This week I have been troubled by horrible ear pain. Ear pain? Who gets ear pain? I have a pretty high tolerance for pain but I found myself not able to sleep on one side of my head. I was feeling dizzy. And my ear was swollen and red. I described my symptoms to my colleague who instantly diagnosed me: ear infection. Great. An ear infection. So I call my doctor for an appointment. The earliest they could see me was Tuesday at 5 pm.
All day long I worried about my hot, red, aching, painful ear! At 3 yesterday, the pressure was unbelievable! Then, I felt a burst of pressure. Blood and pus were in my ear. What the hell!? I instantly start to google 'burst eardrum'. I read all about infections and fluids and blood and pus.
By 5 pm, I couldn't wait to get some good strong meds and start feeling better. I describe this all to the patient, young physcian's assistant. She thinks I have, in fact, burst my eardrum. She looks inside the good ear. Mumbles a bit. Then looks inside the 'bad' ear. For a long time.
Her assessment?
A zit.
A zit!? No way! I haven't been able to hear for two days!? I couldn't sleep on that side on my head! Could you check again? I'm 30! I still get acne (thanks dad) but a pimple INSIDE my ear canal??
Apparently all of that pressure can lead to the same feelings as an ear infection. She DID say, (perhaps to make me feel less foolish) "It looks pretty big and painful."
So to recap, I left work early, wasted a lot of nervous energy and generally freaked myself out. And for what?
A ten dollar zit.
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