Ear Irritated and Weird Feeling from Earplugs?

[Fangen]

Hello guys.

I'm on day 5 on my vacation and it's pretty noisy here in Seoul like everywhere. I use my plugs for full days at end and it have been fine until last day or so. I pulled out my earplugs one night and my left ear felt muffled and had distorted hearing for a sec or two. I figured it was just because I had them in for a long time and that hearing normally (at hotel room) suddenly made me feel a bit off.

It felt normal again after 10 min so I didn't think more of it. The day after I also felt a bit weird in my left ear after a whole day of plug wearing but now my ear canal got itchy. I had cleaned my ears (olive oil to soften it up for a week) carefully and removed quite a bit of wax. I've read about that wax removal might make your ears itchy due to dryness.

But the last two days my left ear have felt weird, maybe due to constant wear for full day everyday? I hear normally but it feels like a pressure in my ear, maybe some kind of phantom feeling from the plugs?

Or is it something I should be worried about? Cleaned out wax before so I don't think its waxed being pushed in and muffle my hearing.

But at the same time it feels like something is off in the hearing even if I hear everything normally? Can it be hearing loss (temp or permanent) anyway? Flying back in three days so I hope this isn't going to affect my hearing from flying..

Anyone that have had same experience that can advise? Would be such an irony to get permanent damage from using plugs..

 

[Sebastians]

Maybe spend a relaxing day/afternoon in a quiet place (hotel, park, spa,...) and not wear plugs for a couple of hours? give your ears a break from the plugs and allow some natural sounds in.
Yesterday my right ear felt a bit clogged for no reason and today it's gone, it's the nature of our predicament to have these weird things occurring.

 

[Fangen]

Maybe spend a relaxing day/afternoon in a quiet place (hotel, park, spa,...) and not wear plugs for a couple of hours? give your ears a break from the plugs and allow some natural sounds in.
Yesterday my right ear felt a bit clogged for no reason and today it's gone, it's the nature of our predicament to have these weird things occurring.

Thank you for your advice! Unfortuently we're in the middle of Seoul and as soon as I go outside the hotel I need to wear plugs because people here love to honk with their cars all the time and people doing weird construction work next to the street. I rather feel safe with plugs but notice that they get that clogged feeling as soon as I have worn them for a while. But since the city is so noisy its impossble to get away from the noise. Even going to a park requires plugs for walking, subway or bus.

I get back fairly early during evenings so I do let my ears rest for the night and during sleep and they do feel normal in the morning but that pressure feeling lingers during the day

 

[Fangen]

Update:

Still weird feeling in my ears, got back from Seoul yesterday and it's not getting any better. Went to a doctor and he didn't see any wax (thinking if the wax was pushed to far in and made me feel clogged up) nor infections. A bit red in some parts (from the earplug use) but nothing that was outside the normal. Used some oil (for earwax to loosen up, olive oil so nothing toxic) and it didn't help, slept very poorly from all the anxiety and also from the spike I am having from the flight as well. It's starting to impact me more and more and I don't know how to get rid of it. It's just a little locked and clogged up, like it feels when you are having a cold, sometimes I can feel normal and sometimes it's just clogged enough for me to feel it, you feel weird and uneasy and that is really annoying as it starts to affect me at night too.

What can I do?

 

[Graywolf]

I clean my ears from time to time because of wax build up, and experience fullness, light hissing, and dryness for a few days, sometimes almost a week before it subsides. I have gone to the ENT for cleaning too, and after having a spike today from cleaning them, I think I will leave it to the professionals from now on. The ear is an incredibly sensitive place, and we just have to give it time to try and heal itself when these things happen. I wear ear plugs for work, and even ear muffs to protect myself. Hang in there, and try to mitigate those stress levels.