Ear infection - is there a danger in waiting it out to heal itself? How to get relief?

[MissSJ]

I have had an ear infection for maybe four days now. The first day or so my ear just was really plugged and sounded like I was underwater, then I had a day of ear pain which ibuprofen helped, yesterday morning everything was echoing like there was a tiny radio in my ear replaying everything and today I have a constant ringing. The ringing is driving me CRAZY. I also am so plugged I am not hearing everything properly. Is there any harm to my hearing to wait this out and let it heal on its own or should I be making a doctor appointment?

Also, any ideas on how I can get relief from the ringing and the plugged feeling?

BTW- I have other symptoms too, your basic run of the mill clogged head, sore throat and a bit o coughing.

[iamme]

Short answer-no.
You said you have an ear infection-did you already get checked by a doc or nurse or other HCP?
Are you dizzy? That plugged feeling is something I experienced with swimmer's ear and it was horrible! But, I've also had an ear infection in the last five yrs. and that hurts, too, like really, really bad.
My dc have only had 7 ear infections between them, the first three I treated with antiBs. The others i have used a combination of things....

Heating pad for pain.
Garlic/Mullein(sp?) drops-as directed on the bottle.
Warmed onion wrapped in cloth and held over ear-done until onion is cool-repeated every 45 minutes. (I cut the onion in half, warm it in a very small amount of olive oil.)
Lymphatic massage after onion and drops. This is done by placing fingers behind ear and gently massaging downward toward neck-you only want to be actually massaging in ONE direction TOWARD the neck-so ease up and give no pressure as you bring your fingers back up.

High amounts of fluids and Vit. C-probably eating raw garlic would be awesome(something new I'm doing).

The worst that can happen is that your ear drum bursts and the fluid drains(which is what you ultimately want). In the meantime, whatever you can do to relieve the pain.

HTH! I'm sorry you aren't well and hope you feel better soon.

[WuWei]

Have you tried eliminating all dairy casein protein from your diet and including whole food probiotics?

This is a copy of a recent post of mine regarding ear infections...


Pat

[rhiOrion]

Are you sure it's infected? If you have other cold symptoms, especially, maybe it's just inflamed and stuffy. I am guessing you're not totally against medicines, since you took ibuprofen- so I'd give a decongestant a try.

I hope nobody minds that I usually make this suggestion (I don't want to become the "sudafed lady"), but for people who don't mind using it, I think it's definitely something to give a shot. It has saved me MANY times from ended up at the Dr. And I've had ear "infections" that were bad enough to land me in the ER before. But haven't had one since I realized that a decongestant helps.

[anne1140]

I doubt it's an actual ear infection. Actually, I have the same exact thing as you right now, right down to the cold symptoms. A co-worker told me that Zyrtec-D is supposed to help, but so far, it hasn't done much for my ears.

I had an actual ear infection a few years ago, and like someone else said, it is very, very painful. I also had nasty pus-like stuff oozing out. Nice, I know.

[MissSJ]

Thanks everyone! It is good to know that I most likely don't have an ear infection. I didn't know for sure since I haven't gone to the doc, I just thought my symptoms meant ear infection. I'll try the suggestions here. I usually don't do any type of medicine but I am taking four online classes right now and dh works a crazy schedule so I have many days where I am the only one to take care of the boys and the house - I have been desperate to feel fine so I could be at my optimal. I will try all of the suggestions suggestions here and if the ringing doesn't stop by tomorrow I will try a decongestant! Desperate times....

Off to read Pat's thread.

[luv-my-boys]

I would try a decongestant at least. It will help if your Eust. tube is swelled and if you have fluid that isnt draining (due to cold/drainage) that might be causing the pain due to pressure. I often have to do this due to allergies that can go awry.