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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

beware of the QTip

I am a fan of the QTip. I have listened to warnings for as long as I can remember about using them. Don't put anything in your ear but your elbow, etc. I am slightly addicted to the little cotton swabs and use them more than I should. I even obsess about cleaning the kids ears with them. They are all susceptible to wax build up. I just can't stand the feeling of water or moisture in my ears. Either way my days of being a QTip groupie are o.v.e.r.

Yesterday I was swabbing away and couldn't seem to get all the water out of my ear. I leaned over (like an idiot) to let the water drain out onto the QTip for maybe 30 seconds. I remember thinking be careful, the QTip is still in your ear. I started to stand up and somehow bumped QTip. The pain was awful and brought me to tears, my ears started ringing and I became dizzy and nauseaus almost immediately. My ear started bleeding and I finally got approval from my PCM to head to the ER. After waiting three hours, I got sent home with some pain medication and an appointment with an ENT. I have slight hearing loss in my right ear and we are hopeful that it is temporary. Right now everything sounds like it's coming through a tunnel and is extremely painful. It hurts to swallow, it hurts to talk, it hurts to sleep. This might just top the tonsillectomy of 2000 which has well surpassed any other pain I've ever experienced. Who knew a QTip could cause so much damage, pain and drama?

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