Earache

Having an earache all day has precipitated this expose. I know of no worse pain than an ear ache, even worse than a toothache. It so bothers me that children under three years of age are afflicted with earaches since the worst allergy, known to mankind, comes from milk. These children cannot tell you, especially real young ones that their ear aches. Your only suspicion comes if they put their hand up at their ear but, most of the time, a child‘s earache comes from allergic sensitivity to milk. I told a VA doctor in a VA hospital my attitude towards this and he told me he had cured more earaches by taking people off milk than he could ever have imagined. Milk is only good for young calves. However, research has shown that goat’s milk is a wonderful alternative.

Most of my life, I have been plagued with earaches. Not just the same ear, first one, and then the other. I have no idea how many doctors have looked in my ears with an otoscope. I always got the same answer, “Everything looks normal,” “I think it is your nerves,“ or “You keep your ears too clean,“ or, “It could be a throat problem.” There is nothing any worse for the ears than a q-tip. Keep everything larger than your elbow out of your ears. Swimmer’s ear, treated with hydrogen peroxide, is another category. Finally, past the age of 40 a specialist at Duke Hospital thought a tonsillectomy would solve the problem. Immediately after the tonsillectomy, he went in and did a rhinoplasty, nose surgery for a septum problem. This was an horrendous, painful experience which wasted time, money and made me very bitter towards Duke Hospital. I told the surgeon later, that he was not worth my going to prison otherwise I would shoot him for putting me through so much pain for nothing. Another problem in the septum surgery, I often awaken during anesthesia it has happened twice in surgery. The lack of care in the operating room in not paying attention to this is unforgivable. The surgeon and his assistants were just standing by me talking about a ball game never having any idea what I was going through under the sheets. Always, if you have any problem with anesthesia, warn the surgeon and anesthesiologist so they can observe. We usually think these incidents are a one-time failure but if you have awakened from anesthesia during surgery previously, your neurology is such that you will probably do it again.

A clinical earache is one thing but an earache brought on by the negligence of others is preventable. I can assure these young people who have their boom boxes, radios, iPods turned up many decibels too loud that their hearing will be affected at a time in life when they need hearing most, advanced age, disability with blindness or impaired vision, critical job skills. Can you even imagine my dependence on hearing since I am totally blind? Learn to listen with a critical ear. Technology has made everyone so lazy. I understand that one drives a car now mostly by GPS assistance. Some tell me that they pay no attention to street names, highway markers, anything. They just depend on an electronic system.

An earache is something that can occur anytime, anywhere. Like aspirin (the greatest miracle compound ever invented), when traveling one should always have aspirin and some ear drops and a small piece of cotton with which to pack the ear in case of an earache. There’s not much anyone can do for the earache other than entopic treatment. “Silence is golden” in a world fraught with noise, give yourself the beauty of silence real often.