About three months ago I got a wicked sinus/ear infection that just wouldn’t go away. In fact, over a month after it originally hit me I ended up taking some crazy scary anti-biotics to try and get rid of it, which didn’t work and left me with a sun-sensitive rash all over my arms.
Finally it was decided that I should get my head examined! Well, that I should have an xray done to determine if the eardrums were being blocked from the other side, in which case I would need to have some sort of operation. Great. So this morning I went back to the health centre for both a head xray and a hearing test. I’m happy to report that the xray showed that my passages weren’t blocked anywhere anymore, and the test results were better than expected – it turns that my hearing is well above average.
So then why are my eardrums still crackling and why do they still hurt?
Nobody seems to know. Though the doctor today said that my sinuses were much clearer than last time so maybe it was just a question of time and he said that I should keep using the steroid spray he’d prescribed earlier (that I keep forgetting to use).
I mean, I’m thrilled that they didn’t find something scary in my head – as usual I was worried it might be cancer-related – but it’s actually not very comforting that nobody seems to know what’s wrong. Well, perhaps the sea air will help?
You have sensibly taken steps to rule out any medical condition so there may be another cause. I have worked with people who have all manner of distressing symptoms for many years and I am not saying that you do, nor am I saying that you don’t – but it would not be unexpected after your life threatening experiences to have some sort of residue of feelings.
Most people who have experienced a serious life trauma have a constant background of anxiety going on – with or without their knowledge of its presence. I once met a woman who had recovered from cancer but had a music going on in her head all day long, other people have bodily sensations – hearing or not hearing something is sometimes just our way of distracting ourselves from awful worry by giving us something less fearful to think about.
Giving it the nod of acknowledgement can help – “oh, its you! Aha, maybe I am doing a little too much at the moment?”. In my experience, if this is related then turning it from an annoying thing to be got rid of into something that is a helpful and friendly warning system can be very useful. But it does take some doing to make that step.
Years ago when I began my training, one of my tutors was a therapist attached to an Intensive Care Unit at a hospital, his work was to help people psychologcally to deal with the shock and trauma of what was happening to them clinically. Sadly, this type of support has been withdrawn in hospitals.
On the other hand – none of this may apply. :o)
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