Waking up deaf!

AdMMM

This morning I woke up to the sound of my alarm coming from my left side which is strange because my phone was on my right side. I soon realised that I had absolutely no hearing from my right ear and less than normal hearing in my left ear. As you can imagine I found it very strange and difficult to function properly and then about two hours later my left ear started acting up and suddenly I couldn't hear anything at all!

Some poking and prodding resulted in a faint passage being created in the left ear and I can now faintly hear from it once again. Being deaf (albeit not totally) has been (and is) an incredibly strange feeling. Does anyone else have any deaf experiences?

Steoob

you dont seem worried at all! this could be a serious problem with your brain or something else... go to a doctor man!

monkeyfudge

You need to get you ears syringed on average once every 7 years or so.

mike65

Really?

Sudden deafness needs checking out! (and googling of course)

Mike.

Dave!

Probably just a buildup of wax. Might be worth going to your GP, they'll either syringe it or scrape it out with a kind of hook thing. The latter is much less traumatic than the former IMO.......

Mr. Presentable

I had it about 8 months ago. Got a major fright. Hoped it would clear but after five days went to the Eye & Ear hosp and had wax removed. All was OK! Get your ears syringed.

Bob the Builder

If only every dying patient had a positive attitude like yours, society would be better for all... I had it myself once or twice, just means that I'm late for skool... nutin much else...get a day on the doss soon as I arrive late

AdMMM

DaveMcG wrote:

Probably just a buildup of wax. Might be worth going to your GP, they'll either syringe it or scrape it out with a kind of hook thing. The latter is much less traumatic than the former IMO.......

I've been sick all week so I'm guessing my ears just started producing a crazy amount of wax. I would have thought a syringe would be less traumatic that a big bloody hook!

I must say that the sound of me eating my cereal is quite nerve wrecking. It sounds like a big oak tree crashing to the ground with every bite!

monkeyfudge

And lay off the ear hole sex...

Dave!

|.Murderer.| wrote:

I've been sick all week so I'm guessing my ears just started producing a crazy amount of wax. I would have thought a syringe would be less traumatic that a big bloody hook!

I must say that the sound of me eating my cereal is quite nerve wrecking. It sounds like a big oak tree crashing to the ground with every bite!

Well if you're sick then maybe you're all stuffy/swollen so that'd exacerbate any deafness caused by the wax! I aint a doctor though.

Each to their own, but I have perferated eardrums so water going into my ears at all is uncomfortable, never mind having it pumped in at high pressure!!! The hook is tiny and the wax just gets wrapped around it, and pulled out like a cork out of a bottle. I kinda like it, lol.

monkeyfudge wrote:

And lay off the ear hole sex...

True that. We all have to make sacrifices for the good of our health.

Plug

I had that before, one ear was properly deaf for a month, got pissed off so took a trip to the doctors, he got me ear back in action.

monkeyfudge wrote:

And lay off the ear hole sex...

LOL:D

InFront

one ear was properly deaf for a month, got pissed off so took a trip to the doctors

You put up with it for a whole month!? I imagine it must be a weird feeling, haven't experienced it. I used to wake up with my eyelids stuck together when I was small because of some sort of conjunctivitis. Such a weird feeling not being able to open your eyes when you wake, had to prize them open with water!

AdMMM

About going to a Doctor though, for some reason I'd rather not unless it's neccessary. I think I'd be afraid that he'd think I'm a bit of an unclean fellow! Giving up the ear sex will be difficult though, I just love having my ear plugged

Dave!

Well wait til you're not sick anymore, and if it doesn't stop after that then you should go... But my ears get all stuffed up when I'm sick, but it's usually okay after a few days.

InFront

|.Murderer.| wrote:

I'd be afraid that he'd think I'm a bit of an unclean fellow!

He'll have seen far worse things. Wait until after lunch, there'll surely be a few medi-glove adventures in before then, so yours will seem like nothing.

Everyone has ear wax buildups, it's completely natural.

Terry

InFront wrote:

He'll have seen far worse things. Wait until after lunch, there'll surely be a few medi-glove adventures in before then, so yours will seem like nothing.

Everyone has ear wax buildups, it's completely natural.

Exactly.
I had piles once. That was a fun trip to the doctor.
I don't think a bit of ear wax is going to make him think any less of you.

Think of the people with STI's.

Haven't a Clue

I've gotten a suction thing shoved down my ear three times in my life, my hearing was banjaxed. I'm sure most of you go a wee bit deaf when swimming or diving or something, but mine doesn't go away.

That bloke who did the procedure with the suction thingy down the ear got sued €1,000,000 last year too...

spurious

Please don't poke things in your ear. It only makes things worse.

Syringing is a funny experience - for a few minutes afterwards you can almost hear the grass grow until your brain sorts out what is background noise and what is worth 'hearing'.

I knew a teenage girl once genuinely went completely deaf overnight (as a result of a previous illness) - not nice.

Haven't a Clue

spurious wrote:

Please don't poke things in your ear. It only makes things worse.

Syringing is a funny experience - for a few minutes afterwards you can almost hear the grass grow until your brain sorts out what is background noise and what is worth 'hearing'.

I knew a teenage girl once genuinely went completely deaf overnight (as a result of a previous illness) - not nice.

Yeah. That bit's magic when you hear EVERYTHING. Then the beeping test afterwards which I oddly seem to enjoy.

Mossy Monk

i once had temporary deafness. turned out it was a synus problem. wasnt a nice experience at all

Zillah

spurious wrote:

I knew a teenage girl once genuinely went completely deaf overnight (as a result of a previous illness) - not nice.

I cannot imagine the dawning horror as you realise that you can never again hear music.

/me shudders

monkeyfudge

Zillah wrote:

I cannot imagine the dawning horror as you realise that you can never again hear music.

/me shudders

And then a sigh of relief as you realise that this means you also don't have to hear Westlife ever again either. Every cloud... etc....

Haven't a Clue

Zillah wrote:

I cannot imagine the dawning horror as you realise that you can never again hear music.

/me shudders

Not being able to hear conversations would be unreal. You'd go into a depression, surely. Have to admire deaf people when you think of it...

Jello

I've never really experienced deafness, I've had constant ringing in my ears after a really loud gig in a smallish venue for about two weeks a while ago.
It was horrible!

Ghost Train

Wow, never had anything like that

monkeyfudge

Jello wrote:

I've never really experienced deafness, I've had constant ringing in my ears after a really loud gig in a smallish venue for about two weeks a while ago.
It was horrible!

Apparently that ringing is you losing your ability to hear those frequencies for ever.

Raiser

If you have a bad enough head cold your ears air-pressure equalising systems can be compromised by your eustachian tubes becoming constricted/blocked. This can lead to a sudden drop in hearing performance. If this is the case then Sudafed may help clear you up - but a €50 GP bill is prob. a small price to pay seeing as it is one of the handiest outta yer 5 senses.

Jello

monkeyfudge wrote:

Apparently that ringing is you losing your ability to hear those frequencies for ever.

:eek: I hope not!

Zillah

Haven't a Clue wrote:

Not being able to hear conversations would be unreal. You'd go into a depression, surely. Have to admire deaf people when you think of it...

Ah, but those kind of practicalities you will learn to deal with. You can learn to lip read quite easily (obviously not ideal but you can communicate fine under most circumstances), movies can have subtitles etc and you can live a fairly normal life.

But once you're deaf, you can never ever experience music again.

AdMMM

So it was like you were listening to that ridiculous "silent" ringtone for 2 weeks?

Creamy Goodness

i'm always getting water straight down my ear in the shower, makes you deaf in that ear for a short period of time and i have to say that i'd rather go blind - touch wood it doens't happen - than go deaf. it's such a horrible feeling plus i'd be crushed not being able to listen to music.

biko

|.Murderer.| wrote:

I soon realised that I had absolutely no hearing from my right ear and less than normal hearing in my left ear. As you can imagine I found it very strange and difficult to function properly and then about two hours later my left ear started acting up and suddenly I couldn't hear anything at all!

Did you try rebooting?

InFront

Cremo wrote:

i have to say that i'd rather go blind - touch wood it doens't happen - than go deaf.

I can never decide which is better (worse, really). I believe there was a thread about it on boards some time ago.
If absolutely pressed, I'd say I'd prefer to keep my vision and go deaf. At least you can still drive, travel alone, read, see your family/ surroundings etc. I'm probably a bit biased because I don't like music very much as well. But still, tough call.

brianthebard

InFront wrote:

I can never decide which is better (worse, really). I believe there was a thread about it on boards some time ago.
If absolutely pressed, I'd say I'd prefer to keep my vision and go deaf. At least you can still drive, travel alone, read, see your family/ surroundings etc. I'm probably a bit biased because I don't like music very much as well. But still, tough call.

I imagine you could still listen to music with headphones? (depending on vibrations) i've heard of deaf people going to and enjoying concerts, by touching the amp or something. I dunno, I'm not deaf what do I care...

For some reason though my right ear is a lot weaker than my left. Never got it checked out, but I tend to turn my left ear towards a person if I can't hear them in conversation. Should probably at least have it checked out. Hmm....

InFront

Apparently it's far more common than gets diagnosed, because unlike bad eyesight, people sometimes don't know where to get hearing checked out, or just learn to live with it. Whereas bad sight it's an unavoidably visible disorder (or not...)

Rabies

monkeyfudge wrote:

And lay off the ear hole sex...

Easier said than done.

hey I had a sore throat last year and I nearly completely deaf in one ear. Have had my nose stuffed up and dripping slightly down the back of my throat since (yes non stop for a year). I went to the eye and ear and went private - they say they can do nothing. My doctor told me to take sudafeds and put me on a nasal spray which helped a little - my hearing ever so slighly improved.
If I sleep on one side I wont hear the alarm in the morning!!

Anyone have similiar experience?? Any ideas? the doctors and hospitals are hopeless
Been thinking of going abroad - but I dunno if that will help so before I blow a load of money - any one have an idea??

Jello

|.Murderer.| wrote:

So it was like you were listening to that ridiculous "silent" ringtone for 2 weeks?

Yeah, exactly.

How's the hearing today?

AdMMM

My right ear is still blocked and all I can hear is a ringing from it. It's not annoying me much anymore, but I hope I don't get too used to it! I've started a routine of ear drops and cotton wool since last night so hopefully that will soften it up enough; otherwise it's the nurse and her high pressure water cleaning for me!

monkeyfudge

Just steer clear of cotton buds. Very easy to do permanent damage to your ear with those things.

Overheal

Im rather annoyed; necause such a thing has happened to me twice. I went to the doctor about it the last time and rather than reccomend syringing (as my siblings had gotten back in the states) he put me on some stupid oil medication: I had to drop this foul **** into my ear every 12 hours and attempt to stick it in place with cotton: only to have it ooze out and get all over my clothes. not to mention it was oil and hard as hell to clean.
And in the end it did NOTHING. Eventually after 6 weeks my body got pissed off and did something about it itself. The oil was supposed to work in 2.

According to the doctor my sibs went to some families are genetically 'flawed' with narrower ear canals and this is the reason for regular syringing.

Not that I would trust an Irish doc with syringing my ear anyway.....overcrowd this, malpractice that....

AdMMM

Aye, I read up on it and apparently it's now recommended to prescribe the oil medication (or even just Olive Oil) instead of just syringing it at the drop of a hat!

spurious

I remember once reading the phrase "Blindness cuts you off from things, but deafness cuts you off from people".

If you were to lose your hearing, to never again fully be able to express yourself to those you love, or to 'hear' what they are saying, must be terrible. Plus there's the music thing too.

I suppose it's different if you've never heard at all. Imagine how difficult it is to learn how to read English if you've never heard the difference between the sounds. When you think about it, what some deaf from birth people do is amazing.