Ear wax building can cause hearing loss. This I discovered after being numb for two years. By numb I meant, hearing less sharper tones, notes, horns etc. I though it was the age. Turns out it was the wax.
As usual I was careless. I neglected my ear, thought I was getting old etc etc. Then a well-wisher said that if she were me I would not delay. And having hearing aids and coming to a party is no joke, she said. No offence to anyone. But she meant that I go get my ear checked at the earliest. And my earliest that meant NOW.
Hearing her sombre words, I quickly went to an advanced ENT clinic. After getting fleeced a good 1000 Rupees for consultation I was told there was was build up and I was asked to get an audiometry done. The doctor was kind enough to prescribe antibiotics, ear drops, nasal spray and another two items.
I was shocked. If it was ear wax it needs to be cleaned. Simple right?
So I thought of getting a second opinion. This time I went to a hospital that had visits from an ENT doctor.
This time I was short by 1200 Rupees. But she just shone a torch, said both ears have wax build, gave me drops to lubricate the wax for a period of 10 days. And asked me to visit again.
The ear drop was a pain in the neck. I had to put it like seven to eight times a day, in both the ears. I was soon tired, and fed up of the whole process. I am impatient you see. And lying down every two hors for 20 minutes was seriously testing my patience.
Anyway the D -Day went to the ENT. And she did a ear endoscopy that was noisy as hell with air suction to put out the ear wax. Oh my goodness, the way looked dark like a carbon element. And she gave me a good lecture on why not to use ear buds for cleaning the ears and enlightened me on the need to visit the ENT once a year.
Hearing was sharper and for a day or so, things were in sharp focus. The pitter patter of water from the tap, the shrill flow of water from filter, my own foot steps that I had not heard for …I am ashamed to say for more than two years.
You might now wonder why the picture of a lake with two birds. It was this picture that was in my mind when the ear endoscopy was done. I was supposed to bear the noise of the machine, but not turn my head on any account. So it was the peaceful thoughts.. rather pictures that I filled my brain with.
So get that ENT checkup done if you have been neglecting to do so. One of the first reasons for hearing loss is the accumulation of ear wax.
This incident helped me reflect on a few things.
I realised how easily we normalise slow decline. When loss is gradual, the mind adjusts. What disappears little by little doesn’t alarm us. It becomes the new normal.
I wondered , where else did I accept deterioration as “age” ?In health? In relationships? In ambition? Perhaps numbness doesn’t happen suddenly. It accumulates , just like wax.
It also struck me that the body is a system. When one small maintenance task is ignored, the entire sensory experience changes. Hearing dulled not because something broke — but because something accumulated. Many systems fail not from damage, but from neglect.
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