Pinch your nose and blow to pop your ears. Yawn to un-pop them.

Is this not normal?

Look up ear crystals and how to reset them. No, this is not some new age medicine, it's legit stuff.

That's exactly what it is. You close your mouth and plug one nostril while it blows a light stream of air in the other (filling up the enclosed cavity with air), then you swallow. Doing it with a little bit of liquid in your mouth helps with the force of the gulp, but isn't necessary.

Was a lifesaver to me when I was legit going crazy with a plugged ear.

I have an unopened spare in case they ever go out of production. I used to use it routinely but now maybe only a couple of times a year.

Not being able to unplug one ear is exactly how I ended up with a tube through my eardrum. It's unbelievable how much discomfort that can create after a while. I'm not easily depressed, but I was having suicidal thoughts running through my head prior to getting an ENT doc to offer something that actually worked instead of a longer trial of meds that weren't helping to clear it.

Yuck it up but don't come crying to me later.

(You're obviously not ear-popper worthy.)

I've always had bad flying ears, but a few years ago I flew while congested and one ear has never come back to normal. Always feels like there is a next level of pop that needs to happen. Went to an ENT and had multiple tests etc and they were like 'yup, nothing we can do short of an operation, and the operation may not even do anything. Bye!"

Which is why I avoid hospitals like the plague.

had dinner a few weeks ago with a med school teacher friend and she is fascinated with the whole idea of a virus going dormant for decades, then some stress triggers a rash on the skin that maps the nerve clusters below.
after food she told me shingles on the face is a thing.

nsfw

Same experience with chronic tinnitus. You'd think I was asking them to give me drugs or something

A good friend of mine who I haven't seen in several years got shingles in one of his eyes a few years ago. He lost his sight for a while, then it came back, and now I am pretty sure it is gone again. I have asked him about it, but due to some cognitive dissonance (I suspect) on his part, he won't tell me that he has lost his vision in that eye.

Different strokes ...

At the risk of continuing my ear tube saga for too long ...
8-10 months ago I was having so much drainage (even with the ear tube) that I was occasionally waking up at night unable to breathe or swallow. A couple of times it was so bad that I thought I might die.

I asked my ENT guy to refer me to a sinus ENT guy, which he had previously offered to do. Sinus guy did some CTs, said he saw the congestion I was complaining about but all the structures were fine and sinus surgery would not help. He said if a surgeon told me that I didn't need surgery that I could take it to the bank. I was extremely disappointed. He did give me some things I could do that are unpleasant and take about 10 minutes out of my day, but they do help quite a bit.

I'm on about my 6th or 7th ear tube as the little sumbitches pop out every once in a while. I'm resigned to having to keep replacing them and do this other unpleasant crap indefinitely. I really wish that some surgical procedure could have fixed it permanently. As I said, different strokes ...

One time I called the tinnitus hotline. But there was no answer, it just kept ringing.

LOL

Ba-dum-tsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.. .

omg. the worse. so sad to lose your best friend. peace.

whenever I lose someone close to me I go to this:

"And when I die, and when I'm gone
There'll be, one child born
In this world
To carry on, to carry on"

I have a different problem. I have titinitus. I can't stop admiring them. ring a bell?

hospitals can kill you. agree.

you all know I like to do these annoying multiple posts. sorry. and I am sorry I have not been here in a while but I have Roundguy's facebook page.

It's not the one I went with, but it's picking up steam as the alternate title.

prescient

LKJ,

Are you going to use ChatGPT for the May LC thread title as well?

ChatMcL for the May LC

If nobody else posts one first, I will. I won't be racing to get one up at 12:01 a.m. or anything.

"Thank you Sir, May I have another?"

I did not realize that AI had advanced far enough to acquire a smugly contemptuous affectation. Interesting. AI am looking forward to the May Day OP!