Kaityf

A couple of months ago, I was blowdrying my hair when I suddenly started hearing some odd crackling noises in my left ear. This noises continued throughout the evening. The next morning my hearing was severely diminished in that ear. And two days later, it was completely gone. I could hear nothing. I went to the doctor who looked in my ear and determined that it was a wax buildup causing the problem, so I spent a couple of weeks putting drops in my ears. It did get better, but when I returned to the doctor, she said there was still some hard wax in my ear. I went back and put more drops in my ear. At this point, my earing was not improving, so back I went to the doctor.

I do not have any more wax in my ears, but my hearing is still affected. I haven't had any more crackling noises since the first night, but I do have a constant hissing in my ear, which worsens when I'm in a crowded and noisy room. Also when I'm in such a room, I have a very hard time hearing anything and following conversations. It's like most of what I hear is indistinguishable noise. It is very uncomfortable and it seems to really bother my ear. It takes a while in a quiet room for my ear to "calm down."

The hissing also seems to get worse when I am tired. And oddly enough, I often got a hissing sound previously in that ear when I got over tired. It was always a sure sign that I was tired. However, my hearing was not really affected and as soon as I got enough sleep, the hissing was gone, and my ear was back to normal.

Does this sound like a neural problem or a eustacian tube problem? Or something else? I'm planning on a trip to an ear specialist, but I'd like to have an idea of what I'm facing. I don't have medical insurance and dread the costs involved in tests and treatment.