Alright, so:
- I’m not generally one to start a new thread and
- even less likely to ask for aid in diagnosing online
But I’m currently waiting to hear back from a doctor’s office to see if they’ll make an exception to take me on (despite being full up on patients), and I’d rather run the risk of encouraging alarmist takes in opening up a dialogue among fellow musicians than continue to sit in silence.
About 2 weeks ago I decided to do a bit of a remodel (along with a complete recabling of the studio) in prep to receive a new interface. This involved a fair amount of drilling, vacuuming, dusting, and while I wore a mask (and ear plugs) for the most of it, the week ended with my right ear feeling a need to pop but wouldn’t.
First thing I did was to break out the ear irrigation gear (larger syringe + IV-drip noodle + peroxide + warm water), and flush both canals. This removed a fair bit of wax, but the issue persisted.
IME, the effect of wax-buildup has always resembled that of a heavily sloped low-pass filter, and that’s not at all what I’m experiencing. What I’m experiencing is much closer to that of an asymmetric elevation shift (pressure + faint-ringing around 6K-ish + attenuated lows). A few google searches would seem to suggest that the phrase for this is “aural fullness”.
Over the course of this last week, the effect has oscillated between less noticeable and very noticeable: Typically most profound in the mornings (apparently due to a cortisol low), and least profound in the evenings.
Yesterday was the first evening I felt ok enough to muck about with the Elektrons, and I went to bed feeling good.
Today has been probably the most profound it’s been since the onset. I spoke with an ex-professor of mine on the subject, and he’s convinced it’s a bout of sinusitis and suggested grabbing some Flonase and Sudafed — both of which I acquired around 8 hours ago. I’ve since taken two doses of Sudafed (8 hours and then 2 hours ago) and a single dose of Flonase (4 hours ago) and things are by and large the same.
I’d be curious to know if anyone’s had similar experiences or additional thoughts on these matters.
My apologies for the length; thanks for listening.