My Ear

As many people know I have been having ear trouble and am going to describe what is going on the best I can understand.
Ten days ago I had a dull pain in my left ear and went to the doctor. The doctor (which was not mine) told me my ear looked red and asked if I had been digging in it... YUCK! She gave me an antibiotic for an ear infection. That evening I had a very sharp, piercing pain in that ear. I layed on a heating pad all night to help ease the pain. The next day my ear felt clogged and the day following I discovered lots of blood in my ear. I went back to the doctor (mine this time) and he told me that I had a severe ear infection and my eardrum was perforated (busted). I continued with my antibiotic and went back today for a follow-up. I still have ringing (Tinnitus) in my left ear and it still feels clogged (fullness).
My doctor sent me to an ENT. The ENT looked at everything and told me that my nose and throat look good and that my right ear looks good also. The ENT had an Audiologist run a series of test on my ears. The first test was to check to see if my eardrums are performing like they should. The doctor applied pressure on the eardrums to see if it would respond and it did and then used very loud noises to see what my eardrums would do and they were fine. Next, I was put in a box... literally a big box. It was phone booth sized and complete enclosed. There was a widow on the side of it and I was not allowed to look out of the window. This is where the hearing test was performed. That did not come back so good. My right ear hears well. I have moderate hearing loss in my left ear. Well, the hearing loss has to be caused from something. The ENT seems to think that I have a virus (I don't know what kind) in between my inner ear and my brain. The virus is causing the fullness, the Tinnitus and the hearing loss. When the virus is gone he believes all will be well. I am now taking a steroid drug to cure the virus. The office will call me on Monday and if I am still having trouble I will be sent for more tests, possibly an MRI to find out exactly what is wrong.