Walking Downstairs with Earplugs?

Yesterday I forgot to get my earplugs out and walked 2 floors downstairs.

After I took my earplugs out, I had a weird sound in my left ear (like a plastic bag screeching) and then sounds were quieter than before.

My left ear still feels a bit weird.

Has anyone experienced something similar?

 

Sounds like you have pushed wax up against your eardrum.

 

Thank you. Any tips?

 

Olive oil, sodium bicarbonate or other appropriate wax-softening/clearance drops from your pharmacy

BTW why are you walking downstairs with earplugs ?

 

I usually get swimmers ear if water or ear drops get in my ear.

 

I forgot to take them off.

 

I’d say it’s almost certainly wax from your description. If you leave your ears alone (don’t poke anything down them) for a few weeks/month it will grow out of your ear canal. You could try softening the wax to help it along. If there’s a lot, it might be compacted and might need to be removed by a professional.

 

I don't think it's earwax. I cleaned my ears at an ENT on March and I don't wear earplugs often (max 2 hours per week) I will visit an ENT soon. I can't hear well out of this ear.

 

If you’re anything like me, wax builds up really quickly.

 

Do you have your ears cleaned periodically? Microsuction?

 

I’ve had microsuction twice, but now I try and soften it. It still builds up really quickly for me and I regularly get it squishing against my ear drum after using earplugs. Especially when walking downstairs; that’s when it’s most noticeable.

 

Got my ears check today by an ENT. He didn't found any earwax.

 

Did your eardrum look dull? Did he do a tymponometry test to check for fluid behind your eardrum? Sounds in the ear of the nature you describe are usually from something touching your eardrum. Even dry flaky skin can do it.

What did the ENT say to you?

 

The eardrums looked normal. He didn't found anything.

 

Did he do any tests? Have you got any flaky skin in your ear canals? There are many variables at play here. I’ve had that noise whilst going down stairs (after using earplugs) and in my case it was flaky skin/wax because my ears can get quite dry. I’m not trying to diagnose you, or imply I know what’s wrong with you, but rather trying to give you an insight into a similar situation that happened to me.

 

I thought I’d better add that I know flaky/skin wax caused the noise I heard going downstairs because my mother-in-law is a senior audiologist. I went to her house and she checked my ears with an otoscope and said there was skin touching my eardrum which shouldn’t have been that deep. She asked if I’d been poking my ears and I said no, but that I use earplugs. So that explained that.

 

Yes, he checked for earwax, checked my eardrums and checked my hearing. No problem I understand that you are goodwill.

 

Maybe I have something similar in mine due to earplugs and he didn't saw it.

 

It can be any debris. Dust, dirt, skin etc. If anything touches your eardrum it is amplified quite significantly.