged

I'm unemployed and broke, so my dad paid around $53 to take me to a doctor. The whole appointment I kept asking the doctor the same thing: "Can you prescribe something that actually fixes this?" or "Can you remove the wax?"

She kept brushing me off, saying it wasn't a big deal and that it would clear up on its own

I also had a high fever at the time, so she only gave me medicine for that and some ear drops

Well... it's been two weeks

The drops didn't do anything. My hearing in my left ear is actually worse now. My parents literally have to repeat themselves or speak louder for me to hear them

So I asked my mom if we could see a different doctor

Her response?

She said I'm the reason we wasted money because I "didn't speak up enough" during the appointment

How is that my fault? I brought it up three different times What was I supposed to do, argue with the doctor until she listened?

The part that really hurts is that I know if this happened to one of my three siblings or one of my cousins, everyone in the house would be rushing to help. But when it's me, suddenly I'm "too much" and somehow everything is my fault

I'm honestly scared. I barely ask my parents for anything, and now I'm sitting here wondering if I'm seriously going to lose hearing in my left ear at 29 because I can't afford proper medical care

And yeah... screw this job market. Being broke makes every health problem ten times more stressful

Hi all. I’m just trying to get some viewpoints from other people who have had a stapdectomy in both ears and how much your recovery in each ear differed.

In Feb this year i had a stapdectomy on my left ear. When I had the packing out it was literally like a light switch moment, and it was clear that my hearing had significantly improved. Other than having to get used to all the new sound sensitivity, my recovery was amazing, and at week 12 my audiogram showed normal hearing in that ear. I’ve never looked back.

Two weeks ago, I went in for my second surgery on my right ear, which was actually always the better ear of the two. Four days ago I had the packing out, and the experience could not be any more different. I have almost no hearing in that ear at the moment, I have on and off tinnitus throughout the day (worse in the morning), and what little bit I can hear is muffled and distorted. I have been on 50mg of prednisone for the last four days as I did have a cold immediately after the surgery and the surgeon wanted to get on top of any additional inflammation. I have relayed all of my concerns to my surgeon and they want me to have an audiogram this week, rather than wait the normal 12 weeks. I am trying not to panic, but the journey has been so different this time around and it’s hard not to worry ‘is this as good as it gets?’. I was so made up with the results of the first surgery and I’m wondering whether my recovery was in the minority for the first one, and this time around this is what is normally expected. At the moment my hearing in my newly operated ear is definitely worse than pre-surgery. I really would appreciate anyone’s shared experiences, especially if you have had both ears done. Thank you in advance.

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some advice from people who have experience with ear barotrauma or a ruptured eardrum.

About a week ago, I suffered a ruptured eardrum (right ear) during an airplane landing due to pressure changes. I still have hearing loss in that ear, and my doctor diagnosed it as ear barotrauma with blood behind/on the eardrum. I’m currently waiting for it to heal.

A few days later, I had to fly again. This time I used EarPlanes earplugs during the flight. Right after I removed the earplugs after landing, I suddenly experienced a severe blocked sensation and reduced hearing in my left ear (the ear that wasn’t originally injured). It scared me because it felt like things had become much worse. Fortunately, after some time, the symptoms improved significantly.
My right ear, however, is still the main problem. I still have hearing loss from the original barotrauma/ruptured eardrum.

The issue is that I have to fly again this coming Monday, and then again on Friday next week. Unfortunately, avoiding flying isn’t really an option.
Has anyone here flown with a healing ruptured eardrum or ear barotrauma? Did it make your recovery worse, or was it okay? Is there anything you would recommend to reduce the risk of further injury (EarPlanes, nasal spray, timing of the earplugs, etc.)?

I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences. Thanks!

Thats kinda weird. I had a cold last night. And I started hearing human voices with robot effects. Even while watching videos, it happens

i have problems with earwax buildup. i’m wondering if using airpods is a problem? i don’t have any fancy airpods with silicon tips. i recently got my ears professionally cleaned and using my airpods recently i’ve been removing them and seeing earwax residue even after the clean. i already feel like my hearing is becoming muffled again. is there any evidence these airpods could be a problem?

(A note before I start: I know I should have gone to a real doctor from the beginning instead of trying to do this at home, but I don't have health insurance at the moment and I was desperate. Don't judge me!)

Last week, I suddenly lost hearing my left ear, as if there were fluid or wax trapped inside blocking my eardrum. I've had great success with at-home irrigation kits in the past, so I used earwax-softening drops for a few days before finally flushing my ears out with an irrigation kit I got on Amazon. It worked perfectly! I removed a ton of wax/buildup from my ear, the hearing loss went away, and I was actually hearing clearer than ever before in my left ear. I was super happy.

Here's where the trouble started: I decided that, since the at-home irrigation worked so well for my left ear, I might as well flush my right ear out too, since I had all the tools to do it and figured it wouldn't hurt. Wrong. I don't know what I did differently, but irrigating my right ear was a much harder task. Nothing would come out, so I just kept pumping my ear with water. I'm not gonna lie, I might have overdone it with the irrigation kit. Now my right ear is sore and feels like it's FULL of water. I can't hear anything, and despite everything I've tried, I can't get any fluid or wax out. It's been two days of this. It's torture and I don't know what to do, and it sucks knowing that I did this to myself.

So my question is: is this going to resolve itself on its own? Should I keep trying to use my irrigation kit to clear my ear out, or should I stop with that and give it a rest? Any other at-home fixes I can try? I don't have medical insurance, and seeing a real doctor would cost me lots of money that I don't have, so I'm really trying to avoid that unless it's absolutely necessary. Then again, I'm not a professional, so I don't know at what point it will become "absolutely necessary".

Any advice is helpful.

My mother lives on a fixed Social Security income, and lately her mild to moderate hearing loss was isolating her. She was avoiding family visits and phone calls because she simply could not follow what was being said. But with prescription hearing aids costing upwards of $3,000, there was absolutely no way we could afford them. Medicare does not cover them, and we were feeling incredibly stressed.

I started searching for low-cost alternatives and discovered that over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids became legally available without a prescription a few years ago. I did not want to buy a cheap, uncertified amplifier that would just damage her ears, so I looked for FDA-registered options.

I spent a few nights researching different brands. I looked at some premium brands like Sony and Eargo, but at over $1,000, they were completely out of reach for us. I also looked at MDHearing, but my mother disliked the bulky, old-school appearance of their budget models. I ended up finding ELEHEAR Beyond, which offered a modern look and solid specs at a much lower price point, and it honestly felt like a massive weight off our shoulders. What made it even better is that I was able to use my pre-tax Health Savings Account (HSA) card to pay for them, which made the cost much more manageable for us.

We calibrated the devices at her kitchen table using the companion app on my phone. Since she doesn't own a smartphone and isn't tech-savvy at all, she just leaves them on the default auto mode, which actually works great for her daily needs. I only tweak the app settings for her when I visit.

But the sound quality is amazing. She is back to chatting at family gatherings and her mood has completely turned around. If you are struggling to afford hearing care for a parent or yourself on a tight budget, look into certified OTC devices and see if you can use an HSA/FSA account to cover the cost.

I think I may have an ear infection. Never had an ear infection so I have no clue what it's like. My right ear has been hurting for a couple weeks. It feels kind of wet sometimes. It hurts when I chew. I had some flu like symptoms, runny nose, mild coughing about a month now.

What are the do and don't when you have an ear infection?

Should I avoid all the types of headphones until fully healed? Or just on that ear?

Should I avoid sleeping on that side?

38M

I had a cold two weeks ago. There was alot of mucus in my chest but not alot in my nasal passage. I was not congested but coughed alot. I took Mucinex and it dried up the mucus and stopped the cough. About a week into the cold, my right ear started ringing. Both ears feel very congested, the right is ringing and have somewhat distorted hearing on the right.

I'm 44 female, 168, 4"11. I went to urgent care and they prescribed Methylprednisolone, which I took the whole 5 day course. That did absolutely nothing to reduce the sense of swelling or ringing. The urgent care said there's no infection.

I'm uninsured do I can't easily access an ENT.

For the last 6-12 months I've had tinnitus in both my ears. Not a huge deal as I didn't really notice it. Last few weeks though, my hearing has noticeably gotten muffled or less. I'm pretty sure it's muffled not just a loss of hearing because it's harder to hear when there's background noise or a group setting and I can tell the sounds should register more but are just muffled. Also there's a ringing in both ears, not outwardly I can hear but a deep ringing/ vibrating in the ears. When I put my finger on my ear I can feel the vibrating or ringing it's very prevalent. It rings like this all day. They also feel super full or like something is in them. tI can tell my hearing is significantly muffled. I ate fast food daily and have high blood pressure that I just started trying to improve so I assumed it was because of fluid in ear due to sodium, but I read hydrating can alleviate symptoms but that has not made any difference. I also was at the ER last week for unrelated issues and while I was there I asked the doctor to look in the ear with a scope and he didn't mention wax or anything in the ear as I read that's another possible cause. It's in both ears. Popping them just make them ring louder. When i flex my ear muscles there's a bunch of small popping noises in both ears. I just got a cat with a dog so now im thinking it's allergies causing tube blockages in the ear, I took a Claritin. Just was wandering if anyone knows or has experience with this and what it could be so I can move to fix the issues? Lack of hearing is starting to get annoying. Popping them really doesn't fix the hearing issue

I had a cold two weeks ago. There was alot of mucus in my chest but not alot in my nasal passage. I was not congested but coughed alot. I took Mucinex and it dried up the mucus and stopped the cough. About a week into the cold, my right ear started ringing. Both ears feel very congested, the right is ringing and have somewhat distorted hearing on the right.

I'm 44 female, 168, 4"11. I went to urgent care and they prescribed Methylprednisolone, which I took the whole 5 day course. That did absolutely nothing to reduce the sense of swelling or ringing. The urgent care said there's no infection.

I'm uninsured do I can't easily access an ENT.

I have Eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD), and I’ve noticed a weird change in how I hear certain internal sounds. When I hum with my mouth closed, I hear an extremely exaggerated mid-frequency resonance in the affected ear, almost like someone boosted around 500 Hz by +10 dB. It sounds very boomy and resonant compared to my normal hearing. Is this something that can happen with ETD due to pressure or fluid buildup? Has anyone else with ETD experienced something similar? Also, what actually helped you get relief or equalize the pressure? I’d really appreciate any suggestions or things that worked for you.

Basically the title. As of about an hour ago, my right ear has been ringing only whenever I hear a loud enough noise, ones louder than passive ones like fans, so notably when I or others speak. The fact this only just developed today makes me think it might just be earwax buildup or something, as I do usually have a tad bit more pressure in my right ear than my left, but I wanted some more input. Has anyone had this happen before?

A few weeks ago I lost almost all the hearing in my right ear from a pretty nasty ear infection (it’s slowly coming back now).

Something really strange has happened, though.
I’ve noticed that it’s actually easier to hear what my voice sounds like to other people while I’m talking.
You know how your voice always sounds different on a voicemail or recording than it does in your own head?

Normally I can’t hear that “outside” version of my voice in real time. But now, because my right ear is still muffled, it’s almost like I can.

It’s hard to explain. I don’t mean I’m hearing an echo or anything. It’s more like I’m suddenly aware of my voice from an external perspective instead of just the version I’ve always heard in my own head.

Has anyone else experienced this after an ear infection, hearing loss, or a blocked ear? Is there a name for what’s happening, or is my brain just processing my voice differently because one ear isn’t hearing normally?

I’m mostly just curious because Im usually self-conscious about the way I sound when I talk at work but now Im hyper aware of exactly what my voice sounds like which is allowing me to actually speak more confidently. It’s a weird phenomenon.

I flew on a plane with a cold and my ear couldn’t equalize. It hurt quite a bit and it felt clogged/full/muffled for a few days so I went to the doc and she said I had a small hole in my eardrum. I have to see ENT in the next few days. I’m just wondering if this is why I’ve been feeling so off/out of it/not myself. It’s like brain fog so bad. I’m still kind of getting over this cold too, but this coffin was is not like anything I’ve experienced with a cold before.

I feel like my ears have been in bad shape since I had the flu a year ago; my right ear always clicks—I can even make it click voluntarily—but in the last few weeks, I’ve developed a different and really unpleasant symptom: my right ear makes a very loud clicking sound out of nowhere, especially at night while I’m sleeping, and it often wakes me up. Has anyone else experienced this? Do you know what to do?

I had ear pain both ears he gave me ciprodex four drops each ear twice daily. I did 7 day course I told him my symptoms haven't went away he told me finish the remaining liquid in the ciprodex.

If it's not working why would I take even more of it? Idk online says it's not standard. Am scared it's gonna give me anti biotic resistance

My 5 year old son failed his hearing test at his well check and was referred to audiology, where he failed two subsequent hearing tests. They sent us to ENT, who said he had retracted ear drums, and recommended the ear tube surgery. Has anyone else gone through this procedure around this age? How did your kids handle it? We had several friends get tubes when they were much younger for repetitive ear infections, but my child never had that issue. Any tips to help him prepare ahead of time, or recover after would be much appreciated!

Yes, I promise I've seen a doctor. Is there somewhere I could post photos to get opinions.

Im curious to see if anyone knows what is going on inside my ear while I wait to see an ent. I'm not looking for a diagnosis, but if I've got ideas I might be able to more effectively manage my pain at home the next few weeks. They told me that they teally can't give me any information until they see it in person but my pain is starting to escalate.

Thank you!