So the last several days I've been dealing with the dreaded AvianWestNileBubonicEbola flu.  Suffice to say it sucks.  One of the more fun gifts bestowed upon you is your head spontaneously producing mass amounts of goo alternating between runny and extra gooey.  Then you get insanely congested and nothing comes out.  Except it just builds up in your head like a water balloon.  Then you spontaneously start producing mass amounts of goo (again alternating between runny and extra gooey).  This happens over and over, sometimes mere minutes apart.  It's all consuming.  You have one friend and that's a box of Kleenex.  The nose blowing is of biblical proportions.  The force of the nose blowing varies depending on which stage you happen to be in at that particular minute.  That leads us to the point of this post.

I was blowing my nose again for the 6 or 7 millionth time but something different happened.  Instead of ejecting the offending goo there was a really loud sharp whistle noise in my right ear and I could feel air blowing out where it's not supposed to.  Then, from really loud sharp whistle to absolutely nothing.  It sounds like I don't even have an ear anymore.  Like you had an earplug in there but even quieter.  No real pain other than the initial quick sharp pain that lasted just a fraction of a second.

I've never had a ruptured eardrum and I'm no doctor but I knew instantly that this was something different than I've ever experienced.  That leads me to suspect a perforated eardrum.

Since I've never had this happen before I'm curious as to what I should do.  Should I go to the doctor? I don't think there's a lot they can do is there?  I don't see the point of paying for an expensive doc visit if they are just going to say "Looks like you ruptured your eardrum.  Nothing we can do for you.  You can pay on your way out.".  For those of you who have gone through this before, what do you suggest? Just wait it out and let it heal?  I read it takes months! Is that true?  Should I go to the doc?  All I've done so far is put a clean earplug in there so it reduces the chances of it getting infected but I don't know if that's even worth doing.  Any advice?

My sis done that many years ago and the doc put tubes in her ears. As long as it’s not draining I’d let it heal up on it’s own. Mom used to put sweet oil in ours but I don’t know if you can get sweet oil. By the way warm up the sweet oil it’s a bitch cold! I don’t think I’d keep an ear plug in it bacterial infections like low oxygen. I hope you get better. My buddy’s wife has been battling this crud for about three weeks.

Hmm...yeah, earplug gone.  Except for showering from what I read.  It's not draining anything or painful just a definite decrease in hearing.

I think I've finally got this crud on the run.  Today was the first day I'm not completely congested and feeling like hammered moose poop.  My immune system is pretty strong so I'm feeling positive that I've, as my dad would have said, "got er' licked".

I really hate going to the doctor, I already have to go once a month for back issues, but you're probably right.  It's better safe than sorry.

If I go I'll probably hit one of those doc in box places for the lower cost.  Even with insurance healthcare in this country is ridiculously expensive.  I was reading some information on how many Americans die each year just because they can't afford it.  People with jobs, families and insurance die unnecessarily because of the cost of healthcare and because of insurance companies denying coverage of expensive treatments.  It's downright criminal.

I've always said that the pharmaceutical and health insurance companies are the largest legally operating criminal organizations in America.  We need Elliot Ness to rise from the grave and go to town on them.  Of course the government is well compensated to keep allowing them to operate unchecked.

Probably gonna be at least $200 for a urgent care visit, mine has been.

Yikes, seems to have gone up then.   Well poop.

We're Lucky we have an affordable after hours clinic that charges about $35.00 for the visit if you fall in a certain income bracket. It's mainly for the latino population but we use it to. The ole gal that runs it is rough but good with common infections and if you need specialized care she finds it at your best cost. There was so many people Oboma knocked out of health care that she set up a set price clinic.