Any medical experts in the house?

[Cream Soda]

Its not about not wanting to spend cash on it. Its about not having that cash to begin with. Not like I can just walk in and be like ohey let me pull some monopoly money out of my wallet here. Just spent all my funds on school supplies and buying this new laptop a few months ago when my old one broke down killed my savings.

[Olo401]

In that case, give your regular doctor a call and see if he'll quote you a price for treatment up front, and if he'll allow you to do a payment plan. Then try to borrow some money from friends (be honest with 'em - tell them your situation).

[Cream Soda]

Can try the friends thing but as for the regular doctor, don't think I've been to a doctor since that required physical in my first year of high school (lol in third year of college atm)

[EternityEnd]

Or you could read my post and spend a total of $8. >.>

[Lekotas]

I'm a medical student, but honestly, even with that description i can't tell you whats wrong without physically seeing it. From my guess based on your past history its not unlikely that some water passed by your eardrum or is still somehow lodged in there somewhere, and is the cause of the slightly lowered hearing ability.
As for aches/pains associated caused by the same. Someone mentioned q-tips + rubbing alcohol which is a good measure to counter act this, as the rubbing alcohol will cause the water to evaporate much more rapidly. However, something you need to keep in mind is your body also has natural bacteria etc. that reside there, and this rubbing alcohol solution will disturb that balance, so while its a solution its more short term.

If there is swelling redness, continued hearing loss etc, I adamantly suggest visiting a free clinic or shelling out the cash and going to a physician(not a fucking ER doc), this isn't an emergency type injury.

I spent some time in the ER, and let me tell you this, its fuckin retarded having someone with a fever show up there. Unless you are a baby, have a volatile health condition, broke something, or are bleeding/stabbed/shot/cut/dismembered or all of the above, you probably don't need to be in the ER.

Anyways, take some advil, do the q-tip thing once a day, see if it improves if it doesn't gotta go see a doctor.

Edit: Btw, if you are enrolled in college 99% of the time you are paying for health insurance through the college incase of such emergencies, I'd contact the Financial aid office or w/e and find out if they do that where you go. It's jic of medical injuries etc. on campus, also most colleges/schools have some sort of in hours medical treatment center or something similar nearby you could easily find out more infromation but contact the health dept. at your school.

[archibaldcrane]

You're in college, go to your college's medical center.

[guartz]

Can try the friends thing but as for the regular doctor, don't think I've been to a doctor since that required physical in my first year of high school (lol in third year of college atm)

Medicaid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Olo401]

Noooooooooooo not socialized medicine!

[Ropeteer]

An hero now. Do it before it's too late.

[Linliel]

Obviously the cure is amputation.

Why don't any of you people listen to me?!

[Neoburai]

You have an ear infection bro. At least that's what it sounds like to me. I've had a severe one like that before where it feels like you can't hear shit. I had it in both my ears and when I woke up with it for the first time I thought I was fucking deaf. Anyway, you should see a doctor because an ear infection with those symptoms can damage the ear if not treated properly. Treatment is like antibiotics and maybe a dropper of something. It'll take a week or two before it's back to normal.

[Cream Soda]

Checking mayoclinic.com, I've been able the symptom checker

I've had a previous problem w/ swimmer's ear when I was younger and my head has been dunked under water round the time of this, but have used swimmer's ear drops w/ no luck, but it is one of my likely options.

First signs and symptoms

    * Itching in ear canal
    * Slight redness of skin in ear canal
    * Mild discomfort
    * Some drainage of odorless fluid

Moderate disease progression

    * Redness of skin
    * Excessive fluid drainage
    * Discharge of pus
    * Pain that worsens on moving your outer ear (pinna, or auricle) or pushing on the little "bump" (tragus) in front of your ear
    * Feeling of fullness in your ear
    * Decreased or muffled hearing

Severe disease progression

    * Severe pain
    * Swelling in your ear or lymph nodes in your neck
    * Redness or swelling of outer ear
    * Scaly or flaking skin of outer ear

Airplane ear. I just returned from about 6hrs worth of flight from CA to FL, though though problems didn't arrive until about half a week from the time I got home.

Airplane ear can occur in one or both ears. Airplane ear signs and symptoms may include:

    * Moderate discomfort or pain in your ear
    * Feeling of fullness or stuffiness in your ear
    * Muffled hearing or slight hearing loss

If airplane ear is severe or lasts more than a few hours, you may experience:

    * Severe pain
    ][b* Pressure in your ear similar to being underwater[/b]
   [b] * Moderate to severe hearing loss[/b[
    * Ringing in your ear (tinnitus)
    * Spinning sensation (vertigo)
    * Vomiting resulting from vertigo
    * Bleeding from your ear

Ruptured Eardrum (could have happened i guess)

Signs and symptoms of a ruptured eardrum may include:

    * Sharp, sudden ear pain that usually goes away quickly
    * Clear, pus-filled or bloody drainage from your ear
    * Hearing loss
    * Ringing in your ear (tinnitus)
    * Spinning sensation (vertigo) that usually goes away quickly
    * Nausea or vomiting that can result from vertigo

Last but not least (though the one I suspect least), earwax build up

Signs and symptoms of earwax blockage may include:

    * Earache
    * Feeling of fullness in the affected ear
    * Ear noise (tinnitus)
    * Decreased hearing in the affected ear

P.S. could possibly have been caused by noise to? Usually keep my headphones on max and they're the kind that go a bit further into the ear. Tend to wear them at least 2hrs/day 5 days a week when I ride my bike to/from school. Then i main headphones for laptop use at home as well, but i'd assume that my other ear would be affected at least a bit if that was the case.

[EternityEnd]

...Like I said, it's most likely wax buildup. Use Debrox and wash your ear out with warm water afterwards.

[MarkM.]

I bet there is a cock roach lodged deep with in your ear canal.

[Cream Soda]

...Like I said, it's most likely wax buildup. Use Debrox and wash your ear out with warm water afterwards.

got my hands on some tonight. Just tried it out less than an hour ago. shit feels the same

[antihero]

cancer

[Cream Soda]

Actually, feels worse now >.>

[kuronosan]

Shouldn't have done that. I doubt it's earwax buildup. I seriously think you ruptured or shocked your eardrum. Go consult an otologist (sp).

[Cream Soda]

Shouldn't have done that. I doubt it's earwax buildup. I seriously think you ruptured or shocked your eardrum. Go consult an otologist (sp).

I didn't think so either, but talked w/ the pharmacist there before buying it and he recomended it as well, so I figured I'd at least give it a shot.

[EternityEnd]

Well, you essentially described wax buildup-- especially with the problem of water getting into your ear.