'ear 'ear

Warning - this might turn into a bit of a moan.


Yesterday evening, as I was fighting my computer to try and draw up plans for the house I want to build, my left ear suddenly went strange. It's difficult to describe exactly how it felt - almost as if it was full of water, except that I didn't seem to lose any hearing. I thought it might pop and whine for a while, the way it sometimes does, and the way my right ear did a couple of years ago (but forgot to stop whining). But no, it just carried on feeling full.


It's pretty quiet here in the caravan of an evening. I'd watched an episode of Game of Thrones earlier - my treat for the day - so the telly was off, and I'd not bothered putting any music on. The only sound the occasional frrppp as one of the dogs let loose a fart, accompanied by the thump thump thump of a terribly-pleased-with-itself tail.  When I did make a noise - creaking my office chair or just shouting at the recalcitrant design program I was fighting, it resonated oddly in my left ear, like a tinny loudspeaker far away and turned up to max. I could hear strange harmonics of the original sound that I'm fairly sure weren't actually there. In all, my head felt unbalanced, one ear thick as if I'd been a naughty schoolboy, but I figured it would soon pass.


Alas, no such luck. Come bedtime, and the even quieter silence of lights out, I realised that the offending ear was making a low roaring sound, in complete contrast to the high pitched squeak that is my constant companion on the other side.


Come the morning and things haven't really improved much. The ear still feels thick and heavy - almost pressured - but without the accompanying loss of hearing I'd expect were it full of water or wax. I'm still getting the odd harmonics, and if I stick my finger in my lughole and wiggle it around a bit, it gives some temporary relief. All of which leads me to suspect that the problem is something akin to glue-ear - a build up of nastiness on the inside.


Fortunately for me, I have an appointment with an ENT specialist* on Monday. Unfortunately for me the appointment is for an entirely different malady, and one with which I shall bore you on another occasion (Monday, probably). Hopefully the overworked doctor will have time to poke around in my ears as well.


That said, when I had a MRI scan at Bronglais in Aberystwyth last year they could find nothing wrong, so I'm not getting my hopes up for any swift diagnosis and cure.


*who knows little about sentient trees, or even Formicidae, I suspect. Though I could be wrong.

Comments

Ellen said…
You have just described, almost perfectly, the state of right ear. I chalk mine up to some sort of strange virus/infection caught from one of my lovely, grubby students. In my world, I'm relieved it's just an ear problem, and not bedbugs!
JamesO said…
I find that if I press my finger over my left earhole, I hear a tone in my right ear - weird.

I hope it's just a bug and passes soon. The whining in my left ear is a constant companion now, and even more irritating than the dogs!

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