“Mild case,” the doctor said over a staticky video call, his voice tinny and compressed. “The congestion is Eustachian tube dysfunction. Common with the new variants. It should clear up in a week or two.”
But two weeks passed, and the cotton remained. She tried everything: nasal sprays, decongestants, the Valsalva maneuver (which only made her see stars), and steaming showers that fogged the bathroom mirror but not her ears. She slept propped up on three pillows. She chewed gum until her jaw ached. ears feel clogged covid
That’s when the fatigue hit. Not the tiredness of a bad night’s sleep, but a bone-deep heaviness. She took a test on a whim, more to rule it out than anything else. “Mild case,” the doctor said over a staticky
It started on a Tuesday. Not with a cough or a fever, but with a soft, cottony silence. It should clear up in a week or two