EAR - RIGATION

[Let's take another break from our Italy trip, dear reader...]

A little over a week ago, I went to bed just fine. When I woke up, the hearing in my left ear seemed muffled. Kind of like that feeling when you're in a plane and the air pressure in your ear hasn't equalized with the cabin pressure. Over the course of the day, it cleared up, so I thought nothing of it. But it grew steadily worse. I'd go to bed at night, and by morning, my left ear would again have that muffled/plugged feeling. And, throughout the day, that muffled feeling would stay with me longer. Plugging my nose and blowing wasn't helping. Was I starting to lose my hearing?

So, Monday morning, I made an appointment to see a doctor after I got off from work. Of course, the doctor first asked me what was wrong. I told him my concerns. He looked in my left, then in my right ear and immediately knew the problem. There was a wax build-up in my left ear.

He took me to a nurses' station. The nurse looked at my paperwork and said she was going to irrigate my ear. She took me to a room and put some liquid into my ear. Actually, I think it was a mixture of some sort. (It smelled like it might have iodine or vinegar.) Then she fixed a cotton ball into my ear to hold the liquid in and told me she'd have me wait in the waiting room for about half an hour.

Now, did I feel ridiculous going back to the waiting room with a cotton ball sticking out of my ear? Yes I did. I consciously and intentionally chose a seat close to the door where the least amount of people were likely to see the cottonball sticking out of my ear. I occupied myself for the next half hour writing in my Moleskine.

A little over half an hour later, the irrigation began. The nurse told me she was going to squirt a mixture of warm water and hydrogen peroxide into my ear. She asked that I hold a curved, miniature basin up to my ear during the process.

I am at a loss for words on how to describe the feeling. It didn't hurt. It didn't feel bad, yet the sensation of a warm liquid being squirted into my ear is not a sensation I'd go looking for, either. It felt "uncomfortable" going in, but wonderful coming out. Without a doubt, however, when the process was over, my left ear felt brand new. I looked into the little basin that had been used to catch the liquid and noticed 3-4 lumps of wax mixed in. One big chunk and a few smaller ones. -YUCK-

I asked the nurse if there was anything I could do to prevent or minimize this from happening again. She gave me a piece of paper with some tips that I will now share with you...

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EARWAX
Earwax is a protective secretion similar to mucus or tears, that filters dust and keeps the ear clean. Normally earwax is liquid, self-drainig, and does not cause problems. Occasionally, the wax will build up, harden, and cause some hearing loss. Poking at wax with cotton swabs, fingers or other objects will only further compact the wax against the eardrum. You can handle most earwax problems by avoiding cotton swabs and following the treatment tips below.

EAR CLEANING INSTRUCTIONS
Use mineral or olive oil mixed half-and-half with hydrogen peroxide. Place a dropper full of the mixture in the affected ear(s) at bedtime for three nights in a row. Place a cotton ball in the outer ear to hold mixture. Remove cotton ball in the morning and flush gently with an ear syringe or by directing your ear into the spray of a showerhead. Do not use this procedure if you suspect an infection or eardrum rupture.

Go to the Nurse's Clinic nearest your home for ear wash only if, after completing the above procedure, your earwax is causing a hearing problem....

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Perhaps this is just my imagination, but before my appointment, I thought my right ear was just fine. Now that my left has been irrigated, my right ear doesn't "feel" as clean. Ah well,... I shall inquire about having my right ear irrigated during my physical.

WHAT? PHYSICAL?

Yes... Physical. I've made an appointment for a full work-up early this August. As I approach 37 years of life, I guess this is a good a time as any to find out where my health stands.

Damn... if my right ear doesn't seem just a tad more muffled than my left...

Now I REALLY want my right ear irrigated...

Maybe I'll try those curved "chop-sticks" that Lotus and Shogun gave HotFudge and me...