a show of hands...

[laurenaf]

OK, so here is my informal poll. Keep in mind that:
A) I hate going to doctors.
B) I downplay everything that's wrong with me and live under the constant supposition that "If I ignore it, it'll go away."
C) I hate going to doctors.

I can't hear out of my right ear. I haven't been able to since last Tuesday (evening). It is now Monday (morning). Through the week my ears have itched, they've hurt, and now they're pretty much not feeling anything out of the ordinary (hurts a little if I rub it) but there seems to be an overabundance of wax build-up in the one I can't hear out of and when I attempt to clean it I see that the wax is deep crimson-orange. But the hearing seems to be coming back in it a little bit, the more I clean it out. So here are my choices...

1. Wait until March 5th when my excellent health benefits kick in and if I'm still having problems then, go see someone about it. After all, once in high school I couldn't hear out of one ear for about three months. It eventually went away and I lived.

2. Yeah, but not checking that out was a dumbass thing to do. I have minimal health insurance now which should at least cover a hospital/clinic visit. It might not cover prescriptions, but if it doesn't and I need one...well then I can assess need vs. cost then.

3. Quit being a wuss and overreacting. I'm alive. I feel fine (except for being pissed off by having limited hearing) I must be OK and this will go away. No need to waste anyone's time.

Choose your poison...

Comments

[nandini.livejournal.com]

You're definitely not being a wuss. If that happened to me I'd be freaking out and I hate doing anything that would unnecessarily cost money or other people's time. Its entirely possible that they just need cleaned and its nothing serious, but you have to figure that normally ears do not fill up like that. Something has to be causing it. If it is an infection, not only could it damage your hearing, but if you let it go for too long it can spread to other areas or get to your bloodstream then you really got a problem. Of course it is possible that it will go away on its own and its nothing serious but just consider the possibility that its not. I would say thats a pretty serious possibility to neglect and I would go.

March 5th isn't all that far off, waiting seems at least reasonable but not if you're really worried. The only reason I would want to wait and think it could be reasonable to wait is because I always get paranoid about "what if they find something really wrong with me" and if I didnt have insurance it might go as some pre-existing condition and I would no longer be eligible for that insurance or that they would make it to be that I needed to immediately spend all this money and I would feel like "what are you talking about?! I was fine until I came here!"

I dont know though, it sounds like waiting too much longer is not a good idea.. but being stubborn like I am, I'd probably wait the 10 or so days out of paranoia. Do you have fevers and stuff like that with it? hehe I'm noone to diagnose, but I know that fevers are good signs that you have an infection.. maybe you could use little things like that to decide if you wait.

My ears ich just thinking about it!

[vikkilynn.livejournal.com]

that happened to me once, and it SUCKED. There's this stuff on the market called Debrox (or something like that) and it works wonders. You add these drops to your ears... and then it starts bubbling and fizzing... and after a few minutes you use one of those bulb syringe things and flush your ear out with warm water. it works!

I did go to the doctor when it happened to me... and my hearing was completely gone and it freaked me out majorly! the doctor recommended the Debrox stuff and made me promise never to use Q-tips again. (Q-tips push the wax down further.)

Good luck!!!!!

I said, GOOD LUCK!!!

[soopajess.livejournal.com]

how about calling a clinic or doc, describing symptoms, and seeing what they say? if it can wait til March 5, go then? If it just needs to be flushed at the clinic, go now?

Re:

[iridescence.livejournal.com]

hmm...good compromise! Especially since I really can't afford this. I think I'll try some other stuff I can at home and, as long as there's no pain or anything, hold off on going to a clinic for now.