A few weeks ago, I was awakened to intense ear pain, it felt like someone punched me in the ear! I was still pretty tired and decided to try and ignore the pain and go back to bed. When I woke up the next morning my entire left ear was still hurting and I discovered the source of the pain was coming from just outside of the ear canal. Due to the rapid onset of pain, I concluded that I was bitten by an insect while I was sleeping. I decided to add a few drops of hydrogen peroxide into my ear and I immediately recognized the reaction, it bubbled up like an infection. Since I didn’t have any other symptoms related to a venomous bite, I decided I would not seek medical attention and let it heal on its own.
My ear pain continued
I cleaned the area with hydrogen peroxide twice a day and took a pain reliever as needed and things seemed to get better. But four days later the pain returned and it radiated to my jaw and the surrounding area. I knew I had to seek medical attention as soon as possible so I went to the walk-in clinic by my house. During the evaluation the nurse did not observe any sign of an insect bite. My vitals were good and everything else looked ok. I was diagnosed with having swimmer’s ear. I was prescribed neomycin-polymyxin-HC 1%, four times a day for seven days; (I applied the medicine onto a new Q-Tip then gently coated the affected area). Once I began treatment, I noticed improvements on the third day. I’m so thankful I took action quickly, I recently learned if this was left untreated, there could have been permanent damage.
Problem resolved, now to make sure it doesn’t happen again
Since I learned that my concern was swimmer’s ear, I must have had a little scratch around the ear canal, and it got infected by the earbuds I use every day for the gym; I remember taking them off and setting them on the weight bench, that bench must have had some nasty bacteria on it!
Knowing this, here is what I will do differently moving forward:
- Clean my earbuds with rubbing alcohol at least twice a week.
- After cleaning, place them in the sun for one minute so the ultraviolet rays will kill any remaining bacteria.
- Never set them down on gym equipment again!
Important things to consider
If you are experiencing intense ear pain, save yourself time and money by making an appointment directly with your local ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat Specialist).
Lastly, if you believe your ear pain is caused by listening to your music too loud, consider taking better care of your ears and keeping your music below 90 decibels as recommend by OSHA. Consistent loud noise can cause permanent damage.
