Aaargh! Stupid cold...

[James]

Ok, for the last week I've had a lovely summer cold, the kind that sucks all the energy right out of you and just makes you want to go home and crawl into bed. Well, now that it's finally winding down, today it found a new way to make my life hell- I can't "pop" my right ear. I've got no problem at all on the left but my right side not only won't pop but is actually beginning to hurt a bit. It's driving me up a wall right now, anyone got any quick remedies that don't involve shoving a screwdriver really hard into it?

James

[Ragnarok the Red]

Have you tried yawning or stretching your jaw? Just keep doing that over and over and eventually, your ear should pop. Has always worked for me.

[James]

Tried, and tried, and tried. It's 6:30AM and I can't sleep because the pressure in my ear hurts. Not "oh the agony!" hurt but a dull constant ache that won't let me sleep. Every time I manage to relieve it a bit it comes on back. And it won't stop ringing, either.

Haven't had this happen to me before so I've no idea how to relieve it. All I wanted was a good night's sleep...

James

[James]

One quick trip to the emergency room later and I find it's, as I'd basically figured out, an ear infection. I had no idea those things hurt So! Damn! Much!

Me go sleep now...

James

[Rumpy]

There are quick trips to the emergency room? Those bastards make you wait!

[James]

Turns out that the best time to go to the hospital is 8:30AM on a Sunday morning. I was in and out in a hospital-relative blink of an eye, only 2 hours or so. So my advice to all of you is that if you get in an accident or just need fast medical attention you should wait until early morning to do it.

Mmm... antibiotics...

James

[GohanX]

Yeah, ear infections hurt like a mother. I had one in my right ear about a month ago, I had to take like 2 or 3 advil every few hours. On my worst headaches, one Advil usually lasts me all day. Then the infection switched ears on me. Ouch.

I should have gone straight to the doctor, but I didn't.

[James]

Well, I figured after lying in bed for 6 hours straight (!!!) with the pain going from kind of annoying, to painful, to sonofabitch that fucking hurts!!!, that I'd better haul my carcass over to the hospital. Thankfully, I live a block and a half away.

Anything that effects the senses is something I'm going to get fixed immediately. Eyes, ears, whatever. I've got enough stuff going on that I don't need to be half-deaf. I talked to a friend about it and apparently if you don't get it taken care of it can permanently effect your hearing. Scary...

James

[gameoverDude]

Originally posted by Ragnarok the Red
Have you tried yawning or stretching your jaw? Just keep doing that over and over and eventually, your ear should pop. Has always worked for me.

I'm fighting a cold right now myself, and this helps somewhat.

The last time I had an ear infection years ago, I was temporarily deaf in that ear. It basically felt like cauliflower ear on the inside when it started swelling- not one bit comfortable. Another time, I had my eardrum actually rupture. That's so painful it hurts to even think about it.