Possible medical advice.

[Bothersome]

Okay, so this is pretty gross, and if this hadn't been going on so long, I would have never posted about it... but frankly, a week is long enough.

I've had an ear infection for the better part of a week. The fucking thing has been a pain in the neck- and pretty much every other area above my shoulders- for quite some time, and I want to know what you guys suggest.

I already know that I should go to the doctor and get this treated. However, I don't really have any way of paying for treatment, so I'm trying to figure out some less medicinal remedies.

I've been using hydrogen peroxide in my ear pretty consistently for the past couple of days. I've also been avoiding getting my ear wet, for fear of making the infection worse. At this point, it hurts a fair amount (I'm taking two ibuprofen every 3 hours or so.) and its... for lack of a better term, leaking. A few days ago I found some faint traces of blood in my ear, and since then it's just been a leak of fliud-y mucus-y crap.

Despite how disgusting that is, it gives me hope that the swelling's going down now. I'm hoping that it means that the passage has widened enough for fluids to travel through, so I've been using hydrogen peroxide to get deeper in my ear.

We've also tried some earache medicine(only removed the pain; didn't really help the infection itself.), some cooking oil(not totally sure why.), and we even tried flushing my ear out with water when it first started getting bad.

Is there anything else I can try, or do I just have to wait it out from here?

 

[obama666]

Even if you go for medical treatment, say to a GP they are going to give you drops and have you turn your head and drain the ear. A lot of this is useless for a chronic infection. Years ago I swam 3 or 4 times per week and always got these infections and these piecemeal treatments. It wasn't until I went to an ear doctor that I got the proper treatment which was a high powered gun with a warm soapy solution, that did the trick, finally, both ears pumped out, one treatment... Try over the counter stuff and it may work, cheaper then a doctor. No homemade hot stuff in your ears (wax, oil) plenty of people have went deaf from these type of treatments.

 

[ticklemepls]

it is possible for an ear drum to burst from infection.... just so you know....

i too have no insurance or job- but i'd go for something like that... dont fool around with it... research low cost clinics in your area and start there...

 

[Bothersome]

it is possible for an ear drum to burst from infection.... just so you know....

i too have no insurance or job- but i'd go for something like that... dont fool around with it... research low cost clinics in your area and start there...

Yeah. I may have to go somewhere in the morning. My head feel like it's going to split open. Time to try for more sleep.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

Last time I had an ear infection I must have been 8 or 9... and as I recall it has hellish. Good luck.

 

[TropicThunder]

Please, please, please do not let this go on for too long. As someone who suffered from chronic ear infections as a kid, try to get it treated if you can. It can lead to serious hearing loss.

That being said, often times some ear infections will clear up on their own, but you usually need antibiotics, so try and keep using the ear medicines. If they don't work, try a different brand. Doctors also will prescribe oral antiboitics like Amoxicillin, which works wonders, especially if your ears are producing a discharge.

To ease the pain and swelling though, try pressing a warm cloth or bottle to the ear. I'm not so sure about getting it wet, because I've always flushed my ears out gently when I've had a problem and it never really made anything worse, but that's just me. And be wary about sticking things like Q-tips in your ears. Also, there are some over the counter meds that can help ease ear pressure (anything that contains pseudoephedrine, which is an actice ingredient in some allergy medications)

I hope you feel better.

 

[Skipadeedoodah]

I hate going to the doctor and avoid it like the plague, but for this I would suck it and go. Ear infections are painful and nothing to mess around with. Tell them ahead of time you have no insurance, and you should be able to work out some kind of billing arrangement with them. You'd still have to pay for the antibiotics if they don't have samples lying around, but I think antibiotics are actually pretty cheap.

I don't recommend it, but if you're completely opposed to spending that kind of money, one of my sisters was in a similar situation once and put a couple of drops of baby oil in her ear, and from what I remember it at least helped the pain. I can't remember if it cleared up the infection or not, but she didn't go deaf. That's not to say you won't go deaf. I'm not a fan of putting stuff in your ears. Very dangerous.

Someone also mentioned laying your head on a heating pad could help draw out infection. Again, I'm not sure of the details, but I think he said that moisture = bad.

 

[TropicThunder]

and whatever you do, don't put mineral oil in your ear. >.<

 

[paracarl44]

I had an earache when I was a kid.

If you can't afford an ENT Doctor, then go to a clinic. A doctor will thoroughly clean your ear and give you some antibiotics. To sleep get a hot water bottle or heating pad. You're going through a lot of pain so putting up some money will be well worth it.

 

[Bothersome]

Thank you guys for the feedback.

Last night was probably one of the worst nights of my existence. My ear was hurting so bad that I ended up taking 5 ibuprofen and 5 aleve. It's probably a good thing that I'm a relatively large guy. It's better this morning, but I'm thinking of cutting back off of the H2O2, as well as water. I tried flushing my ear out in the shower, and it hurt the rest of the day like you wouldn't believe. I'm trying to take in lots of fluids, vitamin c, and anything else that I think can help.

Hopefully something gets resolved, whether it be the infection going away on it's own, or me going to the doctor. Last night I was actually afraid that my eardrum was going to burst or something. THe pressure was awful.

Anyways, thanks again. If anything new happens, I'll keep anyone who reads this informed.

Edit: Also, after my ear falls off, who wants it? Could be worth something someday!

 

[paracarl44]

It is not the earlobe that is going to fall off, you have an infection in the ear canal.

A heating pad or hot water bottle will allow you to get some sleep. You might as well go to a qualified Ear Nose and Throat Doctor and have them solve your problems.

 

[Rustenexcel87]

As an EMT I need to tell you to find a free clinic! You need meds to clear that up. The infection can spread to other parts of your body and send you into septic shock. I know the money is an issue. I was there onece , no insurance and no job to pay for it. But life goes on and bills can be payed later.
Now as a guy who still gets the ocashional ear infection the best pain treatment asside from the over the counter meds is heat. Only thing is you don't want to sleep with the heating pad on in case of a fire. A hot water bottle is a good idea but might not be the best pillow. I take an old tube sock fill it with raw white rice, tie a knot in it, mist it down with a spray bottle, and then I nuke it in the microwave for 90 seconds. The rice holds the heat and the sock and rice conform to your ear making for an nice pillow effect. Hope you get this taken care of before the problem becomes more expensive than it is now.

 

[Bothersome]

Thank you all again for the advice. Thankfully, my ear is feeling MUCH better today. The swelling is down considerably, and I can even kinda hear a little bit.

This has happened before, actually. About three days after the infection appeared, my ear got a lot better, but it suddenly relapsed really badly. I'm hoping this one doesn't relapse. I'm going to be extra careful with it for the next couple of days.

 

[maniactickler]

Dont screw around with ear stuff. im sure there are places to go for affordable medical attention. you can make monthly payments if you have to. sure would miss you on the poltical forum if anything happened to you.

 

[uticklish2]

I believe you can go to any hospital emergency room and they must treat you.

 

[Bothersome]

Well, good news and bad news, to those who may read this.

The good news is that the infection has been rapidly healing over the last couple of days. As it stands, the pain is all but gone, and the swelling has reduced drastically.
The bad news is that I still can't hear a thing.

Obviously I can't say anything conclusive, but if I still can't hear anything within the next couple of days, I may go in to have my ear examined. It's possible that the infection damaged my hearing in some way, but I really hope it didn't. Either way, the pain's gone, and that's the important part. I can finally sleep.

 

[kis123]

I believe you can go to any hospital emergency room and they must treat you.

This is true. Also, as long as you're paying the bill monthly there is nothing they can do to you. That means if you pay a few dollars/month, they just have to suck it up. If they sell it to a collection agency then give me a call.......trust me that collector will wish they never bought your debt.

But look for the free clinic in your area and there are also clinics that will rate you according to your income. Saved me and my family a lot of grief over the years. But what's going on sounds miserable; don't keep messing around with it and go get some help for yourself.