The inside of my ear is swollen...and my hearing has been reduced. The pain is annoying. Is there anything I can do to make the swelling go down faster?

Swollen? Have you gone to the doctor or do you just feel that it's swollen?

Take some ibuprofen. It's an anti-inflammatory. It may help with the swelling as well as the pain.

It won't "cure" the swelling, but it will take it away for a time.

I advise going to the doctor if it doesn't get better in a few days.

hokie said:

I took advil...it is swollen...I can't stick anything in there and it's painful. I know I shouldn't stick sharp objects in there...I think that's what caused this infection.

peacenlovealways said:

What did you stick in your ear? You could have either cut the ear canal and now it's infected or punctured your ear drum. If you did puncture your eardrum that may explain the diminished hearing as well.

Do you have a fever? I think you should go to the doctor ASAP. Your hearing is something you don't want to mess with.

hokie said:

Haven't seen a doctor in a long time....when I blew my nose awhile back...it felt like air was escaping my ear. I put sharp objects in my ear when it's itchy...hair pin or clip. I probably hurt my ear drum or something.

peacenlovealways said:

Oh my...yes. You may very well have punctured the ear drum. My mother put a pin in her ear to scratch it when she was a child. She ruptured her ear drum and now is almost totally deaf in that ear. It's irreversible.

I'm not a doctor, but I think you should go right away.

I just did some research and I think you really may have ruptured your eardrum. If you did then you can get an ear infection from that if bacteria gets inside the perforation.

One of the signs of a ruptured ear drum is feeling/hearing air escape. Or at least that is what it feels like.

Go to the doctor!!!!!

GO TO A DOCTOR!




[Edited 9/10/09 18:55pm]

yowza! Thanks you guys!!!!! All of you!

peacenlovealways said:

You can't enjoy music, if your ear rots off

thekidsgirl said:

Yes and quickly. If your ear drum is damaged you do not want to cause any more problems with your hearing by delaying a visit to the doctor.

Why do some people avoid doctors so much? Go now, if you haven't gone already!

thekidsgirl said:

I love my Zune!

TheEnglishGent said:

in the states it costs them money if they don't have insurance through their jobs isn't it?

ZombieKitten said:

ZombieKitten said:

Yep! And even if you have insurance it can still cost quite a bit of money to go to the doctor and get medication.

Example...

I went to get 2 prescriptions filled the other day. They were both medications that I take regularly for my migraines.

One was for 9 pills and the other was for 2 injections.

It cost me $100!!! And I pay $400 a month for health insurance.

Those 9 pills probably won't last me an entire month but that's all my insurance company will "authorize" in a 30 day period.

I also take 3 other medications regularly...

Total I spend anywhere from $600-$700 a month for insurance, doctor's visits and medications every month.

ZombieKitten said:

hence this big nasty furor over health care reform. And even with insurance some things still cost a grip to fix.

peacenlovealways said:

I love mine too!

I REALLY understand if you are avoiding the doctor because of insurance issues, but you should try to get to a clinic, or something. Ear problems are hard to self-treat

hokie said:

you should seriously think about marrying an Australian

See a doctor. Get it checked.

ZombieKitten said:

Know any hot ones? Hook me up!!!

ZombieKitten said:

Ah yes, always forget that.

hokie said:

I have a couple of singles

hokie said:

I went for eye irratation the other day, I have insurance and the frikken drops cost 75.00!!! For a tiny bottle of drops!!!

It's hard to believe that the USA hasn’t got Medicare
How do struggling families and the unemployed get Medical help?
Excuse my ignorance but how does it work in the USA if Medicare doesn’t exist?

tinaz said:

jeez. And I thought I had it bad paying $42 (after insurance) for frickin' cream for my face for my roseacea.

chocolatehandles said:

I believe if you are on welfare there is some sort of coverage for children.. Welfare is an income based system. But if you make more money than there cutoff your screwed basically! My daughter who is 21 and a cosmotolgist is to old to be under our coverage but her profession doesnt offer insurance so she has NO coverage at all... And noone can afford to buy it for themselves... Its a very sad set up!!

CarrieMpls said:

I know! I looked at her and said "its EYE drops for christ sakes!" she just stared at me lol...

What about if someone has a chronic illness like Asthma
Does the US Government subsidize their medication?

chocolatehandles said:

Nope.

If you're not below the poverty line (which is VERY low, especially if you live in a city), or a child or senior citizen, you're basically on your own. Maybe if you're lucky you have some local resources -- a community health clinic that is sliding scale, that kind of thing.

But it's really a nightmare. I haven't been insured for years, and it's very stressful.