fluid in ears

[Augustheather97]

I went to the Dr last firday complaining of BAD vertigo at night when I lay down...my right ear has fluid in it and it is driving me NUTS....we fly to Disney in 12 days and I am nervous about teh pressure bothering the problem more...has anyone had this and what did you do to help it....they recommended Sudafed,.....byt so far not helping much...except drying my eyes out with my contacts.....HELP please

 

[CathrynRose]

I used EarPlanes for the first time this past January.

I was scared to death to fly, because normally I get a nice healthy headache and ear pain and just feel off for a few days afterwards, and in this case a few days was going to be my whole trip....

I can NOT reccomend those things enough. They are UNREAL. They work, and they work amazing. I didnt feel off, or ears full, or anything.

Seriously - try them.

 

[CinderellaIam]

I'll second the Earplanes. My DD suffered from cronic ear infections as well as fluid in the ears as a young child and she (now 20 yrs old) cannot fly without them.

Another trick a pediatrician had us try with her when she was young when she had fluid in her ears was blowing up balloons. The theory is that the pressure from blowing up the balloons helps displace the fluid. Sounds a little silly, but it did work for her.

Hope you are feeling better soon!

 

[Augustheather97]

I have used earplanes religiously for the past 5 years...my 9 year old needs them also since she gets a lot of pain when the desent starts at about 30 minutes proir to landing.....they help but we both sometimes still get some pain...even when I didn;t have fluid in them so this time I am really concerned how they will be...

 

[LiteBrite]

My doctor has told me to drip warm olive oil in my ears and then drain them (tilt your head to the side and let it run out onto a tissue) to help displace fluid.

 

[Augustheather97]

have you done that??? does it seem to work....or will I just have greasy ears>>>

 

[LiteBrite]

have you done that??? does it seem to work....or will I just have greasy ears>>>

To tell you the truth, my ears got better and I never got around to trying it, but I would the next time. I don't think it would hurt, and it might help. Just use a dropper and only do a few drops.

 

[KTSMOM]

When I get fluid in my ears, I need to use Sudafed and Flonase. You will have to get a prescription for Flonase from your dr, but this clears me up every time. I also recommend taking some Sudafed about 30 mins before your flight.

 

[Augustheather97]

any other ideas???

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

My DS(11) has chronic problems with fluid in his ears, our ENT tells me NOT to use sudafed because, while it helps dry out the fluid it also makes it thick and more likely to become infected. What we do, is have him pop his ears 3 to 4 times a day and increase(yes increase) his fluids, sometimes he needs a course of steroids, sometimes not. This last time (3wks ago) I knew when he finally got the "popping" of his ears right, because there was a "lovely" puddle of goo in his outer ear .

 

[NotUrsula]

I have Meniere's Disease, which is chronic fluid buildup in the inner ear. It causes vertigo and in my case also some hearing loss.

My neurologist has me on 3 scrips: Elocon lotion to moisturize my eardrum and make it more flexible (the olive oil probably does much the same thing), 2 mg./day of Valium (which helps the dizziness; no one seems to know quite how that works), and also Nasacort spray, to keep down inflammation in my nasal passages. In addition, I also take about 1200 mg per day of OTC guiafenesin, which does wonders to keep the fluid level down to the point where there isn't enough to cause pain. I also take 60 mg. of pseudoephedrine any time I fly. (Note that I *do not* have blood pressure problems; that dose of pseudoephedrine would be too high for someone who does.)

 

[Scutapipig]

I've had good luck with Claritin-D, too.

 

[Zandy595]

I've always had ear problems and those Earplanes don't work for me. Sudafed helps some, but I usually still have pain and some temporary hearing loss after I fly.

Does anyone else have an ongoing problem with their ears leaking fluid? This mostly just happens at night and I need to keep Q-tips by the bed.

 

[allie&mattsmom]

I've got terrible ear problems right now too. I've got an appt. tomorrow w/ my doc. We fly out to California Thursday so I wanted to get into to see him asap. It feels like I'm under water and my right ear is especially bothering me. I had this problem really bad a couple of years ago and went to a specalist but nothing was really solved as far as what the problem was. I was having terrible vertigo with it at the time and that eventually went away. Now it's just this awful feeling of fluid in the ears. We'll see what the doc has to say tomorrow.

 

[lstokes]

I think you should see an Ear, Nose, Throat Doctor or "ENT". They specialize in those areas.
ALso of note, fluid or pressure that you feel is in the inner ear, behind the ear drum. Any leaking of fluid from ear means that the ear drum has ruptured and fluid or infection is leaking out if it is from the inner ear.
You also can have a outer ear problem. This is commonly called "Swimmer's ear". This is caused by standing dirty water in ear-infecting it.
SO, see an ENT!!!

 

[Augustheather97]

 

[N&B'smom]

I hope you get it fixed asap. I know what a problem that can be. Our DD had a problem about a month or so ago where BOTH of her ears were full of fluid. She could barely hear a thing. Now just last Friday she was at the Dr's for ear pain/fever and sure enough by yesterday she's having trouble hearing again. It can be very frustrating.

I hope it is squared away for your trip and you have a wonderful time!

Shelby

 

[golfgal]

Putting oil in your ear isn't going to help because the build-up is behind the ear drum and the oil won't reach it. The oil will work if you have water in your outer ear from swimming or whatever.


When my kids had chronic ear problems the dr suggested Dimatap to thin the fluid to help it drain. They were on dimatap pretty much all winter one year and it did cut down on the ear infections. They were pretty little and took 1/2 of the recommended dose for their age 3 times/day but for you I would try the regular dose at what ever interval is recommended on the bottle.

 

[Augustheather97]