Anything that can be done for an ear infection, on a personal level?
 

Okay, here's the skinny. About a month or so ago I was diagnosed with an ear infection, and given drops & pills for it. I used it all up.

Then, about 1-2 weeks after I run out of the meds, my ear starts to bother mie just a tad. I go in, just in case, and the intern has a looksee. He wasn't sure if it was infected, or just irritated. He talked to the supervising Dr. and told me it was just irritated, and got me set up with some soothing healing drops.

Now a week later, my ear's starting to feel really weird, I'm having trouble sleeping, and my concentration is going down the tubes. So I pretty much think its a gimmee that I didn't quite entirely get rid of the old infection.

Unfortuantly, I can't get another visit until Monday, so I've got an entire weekend to look forward too. So any advice would be appreciated. Thus far, I'm not really in any pain, and my ear just feels weird. I've got a lot of tension in my neck though.

SW KC

I suggest pop some Nyquil and sleep the weekend away.

You pill popper.

Anyways, do you sleep with socks on or off? It may be important.

Have you gone swimming lately, or just didn't drain your ears after a shower/bath? If so, it's probably Swimmer's Ear. I had that, too (Got it three times, because I was careless about it). Annoying at first, but later, it gets inconsistently painful as hell.

Antibiotics are needed to take care of Swimmer's Ear. And then you gotta make sure to drain as much water from your ears as possible (And if you can't do that, put a drop or two of vinegar in your ear immediately to kill any bacteria) after a shower/bath.

Can you tell me just what, exactly, this irritation is like? I hate ear infections SO much, and would like to help.

Plus, you're the Master o' Sprites, and you are therefore my idol (I do some spriting once in a while. Most recent job was making FF1 Fighter and Knight sprites into 16-bit for Kuffie).

EDIT: Socks won't have anything to do with an ear infection. Socks ARE, however, an important factor in foot fungus, but I won't go into that.

The other possibility is that some alien larva has somehow lodged in your ear, and is growing as it tunnels its way into your brain....sweet dreams!

Its not something as benign as Swimmers Ear, or an infection. No.

Its cancer. Cancer of the head. The only cure is to get as much air as possible to your brain. PM me your address, I'll bring my DeWalt over abouts Saturday.

But seriously, try out WebMD. Plug in your symptons, and it might help you out somewhat. Or you can buy a Ryobi and do it yourself, whatever's cool with you.

You could do what my grandmother used to do for us kids when we had earaches: pour hot oil directly into your ear canal.

Feels exactly like you're imagining it does, too. On the bright side, the heat might kill off any lingering bacteria.

Er.. well call that Plan N.

As for the socks, if you sleep with no socks and its cold, it could cause problems too. OH, and dont use cotton swabs. Your not supposeed to get more wax than your finger could.

Hummm, all I can really suggest is to avoid a case of the hiccups like they're the black plauge.

Ear infection + hiccups = lots of pain.

I would suggest bed rest and lots of water.