Another ear infection?

[shgsaint]

A couple of weeks ago I started feeling soreness and inflamation in my left ear. It got pretty painful and as a result ended up seeing a doctor in A&E to get it diagnosed. His diagnosis was an outside ear infection. This confused me as all the pain was inside yet it was tender around the ear. I was on a weeks worth of anitbiotics which cleared it up but it still feels not quite right. Everytime I blow my nose it crackles and feels like it's equalising to pressure.

I can still hear fine and it no longer hurts.

However now the original symptons have started in my right ear too. :uhoh:

I'm a little concerned that something more serious is at play here and may affect my long term hearing.

I know the obvious answer is to see a Doc so I won't ask that as that's my intention.

Does anybody know if it could be more serious and what it could be. i.e. not an ear infection but something else?

Cheers.

[gingernut]

A little difficult to diagnose on the net, but I wonder if you may have otitis externa. More info here http://www.prodigy.nhs.uk/patient_information/pils/otitis_externa.htm

It doesn't sound like there is too much going on here, but it may be worth a trip back to your GP as the treatments are usually very effective, and the condition can be very painful. (Talking from personal experience.)

If your treatment fails, it may be worth seeing an ent man (or lady)

PS it may be worth considering what's causing the problem in the first place- chuck out your q-tips, keep your ears dry etc

[shgsaint]

Cheers Gingernut.

I know it sounds disgusting but it smells a bit funny too. Not a normal ear wax smell. Again smells just like when my left ear was infected.

Looks like another week of medication for me then. :*

[divinesoul]

Hi shgsaint

I empathize with you.i had ear pain which by the way was very irritating and causing an awful lot of discomfort last week and the ENT specialist i visited diagnosed it as pharyngitis.He prescribed me antibiotics nd now i am doing ok.

just hang in there,take the medicine on time and finish the whole course and if you have more pain ask your GP to prescribe some pain killers for temporary relief.

[shgsaint]

Cheers mate.

I forgot that it gets uncomfortable to chew aswell. Sadly I only noticed when I tucked into my Tikka lamb Masala tonight. :}

I'll probably have to go through a couple of days of pain untill I can get to my doc on Monday. I'll live though. Plenty of Ibuprofen in the meantime.
Better get the cushions selotaped to the walls again so the occasional loss of balance isn't too damaging. :ouch: ;)

[airbus2boeing]

My 4 year old had same infection and we took him to an ENT and he inserted a tiny tube to my son's ear to get rid of the fluid that was irritating his inner ear.

[Flyin'Dutch']

a2b,

Your little one will have had (recurring?) otitis media for which it is sometimes necessary to insert grommets in the ear drums.

That is not what shgsaint has (or so I suspect); I think (like gingernut) that he is suffering from Otitis externa.

That is an infection of the skin of the ear canal.

A quick look will confirm diagnosis.

First line treatment would be some antibiotic containing drops; they also contain a steroid. The combination usually quickly resolves the discomfort (due to the swelling of the skin in a confined space - the bony ear canal) infection and inflammation.

Otitis Externa is commonly caused by people poking their ears with cotton wool buds, fingers, paperclips and what have you. Other causes can be frequent swimming and those with psoriasis can get this due to debris clogging up the ears.

Remember, the smallest thing you are allowed to stick in your ear is your elbow!

:}

[shgsaint]

a2b,

Otitis Externa is commonly caused by people poking their ears with cotton wool buds, fingers, paperclips and what have you.

:}

I do try to clean my ears out a fair bit with cotton wool buds so it does sound like the most probable cause. I've never had an ear wax problem and may of gotten paranoid and so clean them too often.

Cheers for the input guys.

A trip to my local GP will help first thing Monday.