Re: Ear and Sinus Trouble

Jim Carr 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.


It certainly is a priveledge to hear about the color of your nasal
drippings! :)

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?


I have had nasal ploypectomies twice, and yes, both times my
tinnitus got better.

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


Even if they have, there's no guarantee it'll help you.

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.

--
Les Cargill
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