8/1/15 12:17 PM

so i caught some summertime bug this week, never got terribly bad but it took up residence in my left inner-ear. summer illness and ear-infections? i feel like i'm 5 again! now i have measurable hearing loss and constant tinnitus. :-(

we're not even a week after the onset of the bug and only 72 hours after onset of the hearing issues, so its reasonably early days...but the doc was concerned enough to put me on anti-biotics + prednisone and i'm seeing an ENT specialist on monday.

wondering if anyone has experienced something like this and what the outcome was like. were you able to restore your hearing loss and get rid of the tinnitus? the latter is driving me batty!

8/1/15 1:20 PM

Inner ear, or middle? The middle ear is the usual location, because there's a direct connection to the respiratory tract via the eustachian tube. Inner ear infections are rarer, and usually cause balance problems.

I think the tinnitus usually goes away when the infection clears up. So I'd take those antibiotics. The hearing loss is probably related to the fluid buildup, and should clear up.

Good luck.

8/1/15 8:13 PM

which makes sense. no balance issues. just pressure, hearing loss, tinnitus. the throat/ear region is very "itchy"...i LOVE eating a bowl of shredded-wheat cereal to scratch that itch.

my course of antibiotics is awfully short...only 4 days...with the infection seeming like the basis for everything, i'll be asking the ENT specialist on monday why so short.

Last edited by walter on 8/1/15 9:05 PM; edited 1 time in total

8/1/15 8:19 PM

My ear infection [12/2014] and vertigo appears to have been more from an allergy than the ear infection.

You are lucky no balance issues. I have had a few vertigo flare ups, until we figured it out. The lacquer I have been using for a few years when I sand it, the dry material fucks me up.

The wet smell will do it to, but I guess my filter does better with the fumes than the dust... or the dust gets on my skin more, even as careful as I thought I was being. MEH.

Hard to ride when you turn your head to one side and world takes off in that direction!

8/3/15 9:16 AM

...doc says that it looks like the auditory nerve is *not* is affected and no measureable fluid build-up in the middle ear. More than likely a mechanical issue caused by the infection/swelling, so when the bug is killed-off and the swelling subsides my hearing should return to normal in a couple weeks.

Last edited by walter on 8/3/15 12:09 PM; edited 2 times in total

8/3/15 9:53 AM

give you any claritin and/or saline nasal spray?

8/3/15 12:05 PM

i take allegra (tablets) and astelin (spray) daily for my allergy regimen.

the infection is in the middle ear, the body-side of the ear-drum, so with an intact eardrum a saline wash wouldnt get to the affected area very well!

8/3/15 5:01 PM

Not a wash, it just moisturizes the tissues. I found this quite effective...

8/4/15 12:14 PM

Say no to the netty pot. Nothing like pouring bacteria up your nose.

8/4/15 12:25 PM

You use sterile saline for Pete's sake Erik. ;) We probably breath in a shit load of bugs daily. Just sometimes a bad one takes over your head unfortunately, right? ;)

We are just bags of salt water anyway. The localized application moistens where it is too dry. Else it just runs down you face, a pretty picture no matter how you look at it. ;)

8/4/15 1:17 PM

Common sense would dictate using sterile water. BUTTTT

Most people don't and the pitcher never goes in an autoclave. Those things forcefully introduce bacteria etc. into your nasal cavities and make no sense. Sure we BREATH in bacteria with every breath we don't have gills any more so we have no defenses to the mechanical introduction of water borne bacteria into our heads.

People die in my part of world from swimming in nasty water, the amoebas and protozoa travel to the brain via the nasal tissues. I see no reason to take that chance outside of the occasional swim in a lake or river. Granted the pot won't have river water in it but you never can tell what might be in the pot after a few uses.

8/4/15 1:58 PM

Give us some credit.



When you're past the issue wash out the bottle, peel off the label and use it to dispense goo gone, chain lube, etc.

8/4/15 2:00 PM

"peel off the label" probably an important thing to remember. I actually squirted the nasal saline in my eye before coffee the other day... Luckily it was not a problem...

Dumb Ars...