Need advice to pass along - muffled hearing in one ear

[Pegasus]

DD20 has had muffled hearing in one ear for several days now. There is no pain.  She is prone to overproduction of ear wax and in the past, we've had to do several days of ear drops followed by flushing with water to remove it.  However, she is living away-from-home this summer at a research internship and hasn't gotten to a store to purchase such drops. . .and I'm not sure how easy it would be to self-apply anyway.

 

I don't think it is a dangerous situation but told her that if she starts to feel pain, get to a walk-in clinic pronto.

 

Any other advice that I can pass along?  It's tough when our babies grow up and we aren't there to take care of them anymore!

[Guest]

I would go see an ENT. Not to scare you, but last fall I had a regular run of the mill, mild cold virus. Then one morning the next weekend, I woke up and felt like someone had poured cement in my right ear. No pain. No other symptom. I just couldn't really hear on my right side overnight. I have tubes and thought maybe the tube had repositioned or something odd. I didn't treat it as emergent thinking it would go away and maybe it was fluid or something. I did call the ENT's office the next week, and a receptionist that knew no better did not get me in right away. She had me down a few weeks later.

 

Turns out the virus caused the hearing loss. It's not a rare phenomenon either from what I was told later. Had I gone in right away, they could've done a steroid treatment that would have likely restored my hearing. But it didn't work out that way and now I am mostly deaf in my right ear. Some hearing has come back in it, but I am still mostly deaf on that side.

 

Hopefully, it's only wax, but I wouldn't risk it if there's anyway she can get into see someone. With some thing like hearing it's a better be safe than sorry. It doesn't have to hurt to be serious.

Edited June 24, 2017 by texasmom33

[gingersmom]

I swim and get muffled hearing in one ear at least once a year.

 

No infection, just earwax. I try debrox but it never works.

 

Quick visit to urgent care and I can hear again.

 

I was just there on Tuesday!

[Carol in Cal.]

She should get those drops that soften the wax (Debrox) and use them a couple of times per day until she can get to the doctor.  Because if the doctor has to flush the wax out with water, it will be much easier if it's softened up first.

[iamonlyone]

I would go see an ENT. Not to scare you, but last fall I had a regular run of the mill, mild cold virus. Then one morning the next weekend, I woke up and felt like someone had poured cement in my right ear. No pain. No other symptom. I just couldn't really hear on my right side overnight. I have tubes and thought maybe the tube had repositioned or something odd. I didn't treat it as emergent thinking it would go away and maybe it was fluid or something. I did call the ENT's office the next week, and a receptionist that knew no better did not get me in right away. She had me down a few weeks later.

 

Turns out the virus caused the hearing loss. It's not a rare phenomenon either from what I was told later. Had I gone in right away, they could've done a steroid treatment that would have likely restored my hearing. But it didn't work out that way and now I am mostly deaf in my right ear. Some hearing has come back in it, but I am still mostly deaf on that side.

 

Hopefully, it's only wax, but I wouldn't risk it if there's anyway she can get into see someone. With some thing like hearing it's a better be safe than sorry. It doesn't have to hurt to be serious.

 

I didn't "like" this because of your outcome, but I'm glad you posted. The same thing happened with my son when he was 10 or so. They did treat with steroids, but it had been several weeks since onset, and he lost some upper range hearing. I had never heard of sudden sensorineural hearing loss. I wonder why pediatricians, baby books, etc. don't better educate young parents so everyone knows about it. Even his ped. told us to give it the common 7–10 days to clear when I took him to the doctor. Then, of course, ENT offices are hard to get in. I wish this was well known and could be treated in an ER or walk-in clinic.

 

Here's a link that explains: http://www.chicagoear.com/Medical%20Info/hearing_loss.html

[Pawz4me]

DS21 has trouble with wax build up. He woke up last Saturday with a stuffed ear and slight vertigo, so he went to a walk in clinic. The NP flushed the ear that was troubling him most and removed the wax but said he also appeared to have an infection in both ears, which surprised DS since he wasn't having any real pain. So . . . you never know. She told him it could take up to two weeks for his hearing to return to normal. He said on Wednesday it was getting better but very slowly. He's having no trouble putting the drops in himself (he's at his apartment near his university, working a nearby internship).

[cintinative]

She should get those drops that soften the wax (Debrox) and use them a couple of times per day until she can get to the doctor.  Because if the doctor has to flush the wax out with water, it will be much easier if it's softened up first.

 

This is exactly what I was going to say. My DS10 gets blocked ears a lot from wax buildup. They have to water irrigate to get the buildup out and it goes so much more smoothly if we have softened the wax with drops first.

 

We do try to stay after it at home as well, but every once in awhile, despite our best efforts, it still gets clogged enough to impair hearing and we have to go to the pediatrician. 

[Bensmom]

I have had several infections with no pain, just lots of "stuffiness". Ds who was diagnosed last week with a perforation in his ear drum had a stuffy feeling for some time. I didn't take him in earlier because we thought it was just his allergies. It was pus causing that feeling.

[bettyandbob]

I swim and get muffled hearing in one ear at least once a year.

 

No infection, just earwax. I try debrox but it never works.

 

Quick visit to urgent care and I can hear again.

 

I was just there on Tuesday!

Debrox loosens the wax. The next step is to flush the ear with 1:1 peroxide water solution, using an ear bulb from any drug store.

 

I don't do the debrox step anymore. I flush my ears once a month and that keeps build from happening.

[wintermom]

My ds has had wax build up and muffled hearing in his ear, and I just bought from over-the-counter drops and water flush bottle at the local pharmacy. I asked the pharmacist for a recommended pack. It was very effective.  Your dd could ask a friend to help her administer the drops and water flush.