Expert: Robert Borucki - 7/5/2009

Question
Hello,

My husband cannot take off work until Friday to get to the doctor, so I was hoping you might have some idea what this sounds like.  My husband felt his ear was clogged with water after swimming.  So, he used a q-tip to try to dry it (bad move, I know.)  After that, he put the swimmer's ear stuff in it (basically alcohol) but it did not help.  This last week he could not hear out of the ear. Last night it started feeling sore. This is weird, but when he burps he will feel relief, like it cleared for a brief moment but then goes right back to where it was.  Does this sound like swimmer's ear or just maybe fluid build up?

Answer
this may be an external ear problem, like an infection or a wax buildup blocking the canal.  I don't know what the burping is about... sometimes an inner ear infection can block the pressure relieving side on the inside of the eardrum, like going up in a plane.  He needs to get someone to look in the ear ultimately, but he could try some Afrin nose spray twice a day for 3 days, at least a good sniff of it on the affected side (in the nose)