Re: Ear and Sinus Trouble

"RichL" <rpleavitt@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:PDWlj.2047$KP3.143@xxxxxxxxxxx
Jim Carr <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Just want to see what experiences others have had with ear trouble
(and whine a little bit). Here's the story. Skip to the end if you
just want to answer my questions without my boring story.

Last spring I had fluid in my ears. If you've ever gotten water in
your ears from swimming, it feels the same, only it doesn't go away.
Took a course of prednisone (steroids) and some antihistamines. That
cleared it up. It came back three or four months ago. Doc prescribed
the same thing. "Why is this happening?" Doc replied, "I don't know"
as he continued writing the prescription. Decided right then to
switch docs.

This time it only helped a little. Called that doc back. He didn't
return my call. Little Tibor Carr was born. Thanksgiving comes. The
ears still have fluid, but I'm trying antihistamines to get rid of it
on my own. It affects my hearing, of course, but life is getting in
the way (poor me enjoying a toddler and a newborn who adores me).

Christmas comes. Flu hits the family. I gig New Years Eve outdoors at
the Fiesta Bowl Block Party in Tempe with a 102.5 fever. Sinuses get
really infected. Urgent care gives me some expensive antibiotics,
Flonase (nasal steroid), and antihistamines.

At this point my ears are *really* clogged. I'm annoying my wife - not
like I annoy you guys, but with constantly saying "huh?" Then along
comes tinnitus. It's a constant tone at about 4200Hz that drowns out
the fan from my computer as I type. It's very disconcerting.

I see my new primary care doc a few days later. The antibiotic
treatment is helping my snot return to clear from yellowish-green, so
for sure the infection is getting better. The ears, though, are just
as bad. Tinnitus is getting worse.

She (yeh, a she doc - if Susan can play bass, a chick can be my doc)
sends me to an ear, nose and throat guy. Turns out it's not allergies
but a chronic infection in my sinuses that has probably been there
since the spring. We're going with an aggressive medical attack
(higher/longer doses of steroids and 30 days of Levaquin, a strong
antibiotic).

Turns out I also have a deviated septum, which the doc says is better
than a decimated rectum. Actually, he didn't say that, but this guy
was doing the best Chris Farley impression I've ever seen. He could
have said it, and I wouldn't have batted an eye. Only he really
wasn't really doing an impression. He just talks and looks like that.
Quite surreal.

While there I took a hearing test. The left ear is horrible. The right
ear has a problem with the air pressure inside not being the same as
outside. This causes some hearing loss below 200Hz (perfect for a
bassist) and from 5kHz to 8kHz (makes it hard to understand what
people are saying). The good news is there is no nerve damage. All
those years of bitching at guys to keep practice and stage volume
down paid off. The bad news is that I can't hear for ***.

If the medical approach doesn't clear out the fluid, he wants to put a
drainage tube in the ear. Anybody ever had that done? How did it
affect your playing/hearing?

He also said that sinus surgery is probably inevitable. Anybody ever
had their septum straightened and or their sinuses scraped? Did it
help?

Anybody ever have tinnitus caused by infection and fluid build-up? Did
it go away when the infection was gone? Please say yes.

Wanna know what tinnitus is like? Download the tone generator at
http://www.nch.com.au/tonegen/index.html. Play a sine wave at 4200Hz.
Turn it up so it just starts to compete and drown out your computer
fan. Keep it going hour after hour after hour after hour.

I don't need to download the generator to know what tinnitus sounds
like. I've had it for years. You get used to it. 4200 Hz sounds about
right. If I focus on it, it seems to overwhelm other sounds, but if I
don't, I think something in the brain adapts and figures out how to
filter it out of my consciousness. But don't despair; I have no idea
whether mine came from an infection. I've always attributed it to too
many years playing in front of loud amps. But I'm really just assuming.
Who knows? All I know is that I haven't had many ear infections and no
severe ones since I was a kid. And the tinnitus just gradually appeared
over the last 15 years or so.

I've got the deviated septum too. Got my nose broken as a teenager, so
I've been living with it for (well, too long, actually). I have a hard
time breathing out of my nose. But I guess I don't see a connection
with ear infections. If there isn't any, I wouldn't bother with
surgery.

Actually (not to sound like Rieves), but I can one-up you: I've had
eczema for the last 9 months or so. That drives me crazier than either
the tinnitus or the nose stuff.




For the eczema, try something called U-Lactin cream, recommended by my
dermatologist. $14.00 for a 16 oz container. Not a prescription, but most
pharmacies will have to order it. The major difference between it and other
skin creams is lactic acid. I asked the pharmacist why they (CVS) doesn't
keep it around all the time. He said "I don't know. People rave about the
stuff, though. That, and pure aloe gel for when they want something totally
non-greasy". This stuff's great.


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