I Hear Things are Looking Up

It's amazing what a difference three days can make. I'd say my ear is looking much better, eh? While at work today, a big ol' crusty clump of crap expelled itself from in there. Actually, I sat down and my ear started itching rather suddenly. I suspect it was because this clump of crap had just come loose and was rolling around near the orifice, tickling the sensitive skin or hairs there, because I went to scratch it (I couldn't resist the urge), and there was this big ol' crusty clump of crap literally sticking half way out of my ear.

I plucked it out, made what must have been a priceless expression on my face, and tossed the crusty clump into the trash.

Sorry, no pictures.

I don't think I'm out of the woods, yet, though. It still doesn't "feel right" and it still sounds like I have water in my ear (that sort of sensation). I still have an appointment with the doctor on April 10 - hopefully that is not too far off. My ear has felt this good (even better) since Christmas, only to be followed by a hellatious relapse. Probably due to my cumpulsion to stick my finger in it. I can't seem to stop scratching it, despite my self-scolding and my awareness of it. It's a habitual reflex. If I catch myself in time, I can stop, but most of the time I just find myself with my finger in my ear and then I get angry.

>sigh<

An interesting thing that came out of this was when I posted a tongue-in-cheek message on a robotics forum about microscopic fungus-eating robots. A guy wrote me back off-list and described a situation he went through that sounded exactly like mine, and told me what his ALLERGIST perscribed for him that cleared it up (after he, too, paid several visits to an ENT). It was some drops comprised of clobetasol and alcohol. It got my attention, because I have some clobetasol propionate ointment that I used a couple years ago for some fungus-like something that was happening on the outer parts of my ears.

I don't like to use it much, because it is a strong steroid, but I have used it on a rare occasion to stiffle the onset of any emergent (external) appearance on my ears, and usually one or two applications cleared it right up. So, for the past two days, I have been applying the ointment around the orifice of my ear, and it has felt much better. Very little itching. The trick is to give the skin a fighting chance to heal fully so it can do a better job of fighting off any future potential infection if and when the bad bacteria is introduced into the environment...say, by my compulsive scratching.

I'm like a dog, man. Maybe I need to wrap a big cone around my neck so I can't scratch myself. I don't think that would go over too well at work, though.