A taxi driver once told me great story about an old man in his local bar. * <i>pushes light gently to provide suitable on-boat ambiance</i> *<p>'Gunner' McIntosh <i>(or similar: this was Glasgow, Scotland)</i> had been deaf since he operated a big anti-aircraft in the Second World War. He would sit in the corner of the bar and the regulars would have to shout at him to be understood.<p>According to the taxi driver, the night before giving me a lift, he had walked into his local bar and bellowed a greeting at the old man, as usual, and in response the old man had jumped out of his skin.<p>It transpired that earlier in the day, during a medical check-up, a doctor had discovered both his ears had been blocked by a massive build-up of earwax and behind that there was ancient cotton wool that had most-likely been placed there by a young Gunner McIntosh during the war.<p>Once removed, he said, he had the hearing of a healthy 21-year-old man.
I lost hearing in my left ear for the same reason. Ear kept blocking up more and more frequently until it stayed permanently shut. Tried the store peroxide kits, they didn't work at all for me. It's such an unnerving experience because you really fear it's something permanent.<p>Finally got it cleaned out by a doctor, and just wow. It really is as if you have bionic hearing. Everything sounded enhanced, and had a lot of extra treble. Very much like you've turned up the volume by 50% or so. Things like the garage door opening became too loud to bear, and I had to cover my ears for it.<p>For a few days, I had wondered if this was how we were supposed to hear, and that my hearing was just impaired for a long time. But it quickly fades back to what you're used to as your ear builds up a normal, healthy amount of wax again. Still, for those brief few days, it's quite the experience.
It always strikes me how often we hear that folks either won't go to the doctor to get something looked at, or they go to the doc and get the answer and then simply aren't compliant. If it's broken, fix it. I've never understood the logic behind avoiding the doc.
As a kid I once lost a tooth and wanted to keep it, but since I had nowhere to put it at the moment, I shoved it into my ear. Then I forgot about it.<p>So of course a couple of weeks later I was at the doctor with a blocked ear. When it came out, he was rather surprised - said that he'd removed all kinds of things from kids' ears, but never before a tooth...
Glad it was just wax and that your hearing's ok. As somebody who is quite deaf I heartily recommend that people pay attention to their hearing. Get a test to establish a baseline and then check every 5-10 years if no problems or ringing, shorter otherwise. And if you find yourself losing soft consonant sounds, or piss off people with your tv volume, get it checked ASAP.<p>Hearing loss sucks as even with modern aids, hearing in crowds tends to be difficult at best. Oh, watch your meds for things that can cause sudden loss (aspirin?).<p>I'll admit that's its nice to feel music, though, rather than just hear it...
I had it for a couple days, fun times having a cold while in an airplane, :p. Turning my head sideways and shaking fixed it.<p>As for the unease with noises, I guess it's understandable; one, the people that don't mind are probably used to it. Two, if you haven't been able to hear for a while, your hearing will get sharper and it'll have much more of an impact.<p>Three, I too get uneasy when having to listen to busy train stations and the like. I usually wear earbuds (with music) for that reason. And get stressed / uneasy whenever those don't work.
James Altucher had the same thing happen to him. He even had the same reaction once it was over: "I'm a superhero!"<p><a href="http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2012/03/about-the-time-i-went-deaf/" rel="nofollow">http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2012/03/about-the-time-i-went-d...</a>
Awesome story! I always wonder how safe for your eardrums it is when they rapidly inject water into your ear like that. Also, if you have mild tinnitus from going to concerts and such, not having your ears blocked helps a ton with not hearing it.
Car horns are meant to be used in emergencies only, mostly to prevent accidents. Unfortunately in some countries like Israel (where I live) it has become more of a device for expressing anger or frustration.
wow, this happened to me too, the deafness came to me really quick, one ear and the other one. I was very nervous, I thought some thing serious was happening to my hearing. I had a doctor check out my ears, it turned out to be a small pea sized earwax in both of my ears...