It’s hard to explain why having your ear blocked with wax is so unpleasant.
It’s certainly not painful. Partly I think it’s that full/stuffed up feeling, but mostly it’s the sudden deafness.
I’ve had trouble with my ears all my life. They’ve been perforated multiple times, most notably as a teenager when I had a party trick for several months which was to be able to whistle through my ear. I’d just pinch my nose and blow out. (Needless to say, ‘party trick’ is a misnomer: there were no actual parties involved.) The ruptured eardrums were due to recurrent ear infections combined with a love of diving to the bottom of the deep end of swimming pools.
The experience has left me a bit sensitive about my ears. That’s why the day we had to practice using an otoscope to look into each other’s ears at med school, I cried. (Sorry, Lauren! No reflection on your technique!)
Is there a point to this story? Yes, there is! My right ear is currently blocked and it’s very annoying. All I can hear in that ear is an exacerbation of my usual tinnitus, which is the sound of thousands of cicadas chirping at once.
We went for a bike ride on the beach yesterday, sneaking down a walking path that clearly stated No cyclists! I had wheeled my bike through the gate and was about to mount up when a couple of police officers walked towards me, and said something I couldn’t hear. I was aghast. Of course I’m racked with free form anxiety and guilt whenever I see the police, and this time I was definitely doing something bad. “I’m sorry, what did you say?” “Mumble” “What?” “I SAID HELLO!” “Oh I’m so sorry, I couldn’t hear what you said…” randomly gesturing towards my ears, as if they might not realise how hearing works. Mortified, I stumbled off along the path to the beach, pushing my bike and blushing wildly. Who knows what the two officers were doing there, but I wasn’t about to stick around to find out.
Have you ever noticed how angry people get when you can’t hear them? As if your hearing is under voluntary control. This makes no sense. Do you get angry at someone who can’t see you? People are a mystery.
