The Daily Good News
Two weeks ago I woke with wincing pressure in my left ear, the same ear that always gives me grief with infections, perforations etc, however this time the pain felt deeper, not the surface sting like a typical canal infection but a blunt tension towards the grey matter. Figured it was a middle ear infection so I called my GP who apologised as he couldn't see me for a few days.
Next stop, Doctor Google.
My research told me that middle ear infections could be fixed by antibiotics, namely Amoxycillin, and by chance I had an unused and out of date script of Amoxycillin that my Mum brought around because that's the sort of thing my Mum does.
Thinking about it now, I can't quite believe that I used dodgy medicine to fix something so serious, but in my defence my thought processes were blighted by pain - it was getting pretty bloody bad.
So I took the antibiotics, twice a day till they ran out and I was sure my ear felt better. Not completely healed, but better, I even went mountain bike riding last weekend.
This week the pain came back in a major way. Tuesday night I was prepared to stick a knitting needle through my ear as the pain from the pressure was so bad. If I sneezed or even swallowed a bit too vigorously I'd wince from the discomfort.
Because I'd cleverly consulted with Dr Google I cancelled the appointment with my GP last week, but this week I needed help. I got in to see him yesterday and explained how I had a middle ear infection, how I'd self-disagnosed, and how the pain had endured most likely because I didn't take a full script of Amoxycillin. He got out his little torch to look in my ear.
"Your ear canal is completely closed over, my friend," said the Iranian doc.
"You have an infection, a bad one, but it's in the ear canal. It is not a middle ear infection, my friend."
Apparently Amoxycillin wont work on outer ear infections, so the doc gave me hydrocortisone drops to fix the infection and steroid tablets (solone) to relieve the inflamation and pain. Both of them with my name printed on the label and in date too.
And this morning the pain is easing and I can hear again!
However, I can't surf for a week (the doc says two weeks but I reckon it'll be fine after one).
Bloody doctors - what would they know hey??? When I had glandular fever my Doc said no surfing for six months. I lasted two. Went surfing, had a relapse and it ended up being eight months.
Hey Stu,
I hear (no pun intended) your pain.
I've got a 90% exostosis (surfers ear) really bad in my R) ear and got an infection on top, Thankfully my local GP referred to an ENT as the infection would not clear despite anti's and steroids.
The ENT cultured my ear and found I had an MRSA ('golden staph') infection- probably from sharing my stethoscope with colleagues without adequate disinfection-I won't make that mistake again. Had to get a compounding pharmacy in NSW to make up the drops specifically and they worked a treat.
All clear now but left with worse tinnitus and wearing earplugs in the surf to stop the bone growth.
Hope you get over it soon because from my experience I would describe ear pain as "exquisite"!!!
Second that description, San Guine.
Curious about your experience and the MRSA infection, as my left ear is forever causing trouble. Doc says there's a bit of exotosis, yet friends have more advanced bone growth without all the complications I've been having, so perhaps there's something else at play?
Might ask a doctor about it, a real one this time.
My wife spent 3 months (at least), multiple medicines, multiple doctor visits, steroid drops, super pain killers like Endones and finally specialist help getting through her ear infection. Her ear canal had literally closed up and by all accounts it nearly landed her in hospital. She literally could not sleep. But gee it was a slow and painful recovery. Pardon the pun, but by the sounds of it you may have something similar and there is no quick recovery. To be honest her local GP was pretty hopeless and it wasn't until she went to the specialist that she started to get better.
glad to hear you're on the mend, stu.
i use aqua ear. a few drops in each ear after a surf. for really dirty water, put in ears before and after surfing. it works really well at drying ears and stopping infections. i was getting infections all the time.
you can even make your own -- isopropyl alcohol with a little bit of ascetic acid (white vinegar).
I've had an MRSA infection in bother ears for the better part of 10 years. As the warmer months approach, I would visit my local ENT guy twice a week to get the pus sucked out to enable me to hear again. When the weather cools down, they don't clog up. The last few years have seen my right ear only become blocked so that was a sign things were getting better. This last summer was the first time in a decade I haven't had to visit my doc on a twice weekly basis. As a result of this, I have lost 50% of my hearing in my right ear. Luckily, my left ear is fine.
My Doc (who I'm on a first name basis now) says that it came about from over cleaning my inner ear with cotton-tips damaging the soft tissue and perhaps surfing in dirty water. I now wear silicone ear-plugs year round and have done so for a long time.
Btw, I didn't experience much pain, but the ear discharge was pretty pongy, my ears itched like buggery deep inside and being almost constantly deaf for the summer months was driving me crazy.
Bloody ears. I've had both drilled...one for each hemisphere, I reckon. And pun alert, I hear ya, Zen.
I got a radical ear infection in Ko Pha Ngan - couldn't even touch a solitary beard hair on the fucked side without super pain - and my hearing in that ear is now shithouse, even post-op.
And aqua ear is essential in any tropical waters for me. And no plugs or blu tack.
Actually, I've canned blu tack period. Too maddening. In real colder climes, I'll bust out the hood.
Why? I just bought a pack of Blu Tac from the IGA.
Big fuck off size pack too.
I've never seen Blu-Tac here. And you can get the silicone ones pretty cheap on Amazon.
I can't surf without plugs these days, kinda like driving without a seatbelt. I'm so used to them it just doesn't feel right without them.
Your not alone Stu with trying dr googles self treatments. My ear blocked one duck dive and never unblocked. I tried everything before watching youtube videos of removing ear wax with peroxide solution. pouring some in I heard a sizzling sound, first sound I heard for ages in that ear. It did clean out the wax - but the wax wasnt the problem. The extosis in my ear had just reached closing point. All the peroxide did was strip the protective wax off the outer canal. Next thing it got infected and had massive pain similar to what you described.
Re: blu tack or plugs, I tried doing it in both ears. Too weird an experience in the water for me. Too insular. Then I tried doing it for the bad ear. Then I thought "really? What's the point?" I'm bloody half deaf anyway.
And I've got blu tack on tap.
Actually, I don't even know when a hood will get a go. Last time I wore one was in Scotland.
I guess you can get real thin ones.
Right, I'm off for a quick dip. In boardies!
you can get ear plugs made that are molded to your ears. they are a whole other league of comfort compared to blu tac or generic chemist ear plugs.
God I love boardies. I get about a month if I'm lucky and the water is still on the cool side. I'm about 3 weeks away from hooded 5mm, gloves and booties and it will stay that way until about May where I can pull down the hood and maybe ditch the gloves.
Plugs remain in, year round as mentioned above.
Stu, join the brotherhood of the hood.
get this 0.5mm titanium one into you.
https://www.seventhwave.co.nz/shop/gloves_boots_hoods/Hoods/LiteHood.html
thank me later.
Should I team it with reef boots and boardshorts?
deffo no boots.
the feet can suffer but the ears are expensive and keep you out of the water.
also, the excuse: sorry mate couldn't see you, couldn't hear you becomes plausible deniability.
OK, good point...but summer time? That thing is black.
in summer, there isn't the cold to cause exostosis, so you don't need the hood then.
if the issue is water getting stuck in your ears, then aqua ear will do the job.
exostosis aside, as we age our ear canals narrow and water is more easily trapped, causing infection. a bit of exostosis and age, would no doubt lead to even more chance of getting water stuck and infected.
I'm amazed even up here the number of surfers my age or even younger who need to spend 6 months out of the water due to surfer ear.
fuk that shitt.
it's easily prevented.
" I'm about 3 weeks away from hooded 5mm, gloves and booties" Zen have you ever thought of investing in a Thermolution heated rash vest. Best dollars I ever spent on surfing paraphernalia!!
+ 1 for the thermolution, they are so good
Good to meet you today Stu - put a face to a name and all that. Apologies for the lack of notice, just not that often that I’m passing through your area. Good luck with the ear!
I'll check it out Gary. Cheers for the heads up.
Edit: just had a 2 minute squiz and will delve further. Looks very interesting.
0i Freeride, you got one of those NZ hoods, hey? Is it the duck's guts? Very decent price.
As for time out of water after the ear ops, I did 6 weeks, I reckon. Maybe 2 months tops.
I was exaggerating for dramatic effect.
But that constant drama about crook ears seems to really drag on.
No, I don't. I used to have the Triple X one made by local Lennox bloke Don Munro, but he stopped making them.
Exactly the same thing, and I will get one for next winter, the Inzid one I mean.
You've sold me. Cheers.
I'm keeping the dream alive over summer with a hooded rashie.
BCC cut out of my chest yesterday. Out of the water for a few weeks. Cover up, be generous with your sunscreen and smart with your sun exposure fellas and ladies. Especially if you’re a ranga.
I'm no ranga, but let's just say the curtains don't match the carpet.
Ear infections and wax build up removal -
simmer garlic clove in olive oil. let it cool down then use a dropper whilst lying on your side on the couch , drop several drops of the oil into ear canal and let soak for ten or more minutes. Oil will soften wax and the garlics natural powers will work on infection. Repeat several times over a few days. Submerge head in bath and wax should pretty much fall out. happier days.
Didn’t pick you for a carpet man , Zen.
Thought you’d be more likely to strip the rug off and have a wax finish.
True Blowy.
Presentation.
Like a silk coinpurse.
Top tip, Inzider. Today I had someone tell me that exact formula. Swears by it too.
You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear
I used this remedy on my kids when they were young and had ear infections and it worked well. I use it on myself when a wax build up needs gone.
Got my first decent (for me) wave in 2 years this morning. Long time trying to get back with lower and mid thoracic issues. May thanks to those contributors to surfing heath threads eg, MB's hang with knee raises and FR's 3 waves per session no matter what form however bad. Also swiss ball jack knife. It was only about 2 ft but to pump down the line and finish with a cutback felt just grand.
Yewww
Awesome.
That is good news H2O.. I can feel the stoke .
Happy 100 years Qantas
Good, I can't stand that smirking cuuuuunt
Good news after a tense 24hr wait for a text.
On Sunday arvo my eldest and I got a lift to the top of Bulli Pass, where we joined two mates to ride a couple of DH tracks, the aptly named Big Balls, and the recently built Lyrebird Lane, which has technical features more akin to a Canadian bikepark: technical drops, bottomless rollovers, gaps and chutes, and all of them cut into a 45° hillside.
I nailed a few, discretely opted out of many others, and we all got down to the fire trail buzzing; happy to be in one piece. We then went and did a short loop, tight and technical but fairly flat, a breeze compared to what we'd done, and like the bloke who surfs XL Mavericks but then slips on the rocks coming in, I took a spill and landed on my head.
Long story short, first point of contact was just behind the crown of my head, which must've thrown my neck foward as I had a shooting pain between my shoulder blades. Fortunately there were no tingles and I had full movement in my limbs. Couldn't sleep much on Sunday night and I tore strips off myself for obvious reasons. Consternation was written across the doc's face on Monday and he sent me straight to the radiologist for X-rays. "I'm worried you've got a compression fracture," he said.
So the reason for the post in this thread is cos there's no fracture, and as the doc says, the compression is in the thoracic spine so it's supported by the ribs. I've gone from a possible six weeks out of the water to just one.
The fact I was only degrees away from an altogether different injury hasn't been lost on me.
The Crash Test Dummy.
Mate.....stay safe . But still have a go cnt. It’s a hard one.
phew....glad that turned out for the best stu.
that's it, i'm not taking up mountain biking. it's a litany of injuries from what i can gather.
Well, you were warned, Stuart.
Plenty of new 2nd hand bikes for sale round here.
Top marks Stu for having a go and glad it all worked out well. However I would exercise caution in these type of pursuits at a mature age . Like older guys who flirt with skateboarding it seems to often end in tears.
...And when we redesigned the skatepark, the old boy carnage was horrific!
Dedicated to good news ....