Two doctors and $65 in co-payments later, and I'm still not any better. My regular doc sent me to an ENT. They did a bunch of tests, including scoping my sinuses (ugh) and a battery of hearing tests. Verdict: I have fluid behind my ear drums, the ear drums are barely moving, and my hearing is down to about 30% of where it should be. But no nerve damage, that all is working just fine.
The doc gave me a couple of choices. He said if I wanted he would do a myringotomy right then and there for me, and I'd get instant relief. Or, I could wait and let nature take its course, which could take another 4-8 weeks. I opted for a middle ground, give me a few more weeks on decongestants and let's see if things dry up. If not, then under the knife I go!
(And yeah, banjo melted my brain again this week. Play the notes for "This Land is Your Land" while also doing the chords for the song, as well as a continuing two finger roll with the right hand, jumping from string to string. Damn, but banjo is really teh hard.)
The doc gave me a couple of choices. He said if I wanted he would do a myringotomy right then and there for me, and I'd get instant relief. Or, I could wait and let nature take its course, which could take another 4-8 weeks. I opted for a middle ground, give me a few more weeks on decongestants and let's see if things dry up. If not, then under the knife I go!
(And yeah, banjo melted my brain again this week. Play the notes for "This Land is Your Land" while also doing the chords for the song, as well as a continuing two finger roll with the right hand, jumping from string to string. Damn, but banjo is really teh hard.)
silversurfer:
Fun fact: Before he was in the Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia was a bluegrass banjo player. He was also in a bluegrass group for a while in 1973, called Old and In the Way.