Thanks for all the *sympathetic* email I received over the temporary loss
of hearing and scarring of my eardrum!!!!!!  Just kidding. But seriously,
it DID hurt. When I was 19 I fell about 100 feet off of a cliff (rock
climbing, rope broke) and managed to break only both of my legs pretty
badly. I had lots of reconstructive surgery and the gas in my ear came
close to the pain of all that leg trauma.
The lady doctor across the street was really cool. While she was pouring
warm water in my ear, her three kids were trying to cheer me up. One of
them colored me like 5 Elmo pictures, while the other two kept holding
things in front of my face, telling me to concentrate on those objects, not
the pain. Were it not for the extreme pain I was in, I might have found the
situation a bit humorous. The doctor checked my ear again today and said it
looked a bit red inside (duh), but other than that, it hasn't been
bothering me much. My eardrum is still intact, and I think my hearing is
back to normal (but I'm not telling my wife that- just another excuse to
not take out the garbage. "Oh, I'm sorry honey. I didn't HEAR you ask me to
take the garbage out. Remember my ear?"  Heh  heh heh).
Joel