See an EN&T doc ASAP!
I had blockage in one ear earlier this year and intense sinus pain, so I made an appointment to see my EN&T guy to get my ears cleaned, and after he used that electronic tool to clean out my ears, he said,"Now isn't that much better!"
I couldn't hear any difference. Thank God, the guy gave me two scripts; one a strong antibiotic, and the other a Fluonase generic nose spray, I had a big band gig that night where the band was gonna play one of my charts, so I didn't fill the scripts that day. I got to the gig and noticed I was having a hard time getting a good sound out of my guitar and amp.Then we play the first tune, and it sounded like a bunch of banshees screaming!
I realized I couldn't hear any of the low pitched instruments; all I could hear were the altos and trpts. For some reason I was able to finish the set without freaking out or anything. Then on the break, I calmly told the guys in the rhythm section that I couldn't hear the bones, Bari or Bass. they just shrugged their shoulders, and the bass player had to open his mouth. He asked us if we ever heard of this well-known bass player, saying that he just got a bunch of sub gigs for him, because he lost the ability to hear pitch, and couldn't play music anymore.
That's when I started to freak out. I told the drummer/leader about my problem and asked him if he thought it was like the bass player's problem. He said the bass player's problem was neurological, and mine sounded like some type of ear infection. That mellowed me out, and a bunch of the other guys in the band started telling me about their similar problems with their ears. One revealed that he had a hearing aid.
The next day I filled the script, and made slow, steady improvement. Everything's been fine until this week, when we lost the heat in the co-op building I live in. I've been hearing ringing in my left ear, but it's not that annoying. Can the intense cold we've been having in NYC cause ear infections?