Since 2010 when my ear got blocked with water at a mates house, I have ALWAYS had a blocked ear.
Now, as a child I always had ear problems like ear infections, but other than that, my hearing’s been pretty good!
When it first happened, I got them syringed pretty quickly and it was amazing to hear clearly again, but shortly afterwards, it came back and I just left it, for five years!!
I finally had enough because my ear was popping in and out of hearing and not, and it was getting hard to eat, talk or even breathe without it being SO annoying and making my glands feel all funny.
So I went to the doctors and he explained my whole ear canal was blocked and black and I had a pinhole size hole that was open and when it was open, that’s when I could hear and when it was closed, that’s when I couldn’t.
Then I was prescribed drops – and I didn’t take them so when I went back for a syringing nothing came out. The nurse was not happy!! So I left it for another year of going in and out of being able to hear.
I started working out and that’s when I’d had enough again because the heavy breathing really frustrated my ears, so I took the drops for two weeks and demanded a syringing (my doctors hates doing them) and so they did.
HALLELUJAH, I was hearing again!!
The wind going into my ears is unbelievable and being able to hear silly things like birds tweeting again was amazing.
But here I am, a week later and my ear is popping AGAIN. My doctors won’t let me keep getting them syringed as they say it’s dangerous, and the oils don’t work.
So really my long winded question to you readers is: did your ears keep getting blocked? Or did your doctors keep syringing your ears?
It’s so annoying to have this problem and I can’t be the only one out there with this problem and I so desperately want it solved!!
Paige is 20 years old and lives in Cambridgeshire in the East of England with her family.
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Caro
June 2, 2016
Paige, I’d get your GP to urgently refer you to ENT so they can investigate this & find out why your ears keep popping/getting blocked. Plus, they can gently vacuum your ears rather than the repeated,invasive syringing which isn’t recommended, as your GP has correctly said.
Roger Beeson
June 2, 2016
For much of my adult life I had similar experiences. On top of the blocked ears I was getting repeated ear infections. I was using various brands of wax-clearing drops on a regular basis, but I was still getting blocked ears, necessitating syringing by my GP.
It wasn’t until I happened to be working at an RNID exhibition, where an ear specialist was looking into people’s ears, that I started to find a solution. Like you I could see on the screen that I had nasty black wax blocking my ear canals.
The specialist recommended me to get an urgent referral to an ENT department. That started a whole new chapter.
I discovered that the entrance to my external ear canals is restricted, so that wax does not naturally escape. Also syringing is not good for the ears.
Since then I have had my ear-wax sucked out with a micro vacuum cleaner every 6 months. That used to be done by an ENT doctor, but now it’s done by an ear-cleaning specialist nurse at a local outpatient department.
I still use various useless ear-drops to keep wax deep inside at bay, but I still need the regular suction treatment to get all the wax out.
So get yourself referred to ENT to be seen by someone with the tools to do the job.
Roger Beeson
ray phillips
June 10, 2016
The symptoms you describe are quite typical of blockage of the Eustachion tube (also known as the auditory tube) that connects the oropharynx with the middle ear. The purpose of the canal is to keep the air pressure within the middle ear close to ambient pressure. The pressure increases even on swallowing and nose blowing. It decreases on going up in an airplane and increases on descent. The last is when the babies cry on landing because their auditory tubes do not equilibrate ambient air pressure and middle ear pressure fast enough. The nature of the tube is such that air going in from the throat is not as efficient as air going out owing to the collapsible end of the tube on the throat side. The blockage is exaggerated with the swelling from an upper respiratory infection. It is the sensation of “water on the ear” after swimming, involving the auditory tube, not the ear canal.
Perhaps you have considered this, but from the description, your focus has been on an obstruction in the ear canal or a problem with the tympanic membrane. If you would like suggestions on how to clear the auditory tube, I would be pleased to suggest some simple techniques.
Ray Phillips, MD
Kent Lakes, New York
ray phillips
June 17, 2016
Have you tried Valsalva’s maneuver to clear the blocking? This is usually successful. VAsoconstrictor drops placed directly over the pharyngeal opening of the auditory (Eustacheon) tube are useful but can be overused, causing another problem.