Hi all,

Monday morning I woke up with a strong pain in my ear, with the feeling of liquid in it, and some hearing loss. Around 5Pm, pain was really bad and I decided to go to urgent care.

At urgent care they told me I had a bad ear infection, and gave me antibiotics (Amoxicillin-clavulanate, 825-125mg). After I came home, I believe that the eardrum got perforated for the pressure, and I started having some liquid coming off the ear.

I lost this clear liquid for the duration of the whole Monday night. I woke up on Tuesday with less pain, liquid drain stopped, but I still felt the presence of liquid in my ear and hearing loss.

I called back the doctor twice, and the recommendation was to wait for the antibiotics to reduce the infection and get back for a visit next Monday. Being on Kaiser insurance, I will be seen by a nurse practitioner again and not by a specialist.

Tuesday night went better, and this morning I woke up with reduced feeling of water in the ear, but I feel like I have weight in the ear and the hearing loss is very bad (I can barely hear with that ear). I feel the infection is improving, but I still can't hear much on my left ear. So far I have been on antibiotics for 36 hours.

Should I follow the doctor recommendation and wait until Monday for a follow-up, or should I insist and go back for a new visit? The loss of hearing is really worrisome and is giving me anxiety.

EDIT: apologies for the typo in the title

So 2 weeks ago my ear started hurting and was muffled. I thought it was an ear infection, but i wasnt sure. But i basically got stick 1 - 2 days after my ear pain. Its been 2 weeks and im over the sickness now but my ear still feels slightly muffled (not as bad though) and slightly aches all day. Anyone know what this could be?

Serous otitis media M18

I went to an urgent care for a virtual visit because I have had a weird build up of fluid in my ear for like a week or two. When I went there she told me my left ear was fine, however, my right had fluid in it. She said it was a condition called serous otitis media, she told me to come back in if it doesn’t go away after giving me steroids and nasal spray. My boss at work like three weeks ago said she had the same thing after having a cold, she gave me Sudafed and my ear bubbled up like crazy for a while. Anyways, I’m a huge hypochondriac and looked up this condition. It sounds like it’s not common in adults and is associated with a tumor. I guess the urgent care doc didn’t mention it, but still, I feel pretty worried I could have cancer.

Hi guys, finished up my antibiotics today for a double ear infection. Both my ears are still clogged. I can barely hear, it’s absolutely awful (see previous post). Finally booking in to hopefully get some debris out and clear these blockages. Do you think this will work? Has anyone else done this and it’s helped?

I have had and am getting meds for an ear infection on my right ear but all the symptoms and the reason I went to the doctor in the first place was for my left ear?

Took the Mimi hearing test and my left ear is 9 db and my right ear is 5 db. I have been having fullness in my left ear and feeling like it needs to pop but it won’t. Tried Debrox with no luck so hoping it’s just sinuses from the cold weather.

Hi guys, so I’ve had middle ear infection on both ears for just about over a week. I caught it early and got antibiotics day 2 of infection, so I’ve been on Cephalexin for 6 days. The intense pain from infection has died down, don’t need heavy pain meds anymore, but the pressure and aches are still there and this horrid feeling of the clogged ears, muffled hearing, both blocked, and tons of pressure. It’s absolute misery I can’t be social and I feel like I have old lady hearing. I’ve tried every trick with drinking warm fluids, garlic oil in ear, massaging, excessive yarning, warm compressions, the bloody lot. I go through phases of panicking and thinking I’ll be stuck like this for months, especially with searching stuff up too. Somebody please give me some clarity it will get better!

I have a question, after I pour like 10 drops of Debrox into the ear and lay on my side for like 20 minutes do I need to use the bulb syringe to flush out the liquid from my ear or can I just lay on my side and let the liqud drain out of my ear into a kleenex tissue? Does all the liquid drain out naturally into a kleenex tissue just by laying on your side? Has anyone had experience with using ear drops like Debrox? Thank you in advance.

i got an ear infection (middle ear) overnight on friday probably because i was sick, and went to urgent care on saturday morning and have been taking amoxicillin (125mg 2x for 7 days) since then. it’s now tuesday morning, the third day, and i’m not sure if it’s gotten better. i just took medicine for the pain but there’s still a ringing sound in my ear and i can’t hear too well out of it. i hear kind of a low rumbly noise when i move as well. i’m a little bit afraid because the hearing loss hasn’t really improved too much i don’t think, what should i do?

I got hit in the ear by a dodge ball and it cause some bad muffledness and ringing, but it went away, will this cause permanent damage to my ear? Ik this is a dumb question but I get very worried about my hearing.

Above, like, 10-12k or so, my left and right ear kind of go back and forth in terms of which one can hear more loudly. If I do a spectral sweep starting around 12k, it sounds centered fairly rarely. Is this expected? I've had this "issue" for as long as I've been measuring it, however I figured it doesn't really affect almost anything since it mostly affects incredibly high frequencies.

For about a year now, I've had muffled hearing in my left ear. I've had occasional fluid coming out of it, and my hearing ability out of that ear is slightly reduced. I saw an ENT, and he told me my ears are totally clear; no earwax at all. He told me that, in fact, according to my audiogram, my right ear has slight hearing loss, but my left ear is fine. He prescribed me to steroids, which did very slightly improve my condition temporarily, but still didn't resolve it. I decided to finally peek in my ears using a camera, and there is so much black stuff built up that it is completely covering my ear hole. In fact, there's so much in my left ear (the afflicted ear) that you can see it easily using just a normal flashlight by pulling the top of the ear upward. My right ear also has a ton of black earwax, but there's a sizable hole in the center of it which allows stuff to flow through. I have what feels like almost perfect hearing out of my right ear.

So what gives? Why would an ENT say I'm perfectly clear when I obviously am not? Could it be this massive earwax buildup that's affecting my hearing and making it feel muffled?

So I have been sick a few days and now have auto-phony where my ears kinda pop and won’t unpop. I’m really hoping it’s not PET, it gets better when a lay down and I may be able to go a hour or two without popping/auto-phony. Doctor said this is due to fluid in ear, I also have a dripping sensation in my ear..

I've never used ear drops before but felt a blockage so bought Otex express.

I read instructions carefully and applied drops to my right ear the other day. It was uncomfortable but not too bad.

I did the same with my left ear 10 minutes ago and I have never ever felt as much pain as I have just then. I was writhing around on the floor shouting for 2-5 minutes, then spent 5 minutes calming myself down and trying to deal with the pain. I'm still in pain now but it's subsided enough for me to type this post.

I'm leaning so that as much of these drops can ooz put as possible.

What the FUCK just happened?

The whole left side of my head and face is throbing, all the left inside of my mouth and throat is in pain.

Every time I get my heart rate/blood pressure up, my right ear starts popping and glugging releasing pressure. It's a very direct cause and can start within 20-30 seconds. Anything that causes blood pressure/heart rate to increase so things like stress, masturbation, walking, exercise. Can blood pressure/heart rate do this? It's driving me nuts and it's been the same constantly for 2 years.

Got into an accident while driving, got out of the car to get his info but he ends up sucker slapping me on my left ear. Guy was huge and built like a tank.

Couldn’t hear at all from the left for a minute or two, and then a ringing noise. A few minutes later it was okay but when i got home i realized im hearing less from the left.

Closed my nose and blew my ears to test the drums, and the left definitely feels like it has a tear in it. The air leaks, if thats a way to put it.

Went to ER, they said yes the left one has some issue but only an ENT specialist can tell, and no one’s available to book until Monday.

Stressed this might be permanent. What am I looking at here? Will it heal?

Sunday - Watching TV and one ear randomly suddenly got blocked and I was fully deaf in that side.

Monday - didn't clear up overnight, bought some wax removal ear drops and used them morning and night

Tuesday - still no change. Went to a medicentre and they removed the wax, I could hear again and got told it could bleed and not to be worried

Wednesday - woke up with a bit of blood on my pillow, inner ear hurt all day off and on, got a random ringing for 30 seconds at one point in the day. During the night over a couple hours it slowly felt like it was getting blocked again and slowly lost some more hearing.

I read that after wax removal it's normal to be in pain and hear everything muffled for a couple of days. Just want to be safe but not sure if I should go to an audiologist or an ENT.

I’m in so much pain my ear has been hurting constantly for 2 days but tonight it has actually been insane i cannot describe how much pain i’m in it’s absolutely excruciating. i’ve tried ear drops, hot compress against ear, being upright to stop pressure and nothing is helping. i slept 2 hours last night and had to call off work the day before because of my ear pain. PLEASE HELP i can’t take it anymore. im already dosed up on a bunch of painkillers and it’s just not working nothing is working im so desperate. I don’t think going to the ER would help because the ER always no matter what day or time has wait times of 6+ hours. What shall i do??? i’ve tried waiting it out but i actually cannot fathom getting through tonight with this ongoing pain.

I started getting tiny ear pain on the 14th of November nothing unbearable then three days later it got worse. Couldn't hear a single thing except constant ringing. Went to my dr she said yup ear infection gave me drops and antibiotics told me to just keep taking it and putting drops. But she also told me not to get my ear wet? I decided to still use the drops. The pain has subsided but the white pus and tissue like ear drainage gunk have not. My hearing hasn't came back. Tried scheduling an appt for a ent today got told I needed a referral from my dr.

My ears have been popping when I swallow for a couple of weeks. I have an ENT appointment next week. But it’s really bothering me, should I see the urgent care? Unsure if they can help.

I went to the ENT today, as I was having a blocked nose and allergies, and I thought why not ask him about this problem that I have had since 8+ years. He said that the ear problem is also linked to my current problem (Deviated Nasal Septum).

I also had it checked like 7 years ago and they did some hearing tests but I stopped taking the medicine.

So, like I think ever since I was 12 (im currently 20), I had this problem:

When I press my nose with both hands, and force an outwards pressure inside my ears by focusing, I feel a sort of static or popping sound and then my hearing becomes louder than normal. This also happens unintentionally such as when I sneeze. To get back to normal, I have to press my nose again with two fingers, and inhale strongly, like a pull force.

I have had this for so long I think this is the normal for everyone? Google says it has to do with mucus in some tubes, but how can mucus get in my ears? (sorry for being stupid)

I can hear the teeniest tiniest sound, but when there's more than one thing going on like a TV and a conversation they both sound equally loud to me no matter distance so I have a hard time distinguishing either clearly. I use closed captioning on the TV and I tend to watch people's mouths and semi-read lips because of this. However, I often hear things before other people do and everybody is shocked and say I'm faking when I can't understand conversations or the TV. It's like background noise is just as loud as foreground noise all the time.

Anyone else have this?

i had been thinking about and looking into getting loop earplugs for a while but i got kind of freaked out based on the reviews lol. but i also started thinking to myself about "well i already have issues hearing people talking to me so i think earplugs would make that so much worse". i want to be able to tune out overstimulating noises when i'm out to reduce my anxiety but now i'm faced with the dilemma that i just won't be able to hear. i use my airpods frequently to tune things out but even if i have only one in and on transparency mode, i still cannot hear someone talking to me. i often get really anxious in public when talking with people because at least 50% of whats being said to me i won't be able to understand at all. with my boyfriend, i'm a little more comfortable to continue saying "what?" and "huh?" until he says it loud enough for me to hear but often i'll just default to agreeing or nodding my head or just saying "ahh yeah i don't know" and then if the person gives me a weird look, then i'll ask them to repeat. i get so embarrassed but i just cannot hear them. this actually happens often. i want to enhance that while still being able to have a break? like really what kind of product am i left with at this point LOL

I have been sick for a while now and have been popping my ear . Once I pop it it is completely fine but now recently popping it is no help. I had a sharp pain in it last night and still have muffled hearing. No blood puss or anything.

Seemingly, my parents hadn't brought me to ear cleaning in a decade, that's what the doctor said.
My parents had complained about that I wasn't listening due to all the wax in my ears, mostly my right one, the sound of my headphones often was at 56-60. Now it's constantly at 18-22. My right ear still gets waxy often, and fast, despite it having been cleaned fully.
But now since my ears are empty, I keep on getting overwhelmed with everything. I get overwhelmed by the sounds of people BREATHING. It feels like it echoes through my whole brain and I can't focus on other sounds because it keeps on happening every seconds. It's like my ears now focus on EVERY SINGLE SOUND, from a voice to a person swallowing. I feel like ripping my hairs out when I'm eating with others because I hear every single chew, swallow and breath. It's been a week now since my ears weer cleaned, is this normal?

I’ve had a moderate to severe hearing loss since birth and I also get a lot of blockages in my Eustachian tubes which feels like I’m under water a lot.

I just got some new headphones where I’ve used earphones in the past and when I’m listening to music it’s almost painful at times. Like a feeling of pressure?. I’m wondering if the music is too loud and I’m not realising due to the hearing loss?

Not concerned or looking for help, just wondering if I'm alone with this one.

As long as I can remember, I've had sparse, random, and one-sided hearing loss. This might occur once every few months, sometimes I go over a year without any instances of this.. thing. When I was younger, it was much more frequent, I remember in school having to stop what I'm doing and wait for it to pass. Let me describe the sensation.

It's not a total loss of hearing, and it's not always consistent in presentation. Most often, I'll feel a little off balance or faint, then my hearing quickly dulls. It's like I am listening through water, or like my ears are filled with cotton. Like wearing in-ear monitors or ear plugs, but only on one side. Much more seldom the dulled hearing is accompanied by a tinnitus ring, which is much louder than what little noise makes it past the dulling. The sensation will last 30-45 seconds, then it slowly lifts. It's not pleasant, but its really not that bad either.

Though it does occur in both of my ears, I never have both 'go out' at once. Before or after fainting, concussions, or just spells of low blood pressure I've experienced the sensation in both ears, but that's no mystery or oddity.

This has always happened regardless of health, stress, age, elevation of residence, yadda yadda. It happened recently and I screwed my face up while waiting for it to pass. She asked me what was going on, I explained it super off hand, thinking it was a pretty normal thing. She told me it's not, and it seems all of google agrees. No note of this anywhere I can find, though it is hard for me to put into simple words.

Anyone else?

I had hearing loss for 6 years that has suddenly began to resolve. Any ideas why? 22, F

I listen to podcasts, shows, or videos (not music) from the second I wake up, to the second I go to sleep unless I’m in class. Even when I’m studying I listen to lofi. Is this going to cause hearing loss later on even if it’s not loud music?

I have Hyperacusis since 2020 Symptoms are :

• stabbing pain when i hear loud sounds

-Muffled and distorted Hearing -Deteriorating Quality of sound I tried A lot of Things to help it none seem to work the only thing i didn’t do is ear spray but none of the countless doctors who looked into my Ears ever Noticed something Off or prescribed a spray… but I want to try it. My main question is will it have a negative effect on me/What it dangerous of using an Ear spray ?