water in ear/ear damage? infection?

[cofo]

so, in the shower today i was facing the shower head and water shot directly into my ear!! i shook my head to try to get it out, but i think i made it worse.
now, i have a muffled ear. but it doesn't have the usual feeling like water is in it. it's a just stuffed up feeling. and when i tap my foot, or close my ear with my finger, i hear a sound like a rebound sound. hard to explain. kinda like a rubber band makes, like a twang, like a "boing", a spring...like that.

so now i'm scared i got water so far in my ear that i'm going to get a brain eating amoeba!

or, maybe the shower spray damaged my eardrum.

[nomorepanic]

It will come out and no you will not get a brain eating amoeba and nor did the shower spray damage your eardrum

[AMomentofClarity]

Just an observation.....

You've had quite an eventful month...... Salmonella, food safety, heart worries, easy off, carbon monoxide detectors, and now water in the ear.

Have you considered tackling your fears with something other than reassurance seeking, as it doesn't' appear to be helping that much?

[cofo]

so, can you get the ever ellusive brain eating amoeba from water getting in your ear? i know it's usually up the nose, that scares people. i live in the southern US. and have an old house with old pipes. :)

yes. it's been fun! LOL - this is how my anxiety seems to go. it comes in cycles. and usually hits me all at once. my therapist likens it to a bucket overflowing. . when my bucket only has 1 or 2 things in it, then i can handle things that come my way, but once my bucket gets full, everything starts overflowing, and everything causes me anxiety.

for what it's worth. i usually take the reassurance given, at the moment of panic, so that i can calm myself down, and then once the panic has calmed, i can try to redirect myself instead of asking for more reassurance. so, initially, the reassurance does help.

right now, my ear hurts. which isn't helping :)

[utrocket09]

so, in the shower today i was facing the shower head and water shot directly into my ear!! i shook my head to try to get it out, but i think i made it worse.
now, i have a muffled ear. but it doesn't have the usual feeling like water is in it. it's a just stuffed up feeling. and when i tap my foot, or close my ear with my finger, i hear a sound like a rebound sound. hard to explain. kinda like a rubber band makes, like a twang, like a "boing", a spring...like that.

so now i'm scared i got water so far in my ear that i'm going to get a brain eating amoeba!

or, maybe the shower spray damaged my eardrum.

1. You need a ton of pressure to damage an eardrum. I have an injured eardrum so it takes a more than water to damage it

2. No one has gotten a brain eating amoeba from a shower head in their ear

[cofo]

Thanks utrocket. It’s good to know that no one has ever gotten it like that. Does it mean you can’t?

Ive been redirecting myself all day. And telling myself when I think about it to let the thought pass, etc. been pretty ok. But oddly enough my head started hurting at the base of my skull/top of neck behind that ear . Probably tension. Hurts more when I turn my head....Aldo in my temple and above my eyebriw. I do not get headaches. Ever. I haven’t had a headache in 5 years probably. And that was from a hangover!
Fun.
Having a glass of wine. My sister is coming for a visit tomorrow for a couple of days. So I’m trying to just look forward to that
thanks for being here y’all

[ErinKC]

All of what you're describing is just from run of the mill water in your ear - that echo-y sound, etc... I remember it well from getting water in my ear at the pool in my younger years and I've definitely don't this a handful of times in the shower. It will come out and if it stays and hurts more it's just swimmer's ear, which is a mild infection in the outer ear (true ear infections are in the middle ear... I get a lot of ear fluid issues from TMJ so I read a lot about ear infections). If it's still bothering you in a day or so I think usually it's just ear drops they give to help, but I assume it will resolve on its own soon. Try sleeping laying on that side so it will drain while you sleep.

I'm sorry you're having a rough go of it. Our anxiety is so similar and I go through a similar type of cycle as well, so I really feel for you. Even with help and therapy, it's not always possible to keep it under control at all time. I like the overflowing bucket analogy. Have you heard of the spoon theory? It's kind of similar and I really relate to it. It was based on a story someone with Lupus told to explain what it was like to have a chronic illness, but I think it applies well to mental health as well.

The basic idea is that healthy people generally wake up with an unlimited amount of energy to tackle their day - they don't need to really plan or think about what they'll be able to handle or manage, etc.. but if you're sick, every day comes with a limited amount of energy for regular tasks since so much energy is taken up by your illness (and in our case anxiety). So, since the person telling the story was in a diner, she picket up all the spoons around to use them as "energy" and explained how each thing she did through the day took one spoon. So, if she didn't find ways to plan ahead or conserve them, she'd run out.

I often think about this an realize that my anxiety generally starts to spiral when I have run out of spoons. So, I need to do things like, make an extra therapy appointment, or get out of my house and spend some time alone, or reading a book, or a hot shower without my 4 year old making me play Paw Patrol the whole time, etc... get gain back some extra spoons.

[Carys]

for what it's worth. i usually take the reassurance given, at the moment of panic, so that i can calm myself down, and then once the panic has calmed, i can try to redirect myself instead of asking for more reassurance. so, initially, the reassurance does help.

Its good to know :happy: Water stuck in the ear - happens often to everybody who has showers I reckon. Well, I don't know that, but every month it happens to me. NO, you can't burst anything, or get a brain eating amoeba via your CLOSED ear canal (it doesn't directly enter the brain, there isn't a hole there with a teeny one way sign to the inner head lol). Its very annoying and thats it, from personal experience don't stick anything in it, tilt your head on the side and shake it and see if that gets anything moving. If not, then you'll just have to put up with it until it dries out lol

[cofo]

Well, to make matters worse, I noticed my water pressure was low today. I went on to my neighborhood website and saw that someone two streets over posted yesterday that they had low pressure/dirty water. Someone else posted today that they did as well. I called the water company today and they weren’t aware of any issues so they will investigate. Now I’m freaking out because I got that water in my ear on Friday!! Maybe it was a main break and the water is compromised. I’m so mad. I’m scared they are gonna tell me there’s a need to boil the water which means it was dirty going in my damn ear!

[Fishmanpa]

All I know is you would be the first person in human history to get of of the rarest diseases known to mankind in this manner.

I don't expect to read about you in the news :lac:

Positive thoughts

[Carys]

I don't expect to read about you in the news

:roflmao:

Its your EAR canal......it is a closed unit, why is it worse to be in your ear than say your bum or under your nail?

Low water pressure usually means a water leak.

[MyNameIsTerry]

:roflmao:

Its your EAR canal......it is a closed unit, why is it worse to be in your ear than say your bum or under your nail?

Low water pressure usually means a water leak.

Now a brain eating amoeba up your bum would spark an interesting scientific debate about intelligence and sarcasm :biggrin:

[Carys]

Ah yes, the brain eating amoeba (that thing which you have a 1 in 20 million chance of getting!).....I was on the 'dirty water' point when mentioning the bum. However, yes, either the brain eating amoeba would have a LONGgggggggg way to travel, or it might not.....LOL Sorry Cofo, its Terry he does this....throws amusing spanners in the works.

[cofo]

Ha. My head is definitely in my ass sometimes!! Lol
Gotta laugh. Thanks for that