is an ear infection dangerous?

[pinkynicca]

i know any infection is not good, but i dont have health insurance for another month, i dont even know if i have an ear infection or not but i pick at them with weird items, and past couple weeks i have been really spacey, not sure if it the citalopram that im back on for the last month or winter blues or whats going on but not im obsessed with brain tumors and meningitis, so, do ear infections just turn into meningitis, dont know how it works and dont want to google it. also my ears started to feel sore last night, not like an aching ear infection pain, i had lots when i was a kid, but more so the entrance of the ear were i keep sticking my big finger.. thank you

perhaps should add, when i swallow my ears pop, not sure how long this has been going on though.

[Althea]

Actually, the body handles many infections fairly well on its own, and the Mayo Clinic doesn't recommend antibiotics for most adult ear infections--they don't tend to speed the resolution.

However, you have, as I bet you realize, a bit of a contradiction going--you're afraid of ear infections but you fiddle with your ears in ways that you know you shouldn't (I remember in a previous post you talked about sticking paper clips in there, which is really inadvisable). So you're likely making your ears sore just by poking at them, for one thing. What about trying to find something external, like a stress ball or worry beads or something, for you to fiddle with instead that will give your ears a bit of a break? They'll thank you :-).