Lessons from Otitis Media (previously published on my personal blog on July 21, 2014)

First week of July - I felt excruciating pain in my right ear after cleaning it with a cotton bud.

I am a normal and healthy 17-year-old student. I don’t become sick easily despite staying late at night and spending hours in front of the computer. I could say that I have a good immune system that protects me from illnesses. However, despite of these things, I constantly complained about how bored I am.

In my previous blog post, I have mentioned that our university is currently on a four-month vacation since it adopted an August-May calendar. So I basically ended up being addicted to anime again due to the long vacation.

For months, I have stayed late at night and sometimes have not slept at all until the sun rose even if my body had been telling me that I need rest. Yes I need rest, but I insisted on continuing what I wanted to do: read articles and reviews about my fandoms, light novels, and other interesting stuff, which includes science and technology news, download anime, music videos, and songs, and of course watch anime that I had just finished downloading.

Despite of being able to do all these things, I still complained and wasn’t satisfied with how my everyday life went. I still saw how the internet was so slow, that tumblr could not even load, and all the websites I visit were blank white pages, how the lives of anime characters seem to be much more fun than mine, how other people have close friends whom they can share their interests like anime fandoms, how typhoons leave us without electricity for hours, and how my earphones always break.

These are just little things, and yet I have wasted my energy and time being preoccupied with such.

On the first Friday of July, I had an ear infection in my right ear and it made hearing difficult for me as it felt clogged, not to mention the pain and itch inside that felt like something keeps stabbing my eardrum. We went to a doctor and it was otitis media like I expected, a type of ear infection wherein the middle ear is inflamed. It is one of the most common illnesses next to common colds. I took the medicines and poured ear drops into my ears for the following days until I felt better. Finally, my medication was over and my right ear was back to normal again. However, at that point, I still haven’t learned my lesson.

I have just pondered my experiences these past few weeks and realized that I had been taking things for granted. I had failed to appreciate all those good things around me; instead, I frequently complain and show discontentment despite having them.

From the start, my mom had been warning me not to abuse my ears. One reason is that I had been having a hard time hearing what she tells me; another reason is that it is dangerous to wear earphones when outdoors because it limits my awareness of the surroundings, and another is because the impact of music pumping from the earphones directly into my ears might damage them. Unfortunately, the stubborn me just won’t listen - I continued the destructive habit.

Aside from being in front of the computer or laptop for an entire day, i.e. from the hour I wake up until I sleep, stopping only to eat and do chores, I frequently wear earphones for almost 24 hours a day. I sleep with my earphones, listening to anime songs and JPOP music, until I wake up and start my day: I still wear those earphones. At the end of the day (or maybe not, because I used to go to bed past midnight, usually around 3 am.) I still wear them. Yes. It has become a habit indeed, or precisely, addiction. I can say that this is the reason why my earphones frequently break and stop playing music for me - because I overwork them. They twist and turn when I sleep and the wires break too. Another factor that contributed to the pain I had is my abuse of using cotton buds. I frequently cleaned my ears to the point that it already had ruptured my eardrum. I consumed a whole container of cotton buds in just a few days. My mom freaked out when she saw the empty container we just bought a few days ago.

Well, it’s a good thing if only my earphones are overworked or the entire cotton bud container becomes empty. They are replaceable for just a few pesos. However, the ears cost more and are irreplaceable.

The medicines cost thousands, excluding the check-up. The pain itself was unbearable and can send you sleeping all day covered in thick comforter. I wasn’t able to get out of bed until I took the pain relievers.

Fortunately, after a week, I got better as soon as I finished the medications. But it was not over yet. My right ear was already healed, but during a particular evening before I slept, I decided to listen to my earphones again. I forgot that I was wearing it and I leaned on my left side, putting too much pressure to my left ear. I then felt that incredibly annoying pain - this time in my left ear. I’m now back to taking medicines like I did the last few weeks.

Although this whole time was inconvenient and made my everyday life a little difficult, I had come to realize things that I otherwise would not if I did not experience all of these.

First, always follow your parents.

Even if I am already a university student, I should still have listened to my mom’s advice. Despite telling me that wearing earphones all the time could damage my ear, I continued my habit because I wanted to listen to anime songs since it brings me to another world. I didn’t even realize I’ve gone too far. I wear earphones even though we are outdoors, which happens only occasionally, and even sleep with them in my ear. These bad habits have increased my chances of having ear infections.

Second, moderation is key.

As my mom said, there is nothing wrong with listening to music through earphones as long as you do it moderately. I think all things, if done too much, could cause trouble - using earphones is no exception. Also, if you frequently listen to it, most likely, you would have to put the phone (if you don’t have a player) in your pocket, which also means trouble. Many studies have shown that the radiation emitted by cellular phones is dangerous (unless you turn it off or put it in airplane mode). Frequent radiation exposure could increase your risk of developing cancer and other diseases.

Third, don’t take things for granted; appreciate what you have.

I think this is the most important. I have mentioned earlier that I frequently complained about how things were not how I wanted them to be. At this point, I realized that there are far more things to be grateful for than those to be unappreciative for.

I realized that it would be much better to be bored sitting in front of the computer with all the open tabs spinning endlessly due to the slow internet than being in bed all day because of a painful ear.

Also, our life isn’t that unpleasant or uncomfortable. Our internet may be slow and annoying, but at least we have one. My earphones may always break; at least my ears are functioning well. I might feel bored and refrain from going outside for weeks, but at least we have a home where we can take refuge when a strong typhoon strikes. We might have no electricity for hours when there are strong winds and rains, but we are not in the position to complain because there are other people who do not have electricity for weeks and not even complain about it.

There are many things to be thankful in life. We should always look at the bright side of things and not only notice those things that do not go according to our plans and visions. Sometimes, life becomes too comfortable and easy for us that we forget to be grateful for the existence of the people we cherish and all the good things around us. Only when we lose them or they become compromised that we realize just how important they are to us.