I have tons of fluid in my right ear. I have for years. It's only been getting worse and worse. My doctor always says that one of these days the ear drum will burst and the pressure will be relieved. Until that happens, however, I'm in a lot of pain pretty much all the time. A friend suggested getting something to dry my sinuses. When I was at Walgreens the other day, I checked for sinus meds. Everything I found was _____ & Sinus. Cold & Sinus. Flu & Sinus. Sinus & Cough. Since I didn't have any other symptoms, I wasn't going to bother taking unnecessary medicines. Last night I lay in bed and thought that the next time I got a cold I would run right to Walgreens and get some Cold & Sinus (I never take cold meds. I just ride it out). The pain is always the worst when I'm laying down and I was unable to sleep for the longest time. Well guess what... I now have a cold. lol. So my prayer is that I get over it quickly and that the Cold & Sinus really does help my ear. I don't know how much more of this pain I can take.
I suffer from the same issue. My dr. told me to take Sudafed. I get the Wal-Mart generic and it has helped me a lot. It is the Max Stength Nasal Decongestant PE Equate brand, non-drowsy. BTW, you dont want your ear drum to rupture, very painful and no guarantee it will close up on its own. Mine ruptured and it was very painful.
I have suffered from clogged eustachian tubes my whole life. Was free of the problem for the better part of my 20's and then at 27 I started having trouble again. Every time I also suffer a ruptured eardrum. My right eardrum is so scarred and saggy that every doctor that looks into that ear is stunned. Wonder how I can hear at all out of my right ear. Anyway, you have to do something to get relief. If antibiotics don't clear it up then you definitely should be discussing tubes with your doctor. I'm surprised that your doctor is comfortable just letting you eardrum rupture without sending you to an ENT for further evaluation. Ask for a referral to an ENT and find out if you need tubes. It is an office procedure for adults. In the meantime, use a heating pad and lie on the opposite side....gravity does have an effect. We tend to want to lie on the painful side but that makes it worse. Also try Claritin or Zyrtec to help dry things out. You shouldn't get the side effects that you may with Sudafed or something similar. Also ask your doctor if a steriod nasal spray might be helpful. My doctor prescribes this for me and it seems to help. Nasal irrigation is great as well in helping clear out the sinuses...especially good when you have a lot of drainage. Will say a prayer that this resolves quickly for you. I know how painful it can be and don't wish for anyone to suffer with this problem.
She said that because it's not infected (and hasn't been a single time she's checked in over the last 5 years) that there's no reason for tubes or further treatment. Maybe I can bypass the referral and go right to an ENT. I'll call around tomorrow and see if that's possible. I do try to sleep on the other side, but I wake frequently finding that I've rolled to the painful side. And yeah, it hurts worse at that point. In the meantime, I'll check out the brands suggested. I also have to check against my list of "safe meds" since I'm pregnant. (Hmmm. Where did I put that?) Oh, and thank you. You ladies are an invaluable source of information.
I don;t know anything that will help, but I agree that you should see an ENT. And since I suffered through 6 weeks of an ear infection this summer, I sympathize with you. Ear pain really is tough! Prayers that you'll find a solution and feel better soon!
Oh, girl, you've got to see an ENT. You should NOT be in pain. If you need a referral just call your primary care and request one. Infection or not, you should not have build up of fluid behind your eardrum that is just left for an extended amount of time. Five years is an awful long time to suffer with this problem. As much as I value primary care doctors, they're not specialists. My most recent issue with mine was concerning my gallbladder. He kept saying that it couldn't be my gallbladder and that he wanted a colonoscopy done. When the GI called to schedule that I requested a consult instead as I felt my problem was GB. Come to find out I was right and had a gallstone the size of a golf ball plus many more in formation. It had to be removed quickly. My primary care doctor ended up calling me with his apology. You really have to advocate for yourself.
OH, and Zyrtec was ok for me to take when I was pregnant. Double check to make sure but I'm sure Zyrtec and Claritin are safe while pregnant.
That nasal irrigation thing doesn't sound like anything anybody would really want to do.... but dh has been doing it for several years now, every week or so, keeps a supply of normal saline solution on hand to do it with, and seldom do his sinuses stop up - or if they do, he irrigates like daily and it clears up fast. He used to keep sinus congestion like all the time, and actually got addicted to nasal sprays - couldn't breathe without them because of the "rebound effect". Then he heard about the irrigation thing, and switched to doing that instead, after "detoxing" from the nasal spray. Works like a charm!
Take a clove of garlic and put it in a small container of olive oil. The garlic has something in it that helps (don't know what, only know it works!) Then put a few drops of this in your ear, or soak cotton ball with it and put it in your ear. Better if you can warm it first! ETA: This is not a long-term solution, but will help with the pain. You really do need to find out what is causing the pain!
Make sure that before you put anything in your ear that you do not have a tiny perforation. It can happen and you not even know it. I've had tiny holes in my eardrum without it "bursting." Just want to make sure that you don't put anything in that can do any damage behind the eardrum. Nasal irrigation isn't exactly the most attractive thing to do but it is so helpful. I usually make my own saline and just use a cup (one designated for this purpose). My SIL uses a premade saline and a special bottle for hers... it might be easier than just sucking up water through a cup.
I don't have problems with my sinuses at all, but the friend seemed to think that it might help simply because the sinus cavity is connected to the ear. And I'm desperate so I'll try anything. I do have a netti pot that I use when I get a cold or other illness that leads to sinus issues. Maybe I'll try that today while I'm waiting for DH to get home (so I don't have to drag the boys to the store). I'm also calling my primary today to ask for a referral to an ENT. If she won't give me one, I'm going to call my network's referral line and see if they'll connect me with an ENT without a doctor's referral.
Garlic is a natural antibiotic. It kills bacteria. I didn't know it would help with pain, but it does help with ear infections. I'm sure there's some sort of connection. I'm definitely storing this information away for future use. Good stuff!
I'm thinking it's more the warm oil that helps with pain. It could be the garlic is added to help get rid of any infection.
Candles aren't working They usually work well for ear pain for me, but I think this is just too deep.
I though ear candles were for removing wax. I have never heard of them being used for pain. If you have fluid behind your eardrum then something from the ear canal isn't going to help...unless it's pain drops or tubes. I wouldn't be doing any other home remedies without consulting a specialist. Would be very sad to suffer from further problems that aren't necessary. I do believe in home remedies for alot of things, but I wouldn't be relying on any of them to help this problem.
