Ear Pain :-(

Yesterday's Total Calorie Intake: 2196
(Exercise Calories: 600)
Total Net Calories: 1596

The past few days I have had some ear pressure and pain, and it got really worse last night. This happens to me every year - usually in November or December. My ears and sinuses have been horrible ever since I was a child...I had tubes put in my ears when I was 5 years old due to frequent ear infections (the doctor who did the procedure in 1976 is still a practicing ENT doctor!) and my sinuses get stuffy and/or runny on a seasonal basis.

The issue with my ears is that the Eustachian tubes get blocked due to a party going on in my sinuses, which creates pressure in my ears which in turn irritates them. Luckily, it is not a full-blown ear infection (although I have had general practitioners diagnose it as such due to the amount of redness in the ear canal), however, it is still painful. Last year, my ENT suggested I use a saline nasal spray when the weather gets colder which would hopefully keep the tubes from being blocked. I was following this recommendation and it was working...November and December passed with NO ear pressure! I thought I had dodged the bullet...until this week :-(

Today, the ENT put me on prednisone which is a steroid. Luckily it is only for 4 days, since this drug usually makes me a bit jumpy and jittery. However, my long run tomorrow may be a bit faster than normal :-)