I thought I outgrew this

I’m recovering from a sinus infection and ear infections. Yes that’s right, ear infections—I used to get them as a little girl but once I got my tonsils out at age 9, my ears didn’t bother me again. Well until now.

I was pretty sure I had a sinus infection, now that I know what they feel like. And I knew my ears were very uncomfortable and clogged. But when the doctor looked in my right ear, she murmured “Hmmm red.” Then she looked in the left ear: “Also red.” Then up each nostril: “Red” and “Red.” Only my throat was spared a bit. She looked and said, “Pink, pink, pink oh there, there’s the red.”

Great.

I’m finishing up a round of antibiotics and while I’m glad I live in a time when they are available, I sure don’t care for the side effects. People have been asking me if I’m feeling better and the truth is not so much. As my sinuses and ears quit hurting so much, I was feeling all the gastric side effects. Let’s just say that it’s a good thing we have two bathrooms in our house.

But now all parts of me are doing better and I’m hopeful that this round of ear infections was just a momentary aberration and that I don’t have any more issues with my ears. I think it’s probably too much to hope for that my sinuses stay clear.

What?!?

Do you remember that old skit from Sesame Street with Bert and Ernie, where Ernie’s got a banana in his ear and Bert’s trying to tell him that? Ernie keeps saying “What??” and of course Ernie’s punch line – after Bert gets quite irritated with Ernie – is “I can’t hear you, I have a banana in my ear!” Har har.

I don’t have a banana in my ear but I am having problems hearing. This has been going on for nearly three months now, but I ignored it . . . until the morning when I was very nearly t-boned by an ambulance because I couldn’t tell where the sound was coming from. That shook me up and I realized it was stupid not to get this checked out.

I suspected, and my PCP agrees, that I have wimpy inadequate Eustachian tubes that aren’t letting the fluid drain out from my middle ears. My ears are almost always clogged and it’s as though I’m under water. So I have an appointment with a specialist later this week.

In the meantime I have been consulting Dr. Google who is full of information about ear issues. My favorite is this article on Eustachian tubes and how they work (I found it quite fascinating, to be honest). Other bits of trivia I’ve picked up about this problem:

• I’m already doing 99% of the recommended interventions 
• I should have seen my doctor at the three week mark, rather than waiting nearly three months—oops 
• Once it was clear that popping my ears the way you do when you’re on a plane that’s landing didn't help,I should have stopped doing that (I have now)
• The jaw injury I sustained in my early 20s when I was an assistant gymnastics coach, the one that caused the TMJ, may also be partly responsible for this problem
• Tubes may be a valid treatment plan – to which I just have to laugh. It’s such a cliché that ear tubes are for preschoolers and I’m nowhere near that demographic!

On the positive side, my left ear popped by itself this morning on my run. That’s the first time it’s done so in months. I have (muffled, not great) stereo sound now for the first time since May.

Stay tuned for an update once I see the specialist.

Baro what?

When I was a little girl, I had a lot of ear infections, ear aches, and tonsil issues. In fact I think my tonsils were nothing more than gigantic satanic germ catchers—once they were removed, my health dramatically improved. Today, I generally don’t get colds, I never get a sore throat and I’ve never had the flu.

However I’m pretty sure I have utterly inadequate Eustachian tubes because my ears clog up exactly as though I’ve changed elevation when I haven’t. It’s not a wax issue, I produce hardly any of that, but it’s very uncomfortable. Plus it affects my hearing. So I pop my ears the way you would when you’re on a plane and it helps a little bit but not for long.

This past weekend, I got uncomfortable enough to look online to see what the heck causes this. Of course I found lots and lots of non-scientific articles about candling and various theories about wax build up and ear clogging. Then I found this article about barotrauma and bingo! It lists all my symptoms—although thankfully my nose hasn’t yet bled—and confirmed my anecdotal observation that blowing out my ears helped temporarily. I also realized this bout falls more toward the severe end of the spectrum. I started taking a decongestant on Monday and I'm finally getting some relief. I don’t like taking them because they make my head tingle and I feel weird. But I’d rather feel weird and be able to hear than not take them.

Did /do you have ear issues? How about your children (if you have kids)? Sadly I did pass along my ears and tonsils to my older son. He ended up having four sets of tubes and his tonsils and adenoids out at age four.