how i cured my otitis externa

I kept meaning to post about this, but I also kept forgetting. From around January to around, oh, just recently, I was dealing with an annoying bout of otitis externa (which basically means, ear infection). DON'T look it up on Wikipedia because you WILL regret it.

My ear did not look like the ears in the Wikipedia pictures (thankfully!), but I did go temporarily deaf in my right ear, and it was all, you know, just scaly and gross. Very, very unfortunate.

I have a whole new respect for Mozart. Being a deaf musician totally rots.

But anyway, I was worried because the infection didn't go away, and because of the pregnancy I'm pretty against using medication.

So, I looked up a bunch of stuff online, and this is what I did that worked--my home remedy, as it were:

1. Prayed a lot!

2. Used a mixture of distilled white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide in my afflicted ear 2x daily and at night as needed. The mixture was approximately half and half, and I mixed it in the cap of my hydrogen peroxide bottle. You just pour the capful into your ear and then tilt your head so it stays in there for a bit. The hydrogen peroxide bubbles and the vinegar disinfects and smells like salad. :^/

3. Alternated a hot pack/cold pack along that whole side of my face/neck, to help alleviate the swelling in all the tissues around there. I probably used each of those packs for 10 minutes at a time, with a few minutes of break in between each use. I think it went kind of like this: Hot 10 mins, break 2 mins, cold 10 mins, break 2 mins, repeat.

4. Slept with a cold pack as a pillow on that side of my face/neck. This actually made a huge difference. I wrapped the pack in a handtowel and just put it on top of my pillow, and it helped a TON.

5. Sigh. Took one acetaminophen per day for three days. I didn't want to do it but I kept feeling like I should, so I did, and it worked out, so there we go. The acetaminophen was also for the swelling.

After three days and nights of doing all those things, my otitis externa was all gone, and I didn't have to go to a doctor.

So, if you find yourself suffering from a scaly inner ear and overall deafness, those are things you can try. Sorry that this is totally gross, guys. But I thought the internet deserved to know what worked for me! I wish I'd had a thing like this to read when I was looking for a solution.