Burst ear drum? Inflamed ear canal? Muffled hearing?

[AbeLinkedIn]

This morning I was cleaning out my right ear after noticing it sounded a little blocked. I cleaned out wax but after a while I noticed some blood and my hearing on that side has gone muffled and feels a bit inflamed. No real pain to speak of, just discomfort. Did I tear my ear drum and make myself deaf in my right ear or will I get back to normal eventually? What can I do to ease symptoms?

Doctors are out of the question, most are booked solid and we recently had an ER scare that we just paid off. Help?

 

[TruthHurts]

This morning I was cleaning out my right ear after noticing it sounded a little blocked. I cleaned out wax but after a while I noticed some blood and my hearing on that side has gone muffled and feels a bit inflamed. No real pain to speak of, just discomfort. Did I tear my ear drum and make myself deaf in my right ear or will I get back to normal eventually? What can I do to ease symptoms?

Doctors are out of the question, most are booked solid and we recently had an ER scare that we just paid off. Help?

Sounds like it could be a ear infection or wax build up maybe a little of both.

 

[AbeLinkedIn]

All the wax is basically gone from what I can tell. I used peroxide then the Q-tips and that usually works.

I want to say ear infection since I asked my brother what rupturing your eardrum would be like and he said it'd be extremely painful, unmistakable. What can I do about this slightly-muffled hearing though? Will it come back to normal on its own?

 

[TruthHurts]

All the wax is basically gone from what I can tell. I used peroxide then the Q-tips and that usually works.

I want to say ear infection since I asked my brother what rupturing your eardrum would be like and he said it'd be extremely painful, unmistakable. What can I do about this slightly-muffled hearing though? Will it come back to normal on its own?

If you rupture your eardrum you will hear a pop and then nothing else ever again from that ear. I think your hearing will get back to normal when the infection is gone. But you may need eardrops for that. Call your pharmacist and see if they can recommend something over the counter for you to use.

 

[bin_tenn]

Give the body some time (a week or two, perhaps) to heal itself. If nothing has changed since then, consider consulting with your doctor to see if they can do more to help. It will be fine.

If you start noticing more signs of infection, especially fever, talk to your doctor as well. I don't know if antibiotics are prescribed for ear infections, but if so, that may or may not eventually be needed.

 

[AbeLinkedIn]

The blood and muffled hearing are things I never experienced cleaning my ears before. I didn't hear a pop and I can still hear out of the ear (Though it's not so much muffled as it is a fullness, some higher registers aren't as clear) .

I heard stories of people who did puncture their eardrum and had similar cases, which is why I made this thread. Case and point, never using q-tips ever again no matter the outcome

 

[TruthHurts]

The blood and muffled hearing are things I never experienced cleaning my ears before. I didn't hear a pop and I can still hear out of the ear (Though it's not so much muffled as it is a fullness, some higher registers aren't as clear) .

I heard stories of people who did puncture their eardrum and had similar cases, which is why I made this thread. Case and point, never using q-tips ever again no matter the outcome

Yes very true good point.

 

[AbeLinkedIn]

Now could there be something like swimmer's ear? The sensation almost feels like water's trapped somewhat but I know it's not there.

I'm just trying to get answers. I know what caused it, but I take it infection might be the most likely scenario? I haven't seen a hint of blood since this morning and any inflammation I noted seems to have gone down a notch.

 

[bin_tenn]

Now could there be something like swimmer's ear? The sensation almost feels like water's trapped somewhat but I know it's not there.

I'm just trying to get answers. I know what caused it, but I take it infection might be the most likely scenario? I haven't seen a hint of blood since this morning and any inflammation I noted seems to have gone down a notch.

I've had swimmer's ear before, or at least I think that's what it was. I actually had fluid buildup in my ear, which also affected my balance. It caused intense vertigo episodes, and if I moved my head a certain way I could actually hear fluid whooshing around in there. Also, if I tugged on my ear lobe a certain way I could hear it. I had no pain, no blood; only the dizziness and sound.

 

[AbeLinkedIn]

It's weird, I can hear fine but it just sounds different in my right ear than my left. The blood is what concerned me most but that's all but a memory now, no trace of it. I'm thinking if I hit my drum I'd be in a worse way

 

[bin_tenn]

Probably so, IMO. For what it's worth, I've had a bit of blood after cleaning my ears as well.

 

[AbeLinkedIn]

What about the muffled hearing? Same deal or?

 

[bin_tenn]

What about the muffled hearing? Same deal or?

I've experienced that numerous times, but don't know if it coincided with blood (because I just don't think anything of it).

 

[TruthHurts]

What about the muffled hearing? Same deal or?

The muffled hearing is from swelling in the ear and possibly water or the peroxide that you used is still in there also. You could try to lay on that ear for a little while and see if that helps to let any possible liquid in the ear to come out. One time my ear was so infected that I couldn't hear, I thought I had lost my hearing. I got some drops from the doctor that took care of the problem and restored my hearing to normal.

 

[AbeLinkedIn]

I think it's possibly swelling. I have to pick up an unrelated medication tomorrow so if nothing's changed I might pick up some ear drops and see what happens. It's more an annoyance at this point than a panic-stricken worry I had this morning.

 

[AbeLinkedIn]

Update: I'm beginning to think it's an irritated ear canal since aside from the blood this morning, no other signs point to perforation, no dizziness or complete loss of hearing (Just that slight muffled sensation that seems to be going away slowly)

Still never going to use Q-tips again, been looking at horror stories all day