Strange uneven hearing

Jan 18, 2008 at 2:46 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 15
greydragon

greydragon

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I was wondering if any of you can help...

For a while I've been noticing that I have uneven hearing, such as my right side isn't as accurate as my left. But this morning when I turned on the shower, and plugged my left ear, and opened my jaw to do a yawning motion--I can hear all the high frequencies again from my right ear; and when I close my jaw, and stop yawn 'popping' my ears--it's gone.

I think it can be fixed, whatever it is... Do you guys have any ideas before I visit a doctor?--which I don't want to.
 
Jan 18, 2008 at 4:28 PM Post #2 of 15
Could be wax blockage, could be an infection... could even be jaw related as TMJ and other jaw-tension related ailments can severely affect a lot of different areas.

I would swallow your pride and get to the doc.
 
Jan 18, 2008 at 5:08 PM Post #3 of 15
Beyond what GlendaleViper said, the only other thing I can think of that it would be would be swimmer's ear. It sounds closest to your ailment without being an infection that you'd have to see a doctor for anyhow.
 
Jan 18, 2008 at 8:01 PM Post #4 of 15
Quote:

Originally Posted by GlendaleViper /img/forum/go_quote.gif
...

I would swallow your pride and get to the doc.


It's not pride, I'm just not sure I have the proper insurance to see an ear specialist.

Thanks guys for the info, I'll do what I can and go see the man in white.
 
Jan 18, 2008 at 9:27 PM Post #5 of 15
Mine does the same thing on my right side. My ear cavities are very different from each other with one being narrower than the other. Your Jaw can have quite the effect on canal shape which is why ear impressions are normally done 'jaw open'.
 
Jan 19, 2008 at 5:53 AM Post #7 of 15
Quote:

Originally Posted by greydragon /img/forum/go_quote.gif
It's not pride, I'm just not sure I have the proper insurance to see an ear specialist.

Thanks guys for the info, I'll do what I can and go see the man in white.


I just went to an ear/nose/throat specialist about 2 months ago so I can give you an idea of costs (at least in my area).
The entire bill was around $150.00, insurance covered all by around $14.00.
I thought I was losing hearing in my left ear and really started to panic. I only go to the doctor when it's very serious and I thought something was very wrong with my ear. To make a long story short, I had many of the symptoms you did/do (random popping when I yawned and when I 'stretched' my left ear it corrected the problem). It ended up being compacted earwax (sorry to disgust anyone) and my guess is that could be the problem you have.
It took about 10 minutes in the office to get everything taken care of. It wasn't the most pleasant experience of my life, but it cleared everything up. I would have gladly paid full cost if my insurance didn't cover it.
Honestly, if your insurance doesn't cover it, consider it a $150 audio tweak that would definitely be worth it
smily_headphones1.gif
 
Jan 19, 2008 at 3:45 PM Post #10 of 15
Quote:

Originally Posted by Jussei /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Honestly, if your insurance doesn't cover it, consider it a $150 audio tweak that would definitely be worth it
smily_headphones1.gif



Haha - that's an excellent incentive!
biggrin.gif
 
Jan 19, 2008 at 10:17 PM Post #11 of 15
Quote:

Originally Posted by Jussei /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I just went to an ear/nose/throat specialist about 2 months ago so I can give you an idea of costs (at least in my area).
The entire bill was around $150.00, insurance covered all by around $14.00.
I thought I was losing hearing in my left ear and really started to panic. I only go to the doctor when it's very serious and I thought something was very wrong with my ear. To make a long story short, I had many of the symptoms you did/do (random popping when I yawned and when I 'stretched' my left ear it corrected the problem). It ended up being compacted earwax (sorry to disgust anyone) and my guess is that could be the problem you have.
It took about 10 minutes in the office to get everything taken care of. It wasn't the most pleasant experience of my life, but it cleared everything up. I would have gladly paid full cost if my insurance didn't cover it.
Honestly, if your insurance doesn't cover it, consider it a $150 audio tweak that would definitely be worth it
smily_headphones1.gif



Oh wow, maybe that might it. Thanks for the promising diagnosis of my situation Jussei, and thank you all for your suggestion/help also.

I made an appointment with the ENT and a physician. My physician appointment is on Monday, but would they be able to 'fix' my problem? Or should I just go ahead and wait for the ENT on Thursday? (I have to pay a higher co-pay to see a specialist, so I'm hoping a good ol' doctor can perform the compacted earwax fix)
 
Jan 20, 2008 at 3:57 AM Post #12 of 15
Quote:

Originally Posted by greydragon /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Oh wow, maybe that might it. Thanks for the promising diagnosis of my situation Jussei, and thank you all for your suggestion/help also.

I made an appointment with the ENT and a physician. My physician appointment is on Monday, but would they be able to 'fix' my problem? Or should I just go ahead and wait for the ENT on Thursday? (I have to pay a higher co-pay to see a specialist, so I'm hoping a good ol' doctor can perform the compacted earwax fix)


I'm not sure if a regular physician can correct the problem or not, but it was a simple procedure, so as long as the physician has the tools that he/she needs, it'll be an easy task. My general physician was able to do many things I figured he couldn't, so it may be all you need.
Basically, what it amounted to was my ENT specialist dropping a few drops of softening liquid in my ear and then blasting some warm water in my ear canal to blow the wax out. Again, it wasn't pleasant and it felt as though the water was going to shoot right through my eardrum, but the discomfort was over within a few minutes and my hearing was back to normal within a couple of hours.
Hopefully this is your problem too as it was a simple fix.
 
Jan 21, 2008 at 8:28 PM Post #13 of 15
Went to the doctor today. It turns out to be an ear infection, not compacted earwax or of the sort (but he said that they can clear it there at the office, so no expensive ENT required). So now I'm on antibiotics for 10 days. Hopefully that was just it and I can get my even hearing again.

So just to recap: earache for a day or so-->most likely infection-->go see doctor ASAP.
 
Jan 21, 2008 at 9:23 PM Post #14 of 15
Quote:

Originally Posted by greydragon /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Went to the doctor today. It turns out to be an ear infection, not compacted earwax or of the sort (but he said that they can clear it there at the office, so no expensive ENT required). So now I'm on antibiotics for 10 days. Hopefully that was just it and I can get my even hearing again.

So just to recap: earache for a day or so-->most likely infection-->go see doctor ASAP.


Good to see you're getting things taken care of. Ear infections can get pretty nasty if you let them go.
 
Jan 22, 2008 at 1:41 AM Post #15 of 15
Quote:

Originally Posted by Jussei /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Good to see you're getting things taken care of. Ear infections can get pretty nasty if you let them go.


Thanks for convincing me to go. I would of have just bared with it, and probably lose my hear huh?
 
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