Blocked ear!

My left ear feels like it's all echo-y and everything is really loud in that ear. It's happened a couple of times in the last couple of weeks and has been really bad tonight.

I only ever get a blocked ear after swimming or diving, but I've been really congested and affected by allergies over the last couple of weeks, so I guess that's what has caused it.

Anyone got any recommendations on how to fix it??

Warm some olive oil and drip it down there.... let it sit for a bit and then drain it. Either that, or use warm water with a bulb syringe.... one of those usually works for me, and I get blocked ears a lot.

Yuck! I hope it feels better soon!

Take antihistamines like Claritin or Benadryl on a regular basis until it clears up.

Also, it could be a build up of wax by the ear drum. You can buy ear irrigation kits at the drug store, just follow the directions and be gentle Or you can have your doctor check your ears and irrigate them for you if need be.

But antihistamines is the best treatment for fluid build up behind the ear drum.

Don't stick Q-Tips (cotton swabs) in your ear. That will only push anything in there, further back and compact it against your ear drum.

http://www.doctorhoffman.com/wax.htm

http://www.entnet.org/healthinfo/ears/earwax.cfm

Since you are preggers - only take something like Benedryl - I was told it was the only safe allergy medicince for pregnancy and breastfeeding. I have a great book about Everyday Risks in Pregnancy and Breastfeeding. PM me you want it - I'll mail it to you.

Mine get blocked at least once a year because of excess wax buildup
Dr. suggested instead of buying the irrigation kits (which are mainly hydrogen peroxide anyway) to lay on my side and pour hydrogen peroxide into my ear (sounds crazy huh!) You have to lay still w/ it in your ear for about 5 minutes (it bubbles and fizzes, kinda tickles) and it doesn't always work the first time but IT WILL WORK if you do it a few times. After you finish with the Peroxide you have to flush your ear out with rubbing alcohol to dry up any excess moisture.

I would play it safe and just call your doctor. I hope you feel better soon.

Made an appointment with the doc today. My ears are shocking, my sinuses are shocking, and I'm not sleeping, which combined with the pregnancy is making me even more tired, and I don't really know WHAT I'm allowed to take medication wise.....

I might get some of those home kits though - they could be good to have in the medicine cabinet!

Originally Posted by sarahp

Made an appointment with the doc today. My ears are shocking, my sinuses are shocking, and I'm not sleeping, which combined with the pregnancy is making me even more tired, and I don't really know WHAT I'm allowed to take medication wise.....

I might get some of those home kits though - they could be good to have in the medicine cabinet!

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Just be careful! With your situation allergy/sinus pills may make your heart race.

Some of the best research being done int he world on pregnancy are being done here in Toronto. Here is a link to the website with info about what is safe or not. http://www.motherisk.org/index.jsp

As I said - I would be more then happy to mail you the book they put out - I found it invaluable!

Yes, please ask your doctor before you do anything, just to be safe. But if he says it's an earwax issue, may I recommend Debrox? My doctor told me to use it instead of some of the others, and it really does work better. And unlike straight hydrogen peroxide (which I used to use), it doesn't dry out the ear canal.

Originally Posted by Crazyforinfo

Just be careful! With your situation allergy/sinus pills may make your heart race.

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As long as I don't take anything with pseudoephedrine, I'm fine (heart wise), but if you know of any other bad things, please let me know!

Originally Posted by adymarie

Some of the best research being done int he world on pregnancy are being done here in Toronto. Here is a link to the website with info about what is safe or not. http://www.motherisk.org/index.jsp

As I said - I would be more then happy to mail you the book they put out - I found it invaluable!

Click to expand...

Wow, thanks, I'll look at the website, and let you know if I want the book as well - thanks so much

And I went to the doc, and she said everything was fine - ears weren't blocked, temp was fine, glands were fine, but there was obvious irritation, just caused by allergies. She said it was just congestion causing the earaches/ear "blocking".

So she said I can take Rhinocort nasal spray - yayy!!! Rhinocort is awesome, but I wasn't sure I could take it, and I can also take Claritin, but not the Sudafed (oops), and she also gave me the name of another stronger 4 hour allergy thing that was good and was safe to take during pregnancy. So I'll keep that and water by my bed for when I wake up with the 4am congestion!

Thanks all for the suggestions