I've been slightly deaf for three weeks now. This is one week less than I've had a cold. Clearly the two are connected. I went pretty much 75% deaf in my left ear, and this was a worry. A riding buddy from a few years' back, AD, went permanently deaf in one ear following an illness, so I was pondering that score with a fair bit of worry. And if you've never lost your hearing, well let's just say it's a problem. You can't hear your children speak, or little things like lorries passing by.
Anyway you live with it but then it dawns on you that perhaps it's not a permanent feature. I could hear more in the morning than at night for instance. This led me to believe that it was a build up of wax due to the cold, so I invested in some drops. They made no difference at all. Then I thought that it may just be my car. Modern tyres are pretty noisy and it's a constant noise, and I remembered from my motorcycling days what that could do to ears. So today I tried some ear plugs. You know the type; roll them up, bung them into your ear and they expand. Well in terms of noise levels they worked a treat, as I could have been driving a Rolls Royce. Lovely. Apart that is from the general pain in my ears. Hmmm, perhaps they are not so good after all? But getting out of the car I suddenly had all my hearing back, and could hear the world in 3D. Brilliant! Happy.
Yet an hour later I had cause to scratch one ear. Just a little itch, a little dig about in there.
Ah.
If you've never had a waxy ear suddenly decide to release all of the residue, then you've not really missed out. I had a little scratch, sensed that something was on my finger, had a look and shuddered in disgust. What horrid smelly stuff, and the sheer quantity of it. Gross. I could pack all the bearings on my bike with it and still have some left to do yours, then re-pack them next year. And being a bloke it was a real pity there was nobody there to share the experience with.
I'm now sitting here with ears that feel like they've been in a jet plane for 9 hours. I just want to keep blowing to free my tubes up.
Anyway you live with it but then it dawns on you that perhaps it's not a permanent feature. I could hear more in the morning than at night for instance. This led me to believe that it was a build up of wax due to the cold, so I invested in some drops. They made no difference at all. Then I thought that it may just be my car. Modern tyres are pretty noisy and it's a constant noise, and I remembered from my motorcycling days what that could do to ears. So today I tried some ear plugs. You know the type; roll them up, bung them into your ear and they expand. Well in terms of noise levels they worked a treat, as I could have been driving a Rolls Royce. Lovely. Apart that is from the general pain in my ears. Hmmm, perhaps they are not so good after all? But getting out of the car I suddenly had all my hearing back, and could hear the world in 3D. Brilliant! Happy.
Yet an hour later I had cause to scratch one ear. Just a little itch, a little dig about in there.
Ah.
If you've never had a waxy ear suddenly decide to release all of the residue, then you've not really missed out. I had a little scratch, sensed that something was on my finger, had a look and shuddered in disgust. What horrid smelly stuff, and the sheer quantity of it. Gross. I could pack all the bearings on my bike with it and still have some left to do yours, then re-pack them next year. And being a bloke it was a real pity there was nobody there to share the experience with.
I'm now sitting here with ears that feel like they've been in a jet plane for 9 hours. I just want to keep blowing to free my tubes up.
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