Fluid in the middle ear.
Good evening.
I rarely post on here, however I have a distressing problem that is slowly driving me insane, so any advice is greatly appreciated.
A few weeks ago, I had a fairly heavy cold, didn't think much of it, apart from my ears didn't seem to clear. 3 weeks later, after the cold has cleared, my ears are still blocked.
Last week, I visited the GP three times, and the out of hours doctor at my local hospital, two said it was just the cold that was causing it and that it would clear in a few days along with the cold (3 weeks after I actually had the cold), and the other two diagnosed this as middle ear fluid, which can take absolutely forever to heal. We're looking into the region of 4 - 8 weeks, apparantly. Since i've had the problem, I haven't felt ANY improvement whatsoever.
I work for an airline that flies many sectors in a usual working day, so I have to carry out several descents a day. This is where the problem really starts, as the pressure builds up, I keep doing the valsalva maneouver, but every so often I'm unable to clear the pressure, it keeps building up, causes me a severe amount of pain, and the A/C is now flying single pilot.
I've had a seven day antibiotic course, tried every decongestant in the book, nasal sprays, cold tablets, Vics etc, but nothing has improved.
I'm going to a specialist about this ASAP, but for any treatment to be carried out will take a long time.
My question now is, where do I go now? I'm not technically employed by my airline (have a guess which one), so being self employed they can quite easily cancel my contract with them. Is it worth trying to go to work again, knowing what happened the last time I tried with this illness could easily happen again? Has anyone else had a similar experience, and found a way to keep the ears clear during a descent?
Thanks for any help, I really will appreciate it.