Last night at around 2-3am, my ears began to making an irregular "popping" sound/feeling. So at first I thought I was just tired and my ears needed a rest.

But then this morning, after about 5 hours of sleep, my ear continued to pop and thump as bad, if not worse, than the night before.
Over the past few hours I'm been paying close attention to it, and it seems to get really bad right after I hear loud sounds, but then dies down when its silent. Has anyone experienced this before?

Also, I was wondering if anyone knows of any Ear Specialists or clinics I could visit over the next few days to have this check out.

My family doctor has refered me to an Ear Specialist in the past, but they're always booked with appointments for months in advance, and I really need to have this fixed as soon as possible.

Any help would be appreciated,
Thank you.

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Unfortunately the only way to get an appointment with these guys is with a referral from you family doctor. I suggest going to the emergency room and hopefully they will be able to get into one faster.

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Go to the Bay/Wellesley Medical and get a referral to their ENT specialist who services that clinic specifically every second Friday. you will get an appointment within the next 2-4 weeks instead of the next 2-4 months.

If you can't wait that long - emerge is your only other option.

I'm pretty sure you can't go to a specialist unless referred to by your doctor. Try the emergency room, like everyone else was saying.

Also, in the future...even if your doctor has referred you but you don't want to make an appt b/c it takes months...DO IT ANYWAY. Something like this is bound to come up, and if you had made that appt in advance you wouldn't have had to wait extra long, the appt would have been right on time.

Good luck.

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Has your doctor seen fluid or redness behind your tympanic membrane?
Do you feel popping or liquid flowing in your ear when you bend over or bend to one side or another, while your q-tip comes out dry (eustacian tube blockage)?

If so, you likely have an ear-infection, and most are bacterial, so antibiotics will likely be prescribed. If you ever had tubes inserted in your ears, then antibiotic ear drops will be prescribed. Of course doctors will ask you more questions than you'll get in this forum to properly diagnose it.

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quote:

Originally posted by Abercrombie your q-tip comes out

When Josh went to go get his ear plugs made the ear specialist told him that putting a q-tip in his ear is probably the worst thing you could do. It more often than not just ends up pushing the wax down into your ear and compacting it!

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quote:

Originally posted by *~LiSa-LoO~* When Josh went to go get his ear plugs made the ear specialist told him that putting a q-tip in his ear is probably the worst thing you could do. It more often than not just ends up pushing the wax down into your ear and compacting it!

Very true, too many people don't use it properly. It is done right, when it's right after your shower, while the area is moist, and wax is malleable, and never go too deep!

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quote:

Originally posted by Abercrombie Very true, too many people don't use it properly. It is done right, when it's right after your shower, while the area is moist, and wax is malleable, and never go too deep!

I was told by the doctor that this is not true.
The issue is not whether or not the wax is malleable, but that you cannot see what you are doing and that you end up doing damage to the incredibly sensitive inner ear.
They recommend making an appointment with an ear, nose and throat specialist 2-3 times a year to have them remove wax.
-Josh

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thanks for the info guys.

the popping sounds/feeling has settled down. my ear still feels kind of weird though... some sounds are still muffled. Hopefully one more night of sleep will give it time to heal. If not I'll look into seeing a doctor asap, but I'll probably wait in the long line up of appointments instead of heading into emergency.

I think the problem may have been caused by improper use of a Q-Tip tho, for I had attempted to clean my ear canal earlier on in the night. I must have done something wrong...

one thought that came to mind was that by pushing the Q-Tip in there I caused in increase in pressure in the canal, causing a pressure difference between my inner ear behind the ear drum, and out in the ear canal. so I think the popping sounds was my ear adjusting the pressure back to its normal state... but thats just me predicting.

Thanks again for your help guys,
It's much appreciated.

___________________
-M2J

For set downloads, event details and radio schedule visit:
http://www.vitalevents.net/

Southlake hospital in Newmarket also has a walk-in clinic, so you also have access to specialists on staff. Maybe other hospitals do too, but go soon. If you hear muffled sound, and you feel it's behind your drum, then it's fluid in your eustacian tube. The longer it sits there, the more likely it will be infected. At least take a decongestant (look for Pseudoephedrine Hydrochloride on the label) to help clear your canals!

And yes, q-tips aren't recommended as I agreed earlier, and who goes and gets their ears cleaned by a professional as often as you see your dentist? Your tympanic membrane is very sensitive to abrasion, so if you don't use it carefully you'll damage your drum. If he doesn't or can't see a specialist right away, he's can't just do nothing.

Hospital with walk-in clinic is best IMO.

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quote:

Originally posted by Abercrombie malleable

i add this to my list of 'words that make me shudder'

*shudders*

ewww.

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