OT-Is there a doctor in the house?

[awp101]

I've always heard standing out in the cold wind without covering your ears can give you an earache. Any truth to this or is it an old wives tale? I'm curious because I had a sinus infection last month, I'm prone to sinus infections anyway, but I've never really had an earache with them.

Saturday I took the dog to the dog park to burn off some energy, it was in the 40s with a stiff breeze that made it COLD! (low-20s with the wind chill I would guess) I was wearing a light jacket and a ballcap but nothing covering my ears and stayed out there about 45 min. Look, no one ever said I was the bright spark of the family...

Today my right ear is aching down inside and if I move certain ways, it flat out HURTS! I can feel a little bit of drainage down my throat and my throat is a little sore.

So did I manage to give myself an earache or aggrivate the old sinus issue or could it be something else?

[Blaine]

I've never really believed that being in bad weather made you sick. You have to "catch" a germ for that to happen. The Brits have a old saying about ear aches: 'ear today, gone tomorrow Hope you're feeling better, Sir...

[JustaJeepGuy]

Colds come from catching a virus. I don't know about an ear problem. I used to get earaches all the time when I was a child; my left Eustachian tube plugged up easily (still does) and my earaches would keep me awake all night. I think I also lost the sense of balance on the left side from it.

[awp101]

I've never really believed that being in bad weather made you sick. You have to "catch" a germ for that to happen. The Brits have a old saying about ear aches: 'ear today, gone tomorrow Hope you're feeling better, Sir...

And the pun-meister is in the house...

I used to get earaches all the time when I was a child; my left Eustachian tube plugged up easily (still does) and my earaches would keep me awake all night. I think I also lost the sense of balance on the left side from it.

Bah, I've been unbalanced for years....

[Blaine]

Just remembered that my mom would use a couple drops of warm, NOT HOT, olive oil in a sore ear and it brought considerable relief......

[OJ]

I've always heard standing out in the cold wind without covering your ears can give you an earache. Any truth to this or is it an old wives tale? I'm curious because I had a sinus infection last month, I'm prone to sinus infections anyway, but I've never really had an earache with them.

Saturday I took the dog to the dog park to burn off some energy, it was in the 40s with a stiff breeze that made it COLD! (low-20s with the wind chill I would guess) I was wearing a light jacket and a ballcap but nothing covering my ears and stayed out there about 45 min. Look, no one ever said I was the bright spark of the family...

Today my right ear is aching down inside and if I move certain ways, it flat out HURTS! I can feel a little bit of drainage down my throat and my throat is a little sore.

So did I manage to give myself an earache or aggrivate the old sinus issue or could it be something else?

Can't make a diagnosis until you come into the office -

[awp101]

Can't make a diagnosis until you come into the office -

Well, my wife and youngest stepson were in your neck of the woods last month visiting her oldest. I didn't go since I had no vacation. Maybe you could have told me I was going to do this...

[AJMD429]

Lots of "official" opinions from doctors out there on that one, but the consensus seems to be that a healthy person isn't at much risk unless really getting chilled badly throughout. I think what actually happens when you are breathing cold air or ears cold is that your body shifts from warm-air mode to cold-air mode, and back, and the air you breathe in HAS to be about 100 degrees and 100% humidity by the time it is all the way to the 'bottom' of you lungs; processing that air and protecting the tissues along the way requires varying amounts of moisture, mucus, etc., and when the viscosity doesn't match the environment (from going in and out in the winter) things get clogged, and the normal (drain, swallow, digest, or spit) cleansing process gets messed up, so bacterial and viral counts rise. THAT can cause an infection, but not just the coldness directly. The middle ear is really just another sinus which happens to be one we can see in and that houses the amplification bones, but otherwise same thing goes on there; they're all connected to the nasal passages via tear-duct sized little passages vulnerable to clogging.

[awp101]

OK, so lack of adequate head gear didn't cause it but I did myself no favors...about par for the course in my world!

Thanks!

[JustaJeepGuy]

they're all connected to the nasal passages via tear-duct sized little passages vulnerable to clogging.

Eustachian tubes are that small? I didn't know that. I've been wishing someone would make an insert for the E. tubes and forget the Shepherd's tubes. (I'm still kind of bummed that I lost the Shepherd's tube that was pulled out of my eardrum.)

[JohndeFresno]

Abnormal, sudden changes - including wind chilling - are rough on your respiratory system and can affect sensitive organs like your ears, due to moisture formation from temperature inversion and so on. Yes, you can get a "cold in your ear" if the wind is blasting it, especially if you have drainage problems.

I believe that the warm oil helps to force the water out (since oil and water don't mix) and it also softens the earwax that might be trapping some of the water. Anyway, I benefited from the same therapy when I was a youngster who got chilled in the snow or wind.

So I concur with AJMD429's diagnosis. By the way, I'm not a doctor, but I've stayed at Holiday Inn Express! (No charge for the advice).

Get well soon.