We take it for granted, but the internet is a wonder. All that information at our fingertips!<\/p>\n\n\n
Here’s a story of medical self-diagnosis by internet that I believe is valid. If I am correct, I have a condition that only 1 in 10,000 ever suffer from.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n
The hearing in my left ear has steadily diminished over the past few years. The volume is fine, but there’s a lot of interference. Melissa finally convinced me to see a doctor about it. (I agreed because she has really good health insurance for the family now, so it was cheap even by my standards!)<\/p>\n\n\n
The doctor was puzzled because my symptoms didn’t match his observation. My ear feels and sounds as if it is perpetually filled with fluid – my voice echoes in my ear and I can hear my own heartbeat. (Both are quite annoying!)<\/p>\n\n\n
But the doctor said: no signs of fluid or infection. He gave me two pill bottles and a nasal spray to take home and a “Come back in a few weeks”.<\/p>\n\n\n
I know doctors smirk at patients who diagnose their own ailments via Google, but after my doctor visit, it finally occurred to me to search the internet for answers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n
It turns out I have all the symptoms of a patulous eustachian tube!<\/p>\n\n\n
A normal eustachian tube drains into the throat through a small valve that pops open a few times a day to regulate air pressure and drain any fluids that might accumulate.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n
I looked it up: “Patulous” is a fancy word for “wide open”.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n
My eustachian tube remains open 24\/7, allowing sounds from the inside – my voice and heartbeat – to reach my eardrum.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n
The internet suggests I try extra hydration and cutting out caffeine before pursuing any medical solutions and that sounds wise to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n
I have often claimed to be free of addiction when it comes to coffee – that I can take it or leave it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n
Now I will find out for sure.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n
Thanks, internet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We take it for granted, but the internet is a wonder. All that information at our fingertips! Here’s a story of medical self-diagnosis by internet that I believe is valid. If I am correct, I have a condition that only 1 in 10,000 ever suffer from.\u00a0 The hearing in my left ear has steadily diminished […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1911"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1911\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1912,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1911\/revisions\/1912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}