Time to see an ear, nose, throat specialist

[Jind]

Several weeks back I posted in a thread about someone having the flu that I had come down with a serious case of bronchitis/sinusitis that sucked all the life out of me for several weeks - well, at least three weeks later, two rounds of antibiotics (Azithromycin then Levaquin) and I'm finally not feeling crappy, finally not weak each and every moment of every day since I got sick, and finally have my head not feeling like it's up in the clouds and full of crap.

All seems to be doing well except for one lingering problem that has prevented me from doing anything serious musically for the past month, my ears, particularly my right ear, remains frequency challenged (always sounds like I have a cotton balls in them), when I blow my nose, even lightly, I can hear and feel fluid moving around deep in my ear(s), all sorts of crackling and slushy type sounds. My upper sinuses have all cleared, but those ones connecting to my ears appear to still be plugged up. While I've been able to play guitar for practice at least, I could never mix anything right now, or record anything with any hopes of precision or good judgement of tone or frequency.

Seems it's time to setup an appointment to have it looked at by a specialist, perhaps they can drain whatever it is that deep in my ears as this is really driving me crazy since it's been going on about a month now.

Anyone ever have these type of lingering effects after a severe cold/flu/sinusitis type illness?

 

[TheDriller]

I've had something similar in my left ear for years now, I take a nasal spray that helps to open up the eustachian tubes to allow the shit to clear out.
It's not too bad most of the time, it only gets to be noticeable after a really bad cold, then I get all sorts of squelchy shit happening in that ear.

I've spoken to numerous doctors about it and just ended up with using the spray occasionally, as it would be such heartache to actually go through the rigmarole of talking to specialists, considering there's fuck all that can be done about collapsed eustachian tubes anyway.

And honestly, it doesnt really affect anything musical for me, maybe on a bad day I will need to take the spray before attempting a mix but usually i just get along.

Hope that helps.

 

[MarkG]

Several weeks back I posted in a thread about someone having the flu that I had come down with a serious case of bronchitis/sinusitis that sucked all the life out of me for several weeks - well, at least three weeks later, two rounds of antibiotics (Azithromycin then Levaquin) and I'm finally not feeling crappy, finally not weak each and every moment of every day since I got sick, and finally have my head not feeling like it's up in the clouds and full of crap.

All seems to be doing well except for one lingering problem that has prevented me from doing anything serious musically for the past month, my ears, particularly my right ear, remains frequency challenged (always sounds like I have a cotton balls in them), when I blow my nose, even lightly, I can hear and feel fluid moving around deep in my ear(s), all sorts of crackling and slushy type sounds. My upper sinuses have all cleared, but those ones connecting to my ears appear to still be plugged up. While I've been able to play guitar for practice at least, I could never mix anything right now, or record anything with any hopes of precision or good judgement of tone or frequency.

Seems it's time to setup an appointment to have it looked at by a specialist, perhaps they can drain whatever it is that deep in my ears as this is really driving me crazy since it's been going on about a month now.

Anyone ever have these type of lingering effects after a severe cold/flu/sinusitis type illness?

Def. see the specialist. I used to be mostly deaf in both ears due to chronically congested ears. My ears were not able to excrete all the junk. After surgery the junk could get out and I could hear properly for the first time in my life.

I do have some scar tissue on my eardrums though due to repeated surgery...I don't know how much it affects my hearing because I've never experienced 100% hearing.

 

[Erik Monsonis]

Don't worry, if the specialist visit is gonna be costly, try first one thing that helped me out when I had the exact same problem: Pseudoeffedrine, comes with Aspirine Complex. Take 2 envelopes per day (morning, when you'll feel worse; and night). Finish at least half a pack and you should be ready to go.

If you hear liquids but don't feel like shit it's probably not an infection (anyways, Azythro is a beast on ear-nose-throat infections), just a lot of mucus in the middle-ear space. That should drain with pseudoeffedrine or any other mucolytic and lots of paper tissue.

Anyways I'm not a specialist so, if you feel like going to an ENT, go for it!

 

[Ermz]

Several weeks back I posted in a thread about someone having the flu that I had come down with a serious case of bronchitis/sinusitis that sucked all the life out of me for several weeks - well, at least three weeks later, two rounds of antibiotics (Azithromycin then Levaquin) and I'm finally not feeling crappy, finally not weak each and every moment of every day since I got sick, and finally have my head not feeling like it's up in the clouds and full of crap.

All seems to be doing well except for one lingering problem that has prevented me from doing anything serious musically for the past month, my ears, particularly my right ear, remains frequency challenged (always sounds like I have a cotton balls in them), when I blow my nose, even lightly, I can hear and feel fluid moving around deep in my ear(s), all sorts of crackling and slushy type sounds. My upper sinuses have all cleared, but those ones connecting to my ears appear to still be plugged up. While I've been able to play guitar for practice at least, I could never mix anything right now, or record anything with any hopes of precision or good judgement of tone or frequency.

Seems it's time to setup an appointment to have it looked at by a specialist, perhaps they can drain whatever it is that deep in my ears as this is really driving me crazy since it's been going on about a month now.

Anyone ever have these type of lingering effects after a severe cold/flu/sinusitis type illness?

Yep, been in that boat for 3 and a half years. How's that for lingering?

Don't worry, necessity forces you to adapt. I still do AE work with the screwed ear. In fact my best stuff has been done with it.

I don't know about your part of the world, but the specialists were useless here. The most honest response I was able to get from any of them was 'you'll just have to live with it'. They couldn't detect a problem, even after I described it in detail, and ran a battery of tests (twice).

Pseudoephedrine does nothing. Nothing I've ingested has.

 

[jamvanman]

I had the same thing for a while. Eventually went to the ENT who suggested using Fess nasal irrigation spray a couple of times a day, some hayfever tablets, another nasal spray called Nasonex, and also a dental plate as I had a clicky jaw which wasn't helping.

Has made a big difference for me. No longer need the Nasonex but still use the nasal irrigation and so far it has helped a lot.

 

[SimonSez]

I hate seeing the ENT. There's just something about my ears that I hate a doctor being near them. I think I value my hearing more than my sight.

Anyway, you might have fluid behind your eardrum and I think the doctor will have to drain it somehow or they just give you antibiotics.

I had a really bad experience at an ENT and it permanently fucked up my hearing in my right ear. The guy used some suction device to take earwax out of my ear, well he pushed it too far and it punctured my ear drum. It was probably the most intense pain I had ever experienced, my ear was bleeding for days and fluid was coming out of it. I still have ringing noises from time to time and if I'm around loud noises for too long then my ear hurts for a couple days. I had a hearing test and my left ear is better than average but my right ear drops off over the 15Khz - 20Khz range.

 

[TheDriller]

... another nasal spray called Nasonex, ...

This is the stuff I use, and it works.
Aside from that, +1 to Ermz 'you'll just have to live with it' bit.

 

[Ermz]

I had a really bad experience at an ENT and it permanently fucked up my hearing in my right ear. The guy used some suction device to take earwax out of my ear, well he pushed it too far and it punctured my ear drum.

Oh man, these are the horror stories that keep me away. Seems just about everybody has one. Almost feels like it's best to avoid doctors and simply deal with whatever ails you as best you can privately.

In my case they've fortunately just been a waste of time and money, but I have no doubt some would make problems like these even worse through improper practice.

Ultimately it just comes down to luck. You have to buckle up and pray you don't get hit with something unmanageable. If you do, just suck it up and make do as best you can. I was bitter/depressed for a good year and a half after. Was almost certain I couldn't continue in this work. At some point it just wore off and I pushed myself to, at the time, do the best work of my life, which annihilated anything I had done with my prior 'perfect' hearing.

Anyway, I hope in your case it's just something that goes away with time.

 

[DaveBlack]

I've had something for a while that never seems to go away...Whenever I bend over, there's something in my right ear that almost sounds like a subdrop. Like a "wwwwommmm" sound and it causes my right ear to be noticeably not up to par with my left.

I think in due time, your problem will go away. Something about these infections and colds lately have been rough. A lot of people have said that it seems like they linger a lot longer than they used to. Could be that we're just getting older though...

 

[Jind]

Something about these infections and colds lately have been rough. A lot of people have said that it seems like they linger a lot longer than they used to. Could be that we're just getting older though...

As most know, I've had two bone marrow transplants for Acute Myelogenous Leukemia, and have a literal team of physicians that I still see with regular frequency and one common comment about this current cold and flu season is that these viruses this year seem to be really bad ones, long lasting, worse than normal side effects, ...

As for seeing doctors, given my situation, it's just a part of my everyday life now and generally letting little things go and hoping they get better is not a good idea in my case as even my original diagnosis happened much later than it should have because I wrote the way I was feeling for months to work exhaustion, colds, ... I trust my team of doctors and I'm sure they will send me to an experienced ENT doctor, and fortunately I have good insurance so cost is not a big issue. Fortunately all the other symptoms have cleared up, just this lingering ear thing is really annoying.

Thanks for the response my friends.