I'm 18 years old, but when I was younger I had really bad ear problems. I had to get tubes in them around 3 years old, but after that was done I never had a problem with my ears at all until recently.
About 2 weeks ago I got sick with this nasty cold and it never really went away. Eventually it went into my right ear. It hurt slightly but it just felt like water was in there. So for about a week I had that feeling and it slowly started getting better and better. Then one night while I had a few friends over it felt like somebody shoved something into my left ear and I couldn't hear anything.
I was really scared and was even tempted to get my mom up to take me to the hospital, but I slept it out thinking it would go away: well, it didn't. The next morning I had my mom take me to a clinic and my right ear was fine, but the doctor said my left one was infected. He didn't give me any medication because he said the best way to treat an ear infection is to let it run it's course because they did a study on it or something. He gave me medicine to help me sleep at night and a perscription to take in if my ear got any worse.
That same night I talked on the phone with my good ear for about an hour. Afterwards, my ear felt all wet and everything and then I went to sleep. When I woke up the next morning, it was the same as my left ear.
I feel like I'm temporarily deaf right now. When I listen to music if sounds like it's out of key and everything. My ears don't hurt, I just can't hear anything as well as I used to. I do, however, either hear my eardrum or my heart beating constantly.
So here's my questions:
1. Is this normal? If so, is there anything I can do? The doctor said showers are good because of the moisture, but I'm afraid of getting water in my ears.
2. How long does it usually last for? And by that I mean not being able to hear.
Thanks for taking the time to read over this, I'm just really scared and want my hearing to go back to normal. It doesn't feel like it's getting any better or worse for that matter.
