hearing loss

i have been suffering from dampened/muffled hearing in my left ear on and off for about 2 years now. sometimes im fine, but when the flare ups occur its miserable. i also find that wheni grab my ear and pull back, my hearing seems to be perfectly fine, however when i let go or leave it alone it dampens. sometimes it gets to where i can basically hear nothing out of it and it feels like just pressure in my ear with the dampened hearing. ive been to an ENT doctor a few times before, and everytime he cleaned my ears from earwax and my hearing returned to normal for months, then the dampenedness returns. this time feels different however. do you think its innear problems and do you think its fixable? replies are welcomed and appreciated

[beachcomber13]

It seems conductive, meaning a mechanical problem. This would be with your outer ear (the canal) or your middle ear (behind your ear drum).

An inner ear problem would not be alleviated by pulling on your ear.

Breathe a sigh of relief that it is probably not an inner ear problem, and make an appointment with an audiologist. You may need to see an ENT after that, but my first stop would be an audiologist.

[kyle17]

Thank you for the reply. So you think it is something that can be fixed?

[beachcomber13]

It is hard to say without examining you, but I do think it could be fixed. No promises--get to an audiologist as soon as you can. Call your local hospital.

[kyle17]

I went to the local clinic, turns out I just had wax deep on my ear. They cleaned it out and my hearing is basically back to normal now. Thanks for the reply

[beachcomber13]

You have bad luck with ear wax! Glad you are hearing normally again. Take care.

[kyle17]

It seems that way! You take care as well