Some topics are too disgusting to talk about, so are rarely talked about. One of those is earwax. There, I said it.
Several days ago I got some water in my ear while shampooing in the shower. A common occurrence, many people experience it after swimming in the ocean, a pool or a lake, or anytime they have been submerged underwater, like getting waterboarded at Abu Ghraib. Usually it clears up in a few minutes, maybe half an hour. But my ear was clogged all day and overnight. The next morning, at my wit's end, I made an appointment with our family physician to see if I had some sort of ear infection.
He took a quick look and saw that my ear canal was totally blocked, with, you guessed it, earwax. (Yuk.) Suddenly I realized that I had not been hearing very well out of that ear for a long time, a fact I only noticed when on the phone and needing to switch to my other ear. Hey, great, I wasn't going deaf after all!
A simple (yet creepy and mildly uncomfortable) procedure in the doctor's office alleviated the problem in about 15 minutes, and netted a giant wad of ---- gulp --- earwax that had been lodged inside my head. Well, inside my ear canal, but still that's located in my head, which contains my brain, and that's not anything I want to fool around with. I was unhappy that I had seen it, due to its grossness, but very happy it was gone. My hearing instantly soared from about 20% to 100% in that ear.
According to the researchers at Ascent Audiology & Hearing, "Many adults have conductive hearing loss in just one ear, and instead of seeking treatment for the cause of their temporary impairment, they use their good ear while waiting for the issue to resolve itself. Studies indicate that delaying or forgoing treatment could lead to permanent hearing loss, so rather than take a wait and see approach, have the issue taken care of by a physician or audiologist immediately. Our findings suggest that audiologists and physicians should advocate for early intervention and treat these middle ear conditions."
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| Your ear is really in the middle of things! |
He took a quick look and saw that my ear canal was totally blocked, with, you guessed it, earwax. (Yuk.) Suddenly I realized that I had not been hearing very well out of that ear for a long time, a fact I only noticed when on the phone and needing to switch to my other ear. Hey, great, I wasn't going deaf after all!
A simple (yet creepy and mildly uncomfortable) procedure in the doctor's office alleviated the problem in about 15 minutes, and netted a giant wad of ---- gulp --- earwax that had been lodged inside my head. Well, inside my ear canal, but still that's located in my head, which contains my brain, and that's not anything I want to fool around with. I was unhappy that I had seen it, due to its grossness, but very happy it was gone. My hearing instantly soared from about 20% to 100% in that ear.
According to the researchers at Ascent Audiology & Hearing, "Many adults have conductive hearing loss in just one ear, and instead of seeking treatment for the cause of their temporary impairment, they use their good ear while waiting for the issue to resolve itself. Studies indicate that delaying or forgoing treatment could lead to permanent hearing loss, so rather than take a wait and see approach, have the issue taken care of by a physician or audiologist immediately. Our findings suggest that audiologists and physicians should advocate for early intervention and treat these middle ear conditions."
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