I use ear plugs a lot to listen to sounds on my phone.Music or learning languages is my thing usually out and about or in bed.
They are not expensive ,ergonomically designed ,top of the range ones.I don’t need incredible sound and I’ve got to admit very often any noise cancelling affects would be wasted on me.I wear them outside a lot and if someone wants to talk to me on the allotment then I take them out with my muddy fingers
I take them in and out of my ears probably more than I should.As very often I lose the little silicon attachment that comes as a set of about five of different sizes.
A few times,they have got stuck in my ear and I’ve needed to get them out with a tweezer.There just fiddly.
And then on holiday,one went missing.I lost it in the caravan.I think I left my earphones in while listening to an audiobook, I fell asleep and when I woke up I felt for the charger and put the earphones back in place, or so I thought.
Next morning I was out and about doing the dishes or whatever and when I got back I turned on the radio and went to put my earphones in their case.I noticed the silicon plug on the left one was missing.
I could have lost it anywhere, normally I bring spares but this time I forgot,so I kept using them and the sound might have been affected but I still could do everything that I wanted to.
I noticed a slight itch on my left ear . I was suspicious,suppose the silicon plug had gone into my ear.I was in the shower with the possibility of a daddy-long legs flying into join me. I was in a heightened sense of panic .So I parked the fear of having a silicon plug work its way down my ear canal and finished my shower.
When I got back I noticed a tiny round piece of shiny metal on my wrist.Amazingly I hadn’t washed it away.It was part of my left earphone the little guard that filters the sound.Now that would have definitely have disappeared into my ear canal ,fortunately it didn’t.
So like someone wandering around with a broken high heel except in my case it was a faulty left earphone.I kept on doing all the normal things around the campsite,dishes,washing,filling water ,emptying waste water and doing the toilet cassette.
I still thought my left ear felt funny.There was a lingering doubt,when I poked my finger in my left ear I swore it felt smooth.Was it the silicon plug.I tried a pair of tweezers to see if I could grab it, please don’t do this,I could have perforated my ear drum and become permanently deaf in one ear My partner suggested using a cotton tip ,but grumpily I said that would just push it in further .
By now I had convinced myself the silicon plug was in my ear.I suggested going to Specsavers who advertise ear tests,they might find it and extract it for free as it would be useless to try and get an appointment with a GP, three weeks minimum and A&E sounded over the top.
And then browsing the Internet ,I came across a story about a woman who traveled across India and ended up with calcified parasites in her brain and on epilepsy drugs for the rest of her life.
My left ear seemed to get more itchy.My partner reassured me that silicon was inert.I planned a visit to the Health Centre when I got home.They had been pestering me to have a Well Old Woman Assessment.I would mention my ear.I’m sure they would remove it and give me advice on listening devices.Apple probably sponsor the NHS now.Maybe they offer discounts.
And then a few days of imagining my ear canal getting blocked by debris and having problems with balance and vertigo.I came back from my shower and as I sat down to drink my coffee.
“Is this what you are missing”My partner said.”I found it when I was sweeping the floor “
Eureka,suddenly my ear felt normal again!
Namaste and Thank You for Reading 🙏
thenotsomightyom 