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Has anyone had ear tubes as an adult?


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Did you feel immediate relief? For the past few months I've had a lot of fluid, pain and pressure in my ears so they finally decided to put tubes in them last Thursday. I thought I would feel immediate relief but I'm still extremely uncomfortable.

 

I had tubes placed in one of my ears 5 years ago but my original symptoms were no where near as severe as they are this time. That time I kept on having reoccuring fluid but never had the pressure so I'm not sure if I can really compare the two. I didn't notice an immediate change last time but it was more a preventative measure last time.

 

When I woke up from surgery I was still in a lot of pain so they gave me Advil. That didn't help at all so they gave me strong pain meds in my IV. They seemed a little surprised that I still had pressure since that was the purpose of the tubes.

 

The surgery center called Friday and they also seemed surprised that I still had pain and pressure so they told me to call the doctor. I called the doctor Friday morning but didn't hear back until 5:00 pm. They also said the tubes should have helped the pain and pressure but couldn't offer me any reason why I still was feeling this way. They were pretty laid back about it and told me they would check into it at my followup visit (in 2 weeks!). The doctor said that perhaps I had dried blood in my ear and that is why it felt a little clogged. I tried to explain to him that I'm not better at all and in fact I'm worse but he just said to followup in 2 weeks.

 

Today I'm actually worse. I've tried Motrin, Sudafed and antihistamine. Nothing Works! I have a lot of pressure, pain (especially when I open my mouth to yawn, etc.) and my hearing is very decreased in that ear. I'm really wondering if there is something else going on such as sinus problems. In the meantime I'm looking for suggestions for something that will give me a little relief. I can't imagine feeling this way for another 2 weeks.

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My middle son just went through an outer ear infection. You could actually see that the ear and the tissue below the ear was swollen. He could not hear out of the ear. The doctor prescribed antibiotic ear drops, but when they did not provide relief after a couple of days, he put my son on an oral antibiotic (cefdinir). Worked great. After two doses, my son started feeling relief.

 

I would ask if it's possible that you have an infection and see about getting an antibiotic. Sounds like it's been more than long enough after putting in the tubes and you should be feeling relief, not worse pain.

 

I hope you get the problem solved quickly. I know that having ear pain can be awful.

 

Val

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Do you have antibiotic drops? DD's always did.

 

Did they "suck the fluid" out? The girls ENT in CA didn't do many tubes for adults, he actually would drain the ears in the office. But each set the kids had the doc made a point of telling me how goopy gunky the crud in their ears was (as in, no way would it have drained on its own).

 

I would be showing up at the office on Monday morning.

 

:grouphug:

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In addition to the great advice above, and this may sound odd, but if you suspect it is an ear and/or sinus infection can you try megadoses of Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C). What I mean is 1/4 tsp (1000 mg) every hour or two until what we call bowel tolerance. Vitamin C has mild diuretic properties.

 

Once you have loose stools you stop and know that's you daily maximum. So if you got up to 1 tsp, next day take 3/4 tsp spread out even more and at most 1 tsp per day. What that means is that you might need only 1 tsp total or two or three (usually no more). This method has cleared any and all ear and sinus infections I have had recently.

 

What I found is when I eat sugar, I end up with ear and/or sinus infections. Vitamin C seems to be the opposite (I didn't just come up with this, I have researched it). My last earache/sinus infection was this summer and it would not go away until I quit sugar and did this Vitamin C regimen.

 

Now I take about 2000 mg (1/2 tsp) per day and have been ear and sinus problem free. If I have had occasional sugar again and symptoms startup, I take more Vitamin C (up to 4000 mg) and I am okay. The reason to take Ascorbic Acid and not megadoses of orange juice is there is a lot of sugar in orange juice. You could do this my eating tons of raw fruit, yet it's likely that will have the same bowel reactions.

 

I even had Vertigo due to ear problems last December for a month! but did not realize how to help it. I am positive Vitamin C and removing sugar would have helped too. I ended up using homeopathy after finally calling my homeopath. I needed Pulsatilla but there are many remedies for ear pain/problems, depending upon the specifics in your body. If I had gotten off sugar (and it seems that Vitamin C can block the absorption of sugar) I might have been helped sooner.

Edited by girligirlmom
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Another natural solution: Quercetin. It is an anti-inflammatory that helps your body to utilize vitamin C. I have trouble with my ears clogging up and it is because everything is swollen in there. The Quercetin (I take about 400 mg a couple of times a day esp. when it is bad) helps a lot. You can get it pretty much anywhere they sell vitamins.

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I was on antibiotic 10 days leading up to getting the tubes on Thursday. I also had the antibiotic drops for 3 days after surgery.

 

What's strange is that I feel no different from what I did before the surgery. In fact, I think that my hearing is worse and I have even more pressure. I also had a tube placed in my right ear but it is fine. I think if I was just feeling the sensation from the tube being inserted I would feel it in the right ear too.

 

Is there something else that causes these symptoms. Could it be my adnoids or sinuses? If my eustachian tube is clogged wouldn't the tube help that?

 

My ENT seems so laid back about this but I'm miserable. I'm dizzy so it is difficult to drive and I'm so tired so I'm finding that I can't get through the day without a nap.

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