Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => Other Health Discussion => Topic started by: coldethyl on April 18, 2016, 09:56:56 AM
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So I spent January with a blocked right ear and had to do all the olive oil in ear malarkey till it shifted and it seemed to go( nurse confirmed ear clear) - now it feels like it's back again. Bunged feeling , itchy inside ear and I feel like I'm leaning to that side. Going to restart the oil drops as my surgery seem reluctant to syringe but just wondering if others have had similar ear problems in peri. My sinuses feel bunged too at times and my nose is always blocked when I wake up these days. Sort of like an non allergic rhinitis reaction.
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My husband and daughter are both suffering from blocked ears, though obviously neither in peri. DH did go to have his ears syringed, but in consultation with the nurse had the machine set to a lower setting as he is concerned about the long term effect of relying on syringing. Didn't remove much and went away to carry on with using olive oil, but is trying to make another appointment at the moment. My daughter has bought a self gentle syringing set, which she has found has helped. DH is going to borrow it to see if it helps. I'll let you know more about that when he has it.
Conversation with DH this morning. "Speak up, you're mumbling." I speak louder. " There's no need to shout!" Me. "I think you have borrowed that script from my parents!" (Both very old with poor hearing!)"No I'm not! You have a quiet voice." "Mmm!" says I. I am sympathetic! Honest!
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Fed up with it as it makes me feel anxious because my head feels bunged. It certainly adds to the migraines as everything is tense and bunged on that side. It's my right side too, Sparkle, that gets the bulk of the headache.
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Yep. It's a continual problem for me particularly on the right which is the side I lay on. Along with the back-ground buzzing ::) and deep itchy (spaniel ear). I find that if I wriggle hard on the affected side it seems to open up the canal for a short while. It is known that the ear canal does narrow at 'this time' of Life >:(
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After using the olive oil drops for years on and off, (and steroid from the doctor to stop the itching, which it didn't) for my itchy ear, I got a sore ear (infection?) yet again.
Someone recommended Sofradex (antibiotic + steroid) which she uses when her ear gets weepy, from her hearing aids.
However, before I got to go to the doctor for that, I saw a bicarb ear drops at the chemist and thought I would give them a go. They were brilliant - lots of dead skin grot and ear wax came out.
I now put a bit of the olive oil drops around the opening with a cotton bud to stop them getting dry, and I am free of the itchy ears for the first time in 20 years.
:cancan:
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:thankyou:
How did you get the grunge out of the ear, simply letting the bicarb run back out again?
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It just came out in bits over a few days. :) Before that, I was getting a lump of dry skin out on my finger most days. My friend, who was with me, said she got loads of ear wax out of her waxy son using it, so I thought it was worth a try.
I think I may have poked about very gently with a cotton bud/hair grip a bit too, but that is very naughty ::) I don't think it actually helped either, but it is very tempting at times. Since then, I have followed a policy of only wiping an oily cotton bud round the entrance and have not needed even a finger.
In the past, I have used otex, which I think was the cause of it all worsening. It got the wax out but left me with incredibly itch ears - I think it contains peroxide-type ingredients which can make some people itch.
My ears have been itchy for so many years, and the doctor only ever said to not scratch them. :o (apart from the steroid stuff once). I thought I was stuck with them for the rest of my life.
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'hair grip' - crikey, that jogged a memory ;D - I see them at antique fairs still in the packets.
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Thanks ladies. Will check at Boots tomorrow for the bicarbonate stuff as olive oil just sits and congeals in my ear!
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I would think that olive oil would 'cook' with the body heat?
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If it's external, wax and such, I'm not sure as that's on thing that has come with age for me. I haven't had ear wax since my 20s. But if it's internal, sinus type or plugged tubes, I swear by steroid nasal spray. In the nose, not the ears. I don't know if you need a prescription for it, bUT the prescription stuff is better. In the US, I had a prescription years ago. Now I can get it over the counter. It's supposed to be for allergies and used daily all the time but I only use for a few days as needed. A couple spritz a few minute before going to bed, and I can feel something open up and drain down my throat (gag!).
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I suffer a lot with my sinuses and get a blocked ear, mainly my right one. I've had this on and off for a long time and when I get a head cold it makes it worse. I have been to the Dr a few times about it and he always prescribes me Beconase Nasal Spray and tells me to inhale over a bowl of hot water (with towel on head). I use olbas oil in the hot water.
To be honest, my ear still feels blocked and I'm sure it has effected my hearing but then again, my mother is deaf in her right ear and the Dr told me it's hereditary.
My husband had a bad head cold/sinus infection from Nov - Feb and he said his ear still feels blocked. You can end up with a blocked eustacian tube and I don't think there's an awful lot they can do about it.
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I had the sensation of a constantly bunged left sinus ( but nothing actually in there) for around nine months before starting hrt, but once on that it all cleared.
Prior to the hrt I had been to see an ent consultant who put a tube up my nose and down my throat but couldn't see anything amiss. He prescribed twice daily nasal washing with saline water. I don't know if I'm allowed to say on here the actual one I used. This did help but the only thing that shifted it was the hrt. Coincidence? Maybe, but I think low estrogen can affect so much of our bodies
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Since peri I suffer with my right ear too. Feels constantly blocked which it was initially. Even after syringing two years ago it felt blocked. I religiously use olive drops and lie on my side for a minimum of 15 minutes and it has helped. I also practise sinus massage which helps (YouTube). The relief by massage below my ear and down the neck and before the ear is just gorgeous.
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I also use the sinus massage and used it on my husband when he had a bad sinus infection. It does work and you do get some relief.
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The Eustachian tubes narrow as we age >:(