Mups , if your ears are clear of wax then dont do hopi candles as they are solely for this purpose . I hope you get some help with your hearing and discomfort .
Sorry Mups. I didn’t really read exactly what your problem was, other than loss of hearing.
I can’t believe that you went to ENT 3 months ago and they haven’t yet followed up the reason for your loss of hearing.
I have no idea what it could be, but following a bang to your head it could be something having been dislodged within your middle ear or maybe the eardrum itself. I know that they’re limited now due to Covid, but surely they should be treating this fairly urgently.
Same here when we were kids, a teaspoon of warm olive oil poured into the affected lug-hole and a pad of cotton wool in the ear opening before laying the head down on the treated side so that gravity allows the olive oil and wax to seep out.
I’ve just been talking to Mrs Zaphod again about her experiences and I’m not about to suggest that you have exactly the same symptoms, much less diagnosis - but there are similarities in what you’re going through with Mrs Zaphod’s experiences.
At first the GP put her worsening symptoms and her worries down to after-effects of pregnanacy (!) and it took years after then to see specialists & get dignosed.
Neither of us remembers exactly how many but we think at least 5 years though that could be wrong in either direction.
I know you said you’ve seen a specialist, presumably at a hospital audiology department.
But did you know that many Specsavers (and some Boots too) will do a free hearing test?
As well as a different source for recognition of your problems and possibly providing a little reassurance too, they will report whatever problems they find to your GP.
This could be a bit more help in getting to the root of your problem if your specialist hasn’t given you a reasonable answer yet.
It might be worth a go.
I wouldn’t put anything in my ears, I have used a Neti pot on my nose for post nasal drip and that wasn’t pleasant…
Me too, with Himalayan salt in solution.
Thanks Susan.
I shall take your advice and not use the candles. x
I feel like I am being passed about from pillar to post, JBR, and now, after all this time, have ended up being referred back to my GP - who doesn’t flippin’ know what’s wrong and that is why he sent me to ENT in the first place!! :twisted:
Unless you cough up and go private, no body seems interested here. :twisted:
Yes, I remember my Mum doing that when we were kids, Judsy.
But my problem isn’t ear wax!
Mups 
I agree with JB , unless your ear trouble predates the bang to your head I would consider that the fall/bump is connected to your problem and putting things in your ear may make things worse .
Maybe go back to your GP and ask for things to be chased up.
Thank you Zaphod.
During February I got whisked away in an ambulance 3 times in all, with severe nausea and unable to balance. My ears felt like I was underwater.
I was so fed up (and worried) with waiting and waiting for help, that in the end I paid privately for a hearing test with a consultant at the hospital.
He told me at the time that I had a problem but that everything he could see with that little torch thing looked normal and there was no wax at all.
It was when I was missing so many sounds during his test, that he acknowledged I had a problem and he thought it was deeper in, beyond my eardrum. So recommended an MRI scan, which I had a couple of weeks ago.
I had a pesky phone consultation last Thursday from an ENT chap, who was rather abrupt (and did his best not to allow me to ask questions), and all he said was there was nothing wrong!
I said to him that there obviously was, else I’d be able to hear! To which he replied there could be 20 - 30 reasons for it so he was referring me back to my GP - who sent me to them in the first place. So looks like I am back to square one and I am not happy at all.
I am now trying hard to get a copy of the hearing test result, as that was proof there is a problem.
As I paid for the test privately I think I am entitled to receive a written copy of the result, but so far, they have not co-operated.
I was, and still am, bloody furious!
Have you had a CT scan Mups? Even with sinusitis ENT gave me a CT scan right away. Ok this was in 2004 before the tories but still…
Yes Annie.
They did 2 CT scans when I first collapsed because I had such a swelling and big haematoma on the back of my head where I hit it, and also I couldn’t move my neck.
They packed all my neck and spine up in the ambulance so I could not move at all.
I was scared stiff, I thought I had broken my neck!
All these problems started within 36 hours of having the first AstraZeneca vaccination!
You should request the CTs and get a second opinion. You could also try the dentist. They could make you a splint to see whether that takes pressure off the nerve. Tinnitus can be caused by bite problems. Have they tried steroids?
How do I go about that, please Annie?
Will my GP have them, or do the hospital keep them?
NO! You should not be obliged to go privately for loss of hearing.
Go back to your GP and ask to be referred again to ENT.
If necessary, kick up a fuss with ENT.
There are bad as well as good hospitals.
Another referral could take months again, that’s what bugs me.
Now ENT have signed me off and referred me back to my flippin’ GP, I’ll be back of the queue again. It’s hopeless. Nobody listens.
I was not happy when the ENT chap said he would write to my GP but it would take 2 - 3 weeks yet. I thought it was all done electronically these days and notes were sent in minutes!
I strongly feel I am being fobbed off, and I am not ashamed to say, it is times like this when I wish I had someone to help me sort the buggers out.
I realise that the Covid problem is causing delays, though happily I have not found much of a problem.
Bearing in mind how long you have been having these problems, perhaps now is the time for an official written complaint, but provide full and complete details especially of the length of time you have been suffering.
Nothing stirs them up quite as efficiently.
Thanks again JBR.
Today I have again requested a written copy on the hearing test results, so when they go back to work tomorrow I might get a reply, but I’ll not hold my breath.
All this hassle is wearing me down.
Sorry, I didn’t intend saying all this, I was only asking if anyone had tried the Hopi candles - which I won’t be using now, just incase it makes matters worse, then they will blame me!
It’s likely the hospital that will have the scans. When I have been in A&E in the past the GP doesn’t seem to get the information on any tests. This information tends to be retained by the hospital.
The ICO says you should contact the hospital’s health
records manager or patient services manager.
https://www.icohealthgroup.co.uk/practice_information/access-your-health-records/
As a result of GDPR it doesn’t seem as easy to navigate the online information system to find out our rights to our personal info these days.