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My ear has been blocked for 7 days after flying with a respiratory infection?

Posted , 5 users are following.

caddddy
caddddy

My eustachian tube in my right ear is still completely blocked after flying with a cold a week ago. I flew from london to hong kong and my ear blocked up but mostly unblocked before my second flight the next day to new zealand. On descent into new zealand, my right ear became completely blocked and still is. My hearing is muffled and I have a feeling of pressure and fullness inside my ear. I am quite congested in general still, blowing my nose a fair amount to relieve it. For about 3 days now there has been a bit of blood coming from the right blocked ear side of my nose when I blow it. I went to a doctor here in new zealand and he suggested I take amoxicillin and use otrivin but neither seem to be helping at all. I have two flights back to hong kong and then london in 3 weeks time which I am terrified of as I don't know whether my ear will be back to normal by then and I am opposed to flying with blocked eustachian tubes as I am already very unhappy with this (hopefully) temporary hearing loss and discomfort, not willing to subject myself to further ear damage. I have taken ibuprofen, cold and flu medication, sudafed, mucinex and antibiotics but nothing seems to help. I have tried multiple valsalva maneuvers (probably over 100 times) but nothing seems to happen in my blocked ear. I am also swallowing all the time to try and open the tube which sometimes makes a clicking noise in the ear and sometimes does nothing. I'm at my wits end and really need this to be better before my flights in 3 weeks and preferably sooner as its ruining my stay in new zealand sad I can't afford to see the doctor again as its very expensive here and i'm not a resident. Is there anything else I can do?

0 likes, 9 replies

9 Replies

  • jenny16777
    jenny16777 caddddy

    Posted

    Hello I'm sorry your experiencing this I myself have issues with my rubes so I know how frustrating this can be have you tried nasonex its a steroid nasal spary that should help take the swelling down in your nose and tubes hope that helps

  • ben95865
    ben95865 caddddy

    Posted

    I feel your pain. I might not ever fly again, if this resolves itself ! How is your sensitivity to sounds, and is this perhaps bugging the other ear also? I also have spent a fair amount of money on this, with no promises of any improvement. Never realized how woefully ignorant I was about ear problems, but suspect this is some kind of new super-virus that  our doctors also may not know much about.
  • marie71331
    marie71331 caddddy

    Posted

    I feel for you, I too have the feeling of blocked eustachin tubes in both ears. But I also have a fungal infection on top of it.

    Seeing your problems you had a cold, there is a possibility that you might have a sinus infection with your ear problem. When you have discomfort with ear pain, try a heating pad at a comfortable warm setting, but not to hot it burns you. The heat will warm up your ear and tilt your head to the right for right ear. If you have fluids come out there is a possibility that you caught a fungal infection, especially if amoxicillen doesn't work. I went to a specialist (ENT) yesterday and I found out that's what I have. Your pressure might not be from the eustachian tube but swelling from your ear canal due to the fungus and maybe some pus. I have to flush my ears with 50% white vinegar and 50% warm water, to get any gunk out of the ears, them use a blow dryer to dry them and I will have to use an anti fungal eardrops for 2 weeks. (Clotrimazole 1%) as long as the doc said that your ear drums aren't perforated you can use the earwashing method. Oh, and the anti-fungal ear drops are not expensive about $25, but you will need an Rx for it.

    I hope this helps, let me know what you found out.

    • ben95865
      ben95865 marie71331

      Posted

      Marie,

      I have been checked for this already. Mine was also a barotrauma injury from diving ,which has supposedly cleared up. I am now trying cortisone into the ear, and was told I may need a hearing aid if hearing does not return. This is sadly causing bad tinnitus in my good ear also !

      Weird thing is I have not felt right since I returned 5 weeks ago !

    • marie71331
      marie71331 ben95865

      Posted

      I'm sorry to hear that. I just went and picked up my Rx, to start using the drops. Now this is funny in a way,... it's Clotrimazole 1% solution, the same stuff for athlete's foot ! LOL. (Athletes ear, I guess)

      I had the same problem 20 years ago, except that 20 yrs ago my left ear drum ruptured and it took a total of 6 months, 5 different antibiotics and cartarizing the ear drum and Augmentin to clear it up. This time I went to the specialist and he's the one that told me it was a fungal infection,... we also know the culprit,...I live in a farming community and we have a "Corn dryer" by the sorn silo's and I live a half a block away from it. We get every fall cornchaff floating around which has corn mold on it. There is a 90% chance that that is the culprit to my problem.

        There is some OTC medication for timmitus, have you tried it?

    • ben95865
      ben95865 marie71331

      Posted

      I have not tried it. Do not want to inject any more variables into this mess without a dr. consult. What is this med anyway?
  • kamaldeep29056
    kamaldeep29056 caddddy

    Posted

    Hey I too suffering g frm ear blockage from last three days..... as I cleaned my ear with hydrogen and after that it blocked nd till now it is not open ...I am worried now ....Is there any danger to my ears?? I am having that beep sound too in my ears ....but no pain ......I have taken ofloxasin ear drops to treat it but no help at all ....can someone help me in this plz

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