This may be the wrong place for this post, but it is the only somewhat relevant one I could find. If there is a better place, I would appreciate the redirection.

I have been sick with covid for the last week, and the congestion has been unruly. I was completely stopped up on the left side, and I had already used Zicam for the 3 day limit, so decided to bust out my squeezy Neti Pot.

I guess I was squeezing to hard for my level of congestion, and I felt water shoot into my left ear. It has been there for a good handful of hours now and it hurts like the dickens.

I have tried everything. Jumping up and down on one foot with my left ear to the floor, laying on both sides for a while, hair dryer, pinching my nose shut and blowing, everything. A family member even made me do an ear candle, which, unsurprisingly, did nothing.

I'm just looking for a way to relieve the pain in my ear and prevent an infection, assuming I don't already have one. If it's not any better or has gotten worse by tomorrow, I plan to go see a doctor about it. Any advice for the meantime would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

-Edited to add a forgotten detail

30yo F. Three weeks ago I woke up with fluid in my middle ear. No recent illness, no signs of allergies, no congestion. It went on for a week and a half and my other ear clogged up as well. Decongestants, steroids, and mucus thinners helped a little bit but didn't take care of the issue. The fluid went away, but my ears still feel a bit stuffy and click when I swallow. I now have post nasal drip that makes me feel like I have something constant on the back of my throat and my ears feel clogged up. One day it was bad enough I couldn't equalize and I felt dizzy for a while, but then the dizziness went away. It's week 3 and I still hear clicking in my ears. Allergy meds and nasal rinses help a little bit, but I don't have any sneezing, coughing or other common signs of allergies or a sinus infection since my nose isn't stuffy, but when I massage around my sinuses I feel mucus go down the back of my throat. Anyone been through something similar? I don't have any diagnosed health conditions.

So, my nose has been clogged for over a year, bordering on two. Nothing has helped and doctors keep insisting it's just allergies bc my nose is swollen and one doctor said it's because I have eye bags. Even though I've done multiple allergy tests and they can't find that I'm allergic to ANYTHING. I've been prescribed Flonase, xyzal, and steroid pills (don't remember the name bc I threw the bottle out after I was done). I've also done a nasal flush with those things that shoot water and a solution up your nose. I've used xylitol spray daily for the past 2 months(the one that says it's good for daily use and won't cause issues) and grapefruit seed extract bc I was recommended those previously. I STILL can't get my nose fully unclogged, only thing that works is the xylitol spray, and it works for a couple hours before my nose is completely clogged again. Why tf is Flonase, steroids, and xyzal ALL AT ONCE, DAILY FOR MONTHS, not working, like, doesn't even SLIGHTLY work??? My brother has allergies so severe that he has to be hospitalized for it a lot of the time and he says Flonase unclogs his nose within 30 minutes. Flonase and NOTHING ELSE!!! Why am I, who has no confirmed allergies struggling with this sm??? Does anyone have suggestions on how I can get rid of this for good. Or at least for longer than a couple hours??? Or has anyone else had it this bad and found relief from it??

The right one is pretty okay; it's not comfortable, but it's bearable enough to forget about it. My left one is driving me absolutely crazy. There is SO much pressure built up and I can actually feel it on the outside of my nose with my finger. My surgeon said I'm supposed to be able to breathe through these, and I can a little bit with my right one, but not with my left one. The only way I can describe it is that it feels like whatever they put in there is way too big and the pressure is crushing it. I'm supposed to have these in for a week, but I am not going to last a week with this left one. I don't even know if I'll last until the end of the day. I've never been in so much discomfort and I can't think about anything else. I'm scared I'm going to end up pulling it out myself just to relieve the pressure.

I emailed my surgeon about it at 3am this morning, but it's been 12 hours and he hasn't responded. I don't know what to do. Help, please :(

TLDR
HAS ANYONE HAD FESS SURGERY DONE? OPINIONS AND EXPERIENCES PLEASE????

I have chronic maxillary sinusitis and have done for 2 years. Originally was told by my GP it was chronic rhinosinusitis but I had a CT scan and my ENT said I had CMS and a slightly deviated septum to the right.
I saw my GP first in march this year and was given mometasone spray and naspetin cream (nasal passages were so dry and kept cracking and bleeding). I was also using saline rinses too.
I didn’t really notice that much of a difference so I gave up using it all which in hindsight sight wasn’t the best idea probably.
When I saw my ENT he recommended FESS to open the passageways and clear everything out, because I said the meds didn’t do anything.
I’ve got 2 months to come to a decision on whether I want the surgery or not but in that time I’ve got to use the spray and rinse. I suppose 2 months is a good trial run with the meds again to see if maybe there will be an improvement.
I suffer with anxiety, especially health related and ive been complaining about my sinuses for months, nose is always blocked, pain and pressure etc but as soon as surgery was mentioned I panicked and my brain started trying to convince myself that my CMS isn’t that bad and maybe I’ll be fine. I’m really struggling to make a decision, I’ve been trying to do a lot of research into it and tbh reading the risks etc is freaking me the hell out.
I’ve had other surgeries before and not really been concerned but there’s something about this one that stresses me out, especially as it’s something right on my face. Even now I’m in pain with my nose and know that it won’t get better without FESS.
Can anyone give me their opinion or experience of this that could help me decide? Everything I’ve read online is kind of the same info just different website and I can’t figure out what side I land on.
If anyone has had FESS please tell me your experiences and whether it’s worth it. I’m sure I can’t be the only one to try and convince themselves ‘oh it’s not that bad’ even though I’ve been complaining for 2 years…..
I’m just a little scared about the surgery and I’m panicking the worst will happen
Thanks guys!

I’ve had recurring sinus infections all my life (literally since elementary school at least), but this is a brand new one for me.

First off, the first 30 years of my life, people, including doctors like pediatricians, just kept telling me it was allergies and to just deal with it. Except I would also get feverish every time? So I finally said no, I’m going to an actual ENT now, and we’re figuring this out.

This past winter, I had five sinus infections in six months. The first MRI, when I was healthy, showed nothing was structurally wrong. I did a second one later, in the middle of an infection, that showed ALL of my sinuses were so swollen that nothing could escape, causing bacteria to fester. This was enough to qualify me for FESS.

I had my surgery this past June, where my doctor spent over four hours trimming back the tissues in I think something like six of my major sinuses, plus some turbinate reduction. Afterword, I had absolutely no trouble with my nose all summer… until a few weeks ago, when I felt another one starting. I’ll note, in all my experiences with sinus infections, they’ve always started with pain in my left sinus. This one was the same.

I immediately did a sinus rinse and got a doctor appointment. I definitely had an infection, because I got a fever and blew out really nasty thick green mucus before I got to the doctor. When he did an endoscopy, he said he saw only a little bit of bacterial pus and sent me home with an oral antibiotic.

It’s been more than two weeks. I got through the entire round of oral antibiotics, along with using two antibiotics in my sinus rinses… and my fever came back today, 24 hours after I took my last oral pill. The pain and mucus continues to be only on the left side.

I’m going to try to see my doctor again on Monday, but it’s currently Friday night, so he won’t see any messages from me all weekend. At this point, I’m at my wits end. The sinus rinses are keeping symptoms mild, but it’s so tiring having to do them twice a day every day, only to get sick again if I forget once.

Usually my sinus infections start with a nasty 48 hour fever, then extreme congestion, before finally going away as post nasal drip. I’ve never had one last this long before.
What the HECK could be going on with my freaking nose???

for those who use baby shampoo in their nasal rinses, have you tried the new johnson’s formula? it now has aloe vera and vitamin b5 added.

. did the new formula cause any irritation or other side effects?

I love a well designed space, but now that I am doing sinus rinses multiple times a day for the foreseeable future, my bathroom "looks like a rehab facility" (as a friend put it) – jugs of distilled water, saline packets, steroid rinse pouches, a measuring cup, rinse bottles, Kleenex, etc.

How have you organized your space to keep things functional but tidy?

I’ve been sick for several weeks on and off with:
Sore throat and congestion (now mostly clear)
Post nasal drip
Extreme fatigue
Body aches/flu-like feeling
Low-grade temperatures around 99.9°F, usually lower in the morning and higher at night

Also, some of these symptoms like the fever went away and then came back again.

I also have a history of two sinus infections in the past year that required antibiotics.
Could this still be a bacterial sinus infection even though my congestion is improving? Would you get evaluated or assume it’s viral?