I know the SDMB isn’t the place to get medical advice, but as there’s another ear-related thread on here anyway, what the heck.
A couple of days ago I was snorkelling, and was diving down maybe 20 feet to get a closer look at the various undersea critters. On one dive, my left ear didn’t seem to equalise too well, and gave a weird squeaking noise. It didn’t really hurt though, so I didn’t give it too much thought. Since then though, I’ve had the feeling that the water never drained out of it, and for a while it was quite painful. Now it’s not exactly painful, but still feels blocked, and the hearing in that ear is distinctly muffled.
What’s going on? Should I see a doctor, as it crossed my mind that I might have perforated the eardrum? Not that that’d the easiest thing to do, as I’m in Mexico and my Spanish is not quite up to detailed medical questioning…
Um , thats probably wax in the ear thats been built up . Its not really wax ,but its something similar enough in composition. The pressure of the water will push it down to the bottom of the ear canal thats accessible and you get plugged.
The solution is usually to go to the pharmacy and pick up a bottle of ear wax remover , little bottle about an inch high, and it should come with a mini baster bulb. After a couple of days of applying the solution , have the signifigant other use the bulb to squeeze warm water into your ear , which should remove the wax.
I’ve had a perforated eardrum. In itself, it’s not terribly painful, but it opens the way to secondary infections that are. Definitely see an otologist.
Hmm, anyone know a good English-speaking otologist in Mexico City? :rolleyes:
Q.E.D., what did the perforation feel like? At the moment the ear just feels kind of blocked up, with the odd crackly noise when I move my jaw. I certainly think I’ll steer clear of pouring anything into the ear if there’s a chance it’s perforated.
Like I said it wasn’t terribly painful. The doc gave me antibiotic drops to stave off infection, and it healed up on it’s own, although there was a bit of hearing loss because of it. If I held my nose and mouth shut and blew, I could hear and feel the air escaping. I could even blow smoke through it. That was always a hit with friends. To test if you have a perforation, the doc will insert a plug with a tube attached and blow air in and monitor the pressure. It’s quick and painless, and can detect perforations too small to detect on your own the way I did.