Today my ear is hurting. I’m not in the most pleasant of moods. Yes, my new haircut is fantastic and I’m wearing one of my favorite floral skirts… regardless, Jane is an unpleasant girl.
Not me. But I know her pain...
It all started a few months ago in Bikram. I turned my head to one side during one of the postures and sweat went rolling into my ear… and never came out. I got some over the counter solutions: one that dries liquid which is caught in ears, another than soothes pain… naturally it hurt. It went away. Never (to my knowledge) turned into an infection. But every once in a while I’ll touch the side of my face or turn my neck and something in my ear turns angry and I get sharp pains in and sometimes around my ear. This isn’t an infection. There is no ooze or gross stuff. No cold or cold-like symptoms. And most of the time my ear feels perfectly fine (unless I aggravate it). I have a hardware malfunction (as opposed to an oozing software malfunction). I have an injury.
WebMD to the rescue. I’m positive, I ruptured an eardrum and today it hurts.
A ruptured eardrum – also known as a perforated eardrum or a tympanic membrane perforation — can lead to complications such as middle ear infections and hearing loss. It may also require surgery to repair the damage to the eardrum. But typically, especially if you protect your ear, a ruptured eardrum will heal on its own without treatment within a couple of months.A number of things can cause the eardrum to rupture; one of the most common causes is an ear infection. When the middle ear is infected, pressure builds up and pushes against the eardrum. When the pressure gets too great, it can cause the eardrum to perforate. When that happens you may suddenly notice that the pain and pressure you’ve felt from the infection suddenly stops and pus drains from the ear.
Another common cause of a ruptured eardrum is poking the eardrum with a foreign object, such as a cotton-tipped swab or a bobby pin that’s being used to clean wax out of the ear canal.- WebMD
This is awesome news, mainly because I DO NOT WANT TO GO TO THE DOCTORS for something that will heal on its own. My co-pay is ridiculous and I dislike (I felt hate was a a strong word to use for someone who can “miss” my vein) my doctor. I would like to avoid her at all costs. Another great thing about figuring this out on my own, I learned both things I can do to help it heal and things I need to stop doing that will only aggravate it… because WebMD is right, doing those things do hurt. My new best friend is going to be the cotton ball (which would have prevented the agonizing pain today).
I may still have to go to the doctors later, on if it doesn’t get better, but first I’ll give WebMD’s advice a try before I visit her.
With that said, I’m having a hard time focusing or enjoying anything right now. So this blog ends here.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
we are in the same boat, I see. mine started as swimmers ear (which i would guess yours was too only a milder one) involving my ear swelling out from the side of my head like a monkeys. this swelling then ruptured my drum. I feel your pain… Literally…