When I was a child I had tubes put in my ears due to frequent ear infections. The left tube ruptured my eardrum on that side, and it never healed. I've had tinnitus and hearing loss in that ear ever since, but I've learned to live with it.
Fast forward to a week ago. I'd been having a wax buildup in the ear with the perforated ear drum. It was causing pain and blockage. I went to a walk-in clinic, the doctor I saw said there was a lot of wax and wanted to clean it out. I mentioned the perforated ear drum but he looked inside and couldn't see a hole. I thought great, maybe it had healed up.
Well, I was wrong. The doctor put drops of a solution in my ear while I was lying on my side and told me to wait 10 minutes. That was fine, I didn't feel anything. When I sat up and, he took a syringe filled with warm water and forcefully sprayed it into my ear to flush it out. Oh my god, the pain when he did that was excruciating, it was like someone was stabbing my eardrum with a knife.
A lot of wax came out, but my ear was still blocked, and the pain was horrific. I told him something was wrong but he said it was just the irritation from the water and it would go away. There was pressure and pain, and I could feel something shifting in my ear when I moved my head (the water).
Three days later it was still blocked and the pressure and pain were still there, so I went back to the clinic. This time he looked in my ear and saw the perforation. He said it was only water and that it couldn't do any damage even with the hole, but also that "there are no guarantees". He saw some redness so put me on an antibiotic (generic version of Augmentin). He also referred me to an ENT.
It's now been almost a week since he sprayed the water in my ear and it's still blocked. It was actually less blocked yesterday, but when I woke up it was even more blocked today, and there is still pain. I can feel water in there... I don't know if it's behind the ear drum or inside the ear drum, but it's not coming out.
The main thing I am concerned with is hearing loss. If my hearing was 75% in that ear before, right now it feels like it's down to about 30%. Will my hearing ever return to what it was before the water incident? How long will it take, and is there anything I can do in the meantime? I'm a 36 year old male. Any advice would be appreciated.
tl:dr: I have a perforated ear drum in my left ear. A week ago, during wax removal I stupidly had a syringe full of water sprayed into my ear to flush it out, and it has been blocked ever since with pain and pressure. I can still feel water in it, but it's not coming out. Will my hearing ever return in this ear, or did I do permanent damage?