Replying to mvandyke and samanthas...
Im new to this site, but unlike most on it, Im at my wits end. I have had this worsening ear pain going on 2 yrs & just discovered this site tonight! So like you all I have tried several things, from trying to break a 60 yr old habit of sleeping mostly on my right side & staying on my back....doesn't work too well, I wake up about every 1/2 hr, all night long...until around 4:30 am I just give up & get up. Pillows, simply do not work for me, I've tried buying them, making them, nothing works. Elevating the head does not work. Loading up w/pain killers before crawling into bed works for about two hours, then the pain from sleeping on my right side is so bad Im up & regretting the pain killers! Im at the point now I swallow & it hurts in my right ear, the fringes of my outer ear are so sensitive at night if they even touch a bed sheet its painful, no color though.Cant move my jaw at night & swallowing hurts in mt right ear as well, even moving the jaw from side to side...
I think this:
I grew up in a time that kids played in the dirt, forts etc...wash up & go again the next day. I graduated through the trades, 3 trade tickets resulting in sawdust in the ears, heavy dust from grinding welds & airborne dirt from body shop dust....all day everyday for 45 yrs...
On the internet I have seen several examples of doctors removing almost little sticks of solid wax & dirt, dust, etc coming out of a plugged ear.... as a kid my mom was famous for digging out dirt, rocks etc with a bobby pin....I used q-tips forever, probably pushing the crud in, deeper & deeper, so my thoughts are going to a Dr soon ( I'm not a fan at the best of times & now with the new Covid way of doing business, even less ) & seeing if he will do a deep clean on my right ear, I have convinced myself this is the cure & I'm hoping this will stop the pain.
Question : Has anyone gone in & done this ? How did it turn out? My ear hurts all night long, my jaw hurts, my throat hurts, I cant sleep at night anymore & I am at the point I would deep clean my own eardrum if I wasn't such a weenie....LOL.
Seriously though, it is all absorbing & I am at the end of my rope with it.....Thoughts?