Ruptured Eardrum (Full Version)

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mistoferin -> Ruptured Eardrum (5/5/2007 10:47:39 PM)

I have had this odd, annoying kind of stuffy or swollen feeling in my ear for the past week. I actually thought it was a side effect of a sore throat I had as I noticed it most when I swallowed. It wasn't anything that I could really call pain though. Well, last night it started to become painful in an annoying kind of way. By tonight it was maddeningly painful...the kind of pain that makes you pace the floors and feel like if it doesn't stop you might just lose your mind. I tried some Vicodins but they didn't seem to touch it.

I went in and had it checked because I know that ear infections can easily transfer to the brain. I had one when I was 12 years old that ended up causing Meningitis. So rather be safe than sorry I went to have it checked. Turns out it was very infected and my ear drum has ruptured. Has anyone here had this happen and if so were there any long term effects? I'm having difficulty hearing out of it now but I'm not sure if that is related to all of the swelling and fluid or the rupture itself.



LuckyAlbatross -> RE: Ruptured Eardrum (5/5/2007 11:43:29 PM)

Geez Erin, you really should have a doctor do your life story as a whole medical journal. 

I've had ear infections that bad and surgeries and stuff from a young age, but don't think it's ever been ruptured.  From what I hear though (har), if you get it quick, let it heal and make sure it heals cleanly, it shouldn't have any real lasting effects.  It's probably just fluid and swelling in the tubes which will go down.



BondageTopJere -> RE: Ruptured Eardrum (5/5/2007 11:43:30 PM)

I had a very bad ear infection a few months ago.  If you got a good anitbiotic shot, the major pain and pressure will go away in 2-4 days and I had take a LOT of pain pills in order to deal with until it did, and the pain didn't fully subisde for 3 weeks or more.  Thankfully my ear drum didn't rupture, but from what I've heard and read nearly all hearing will be restored within a month or 2.  The will be a very slight loss of hearing, mainly in the upper frequnecies, but I doubt you'd notice going about day to day life to any real degree.



mistoferin -> RE: Ruptured Eardrum (5/5/2007 11:54:03 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: LuckyAlbatross
Geez Erin, you really should have a doctor do your life story as a whole medical journal. 


LOL...I have had a pretty odd history. You're not the first person to suggest writing a book on it. The only problem with that though is that it would never be taken seriously...most likely it would be viewed as "has to be" fiction. Sometimes though, truth really is stranger.

My son asked me recently if I had ever had anything "normal" go wrong with me...lol. I always tell new docs that in order for them to assume my care they have to be willing to forget everything they ever learned about "standard protocols".



LuckyAlbatross -> RE: Ruptured Eardrum (5/5/2007 11:59:16 PM)

Maybe you can get it to be an episode of House then.

I've known a fair amount of males who are what I call "walking disasters" because all they talk about and all they ever seem to experience is one physical breakdown or accident or fault after another. 

Yours is the first I've seen where it's much more your own body after you.



mistoferin -> RE: Ruptured Eardrum (5/6/2007 12:10:50 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: LuckyAlbatross
Yours is the first I've seen where it's much more your own body after you.


I never looked at it that way before...but you're right. Funny thing is though that I like to live and play on the edge. Most folks think that makes me on the insane side. But my history has shown me that I am at far greater risk while I am lying in bed reading a good book than I am doing some heavy edgeplay scene or demo.



Rayne58 -> RE: Ruptured Eardrum (5/6/2007 1:45:55 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: mistoferin

quote:

ORIGINAL: LuckyAlbatross
Geez Erin, you really should have a doctor do your life story as a whole medical journal.


LOL...I have had a pretty odd history. You're not the first person to suggest writing a book on it. The only problem with that though is that it would never be taken seriously...most likely it would be viewed as "has to be" fiction. Sometimes though, truth really is stranger.

My son asked me recently if I had ever had anything "normal" go wrong with me...lol. I always tell new docs that in order for them to assume my care they have to be willing to forget everything they ever learned about "standard protocols".


Haha this struck a chord with me regarding Master's diabetes. It doesn't play along the way it's supposed to in all the books.....for instance pain makes His blood sugar drop when normally it makes it go up. It can also plummet very quickly even though He eats regularly. We have now taken everything we knew about diabetes and thrown it out the window!

We can do exactly the same things on different days, and on one day He will be low and the next high. We can't seem to get it through to the doctors though [sm=rolleyes.gif][sm=frown.gif] So many of them don't seem to listen to the patient - the one person who actually knows how their body reacts[sm=mad.gif]



DommeChains -> RE: Ruptured Eardrum (5/6/2007 5:52:45 AM)

It should heal without any significant long term effects.  There will be some minor hearing loss in the higher frequencies (as another post mentioned).  The concern to be aware of is that, having ruptured once, it is more likely to happen again.  If you detect the pattern of the stuffy or swollen feeling after you have had a sore throat or nasal congestion that is an early warning sign to you that your tubes are being filled with serous fluid and you need a professional to exam your ears. Repeated bouts of untreated serous otitis media (or purulent otitis media) {ear infections for the layperson} can cause repeated tears in the eardrum,  Eventually the tissue will either not heal completely or become so fibrous that your hearing can be significantly impaired.



nyrisa -> RE: Ruptured Eardrum (5/6/2007 10:48:41 AM)

I vote along with what DommeChains said. I'd add, to be sure to take all of your antibiotics, on the prescribed schedule, until they are completely finished. The worst mistake people make is stopping the antibiotic when they begin feeling better. This is what leads to the infection popping right back up, and in a drug resistant form, because the weak bacteria were killed off and the strong ones left to multiply and develop immunity to the drugs. Also, make sure you don't get water in your ears during baths, because until the eardrum heals, the water and the impurities in it can enter your middle ear, and start a whole new set of problems.



ownedslave07 -> RE: Ruptured Eardrum (5/6/2007 11:19:47 AM)

Had a ruptured eardrum 2 times when I was a kid. Can still remember how painful it was. I haven't had any long term effects though. Caught it early and used eardrops if I remember right. Used to get really bad earaches all the time as a kid. Havent really had a problem with them since I was younger though.



JerseyKrissi72 -> RE: Ruptured Eardrum (5/6/2007 9:40:13 PM)

I cannot say I understand what you have gone through even though I have had many ear infections...I pray that you remain healthy.



Aswad -> RE: Ruptured Eardrum (5/7/2007 10:50:28 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: mistoferin

My son asked me recently if I had ever had anything "normal" go wrong with me...lol. I always tell new docs that in order for them to assume my care they have to be willing to forget everything they ever learned about "standard protocols".


I see I am not alone in this world after all. [:D]

Whenever I see a new doc now, I just tell him "about X doctors have treated me as a regular patient, against my advice, and I've almost died X times from that approach, will you be willing to listen to me, and not assume that anything will work the way you expect it to?". Mostly, they just laugh and shrug it off.

Then I show them my journal, and they go pale.

"I'll have to confer with some colleagues." Yeah, right.

What's up with docs not trusting patients? Came in once in a wheelchair (my parents carried me the rest of the way). Told him "this stuff is messing up my circulation, and now I'm down to 50 over 30". He's like "nah, no way". So he measures with the usual automatic meter. Frowns. Whips out the manual one. Twice. Leans back and goes like "that's not good ... now I get what they needed the wheelchair for". Still didn't trust me on the cause. Next day, regular doc says "okay, we try what you say, and if it doesn't work, you're going up to the hospital". Shortly thereafter, I can crawl to the bathroom on my own. Victory.




Rayne58 -> RE: Ruptured Eardrum (5/7/2007 11:04:57 PM)

Aswad we don't trust the automatic BP readings. Master has an irregular heartbeat and those automatic machines do not like that and either just keep pumping and pumping cutting off His circulation or they give some ridiculous off the scale reading[8|]

We use the manual machines at the hospital and we have just bought our own one to use at home when He is not in pain, so we can get an idea of what His "normal" BP is! [:)]



Aswad -> RE: Ruptured Eardrum (5/8/2007 4:55:39 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Rayne58

Aswad we don't trust the automatic BP readings. Master has an irregular heartbeat and those automatic machines do not like that and either just keep pumping and pumping cutting off His circulation or they give some ridiculous off the scale reading[8|]


Obviously there are cases when the automatic BP readings don't work. For me, though, the manual readings have always aligned with the automatic readings, and I don't have any heart conditions that I know of, or I wouldn't have been on half the meds I've been on.

When my automatic meter says 50 over 30 and I pass out and enter a complex partial seizure with no history of epilepsy from an attempt to get up and walk about a dozen feet or so, I'm inclined to assume it's in the right ballpark.

Similarly, when it says 240+ over 150+, and I feel my heart trying to beat its way out of my chest along with the sensation that my head is about to explode in a very literal way, when on meds that can cause hypertensive crisis, I'm also inclined to assume that it's in the right ballpark.

quote:

We use the manual machines at the hospital and we have just bought our own one to use at home when He is not in pain, so we can get an idea of what His "normal" BP is! [:)]


Using a manual machine is definitely preferrable, although some of the automatic ones apparently "listen" for the same sounds you listen for with a manual machine, rather than trying to go by the heartbeats themselves.

Since the automatic machine was always in line with the manual measurements, I used the automatic machine to collect baseline data. I'm usually at about 135 over 85 when unmedicated, and about 115-125 over 75 when taking MAOIs, NARIs, stimulants or anticonvulsants. Resting pulse was usually 50-60bpm before the bout of muscle loss, regardless of medication (except with NARIs, where it would generally be 80-95).



gentlethistle -> RE: Ruptured Eardrum (5/8/2007 1:16:45 PM)

erin

I used to have all sorts of problems with my ears as a kid, but have only once had an eardrum 'burst' as an adult.  The sequence of events was much as you describe, I was aware of a lot of fluid behind the eardrum for some time before which wasn't exactly painful, but annoying.  Then one evening the pressure built up and after an excrutiating pain it ruptured.  Actually, this was almost a relief, because then it wasn't painful any more and did release the fluid (I do hope no one is trying to eat while reading this thread).

In terms of hearing loss....yes, afterwards my hearing was affected.  I actually found it quite isolating.  But as far as I can remember, after a few weeks it improved to what I would consider normal.  The same thing had probably happened to me before as a child, because the doctor who examined my ear could see a lot of old scarring. 

Be as well as you possibly can...
   Laura



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