Help with Eustation Tube Dysfunction

[kidnurse81]

Hello.  My fiance has been suffering with eustation tube dysfunction for a little over 6mths. now.  We have tried numerous decongestants and nasal sprays as well as a round of steroids.  His ENT did allergy testing on him, however, he did not have any significant allergies.  Our last resort was to have PE tubes placed.  This only made his symptoms worse and they took them out after a couple of weeks.  Suprisingly after they took the tubes out and his ears were healing, he was symptom free.  When the holes closed up he began with the same symptoms all over again.  He has constant pressure in both ears, a fluid-like feeling (though the doctors say there is no fluid), and a stuffy nose.  He is completely miserable and losing all hope of getting better.  We are at a loss.  He has thought about having the PE tubes put back in and giving it a little longer this time to see if they will help.  We are both scared and upset and have no idea what to do at this point.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Is there any other treatment at all for this disorder??
Thank you so much,
Amy

[Willsmom1999]

Thank you for this information.My 11 year old son has been suffering from blocked ear canals and sinus pain for 6 months now. We have been to 2 ENT 's without help. He has taken antibiotics ,nasal steroids, OTC decongestants, allergy meds and ear drops with no relief. He had a CT scan for sinusitus which was negative. The doctor's act as though they have never heard of this problem so it's such a relief to find this info! He has told me "don't bother wasting your time and money,mom,because these doctors can't help me."  I was hoping it would eventually resolve but it seems some of you have had this problem for years.   I am making him an appointment with a chriopractor.

[balu2]

i have been suffering fo ayear now of what ent thinks might be etd. audiologist says ear is fine. i also think it may be dental work that is causing problems but dentists insist everything looks fine. what to do!!!?????

[JimBean315]

Sslats  
I have plenty of friends who have ringing ears and hard hearing from working around loud noise or shooting off guns but then you hear just fine.

     I have two kinds of congestion one is that I get my head stopped up with congestion.
The other congestion can happen independently of the first.  This is when my ET stop up.  To test for this I pinch my nose and swallow some water a couple of times, if I am having ETD then the ear drum bulges out and I can feel it and a doctor can see it.  When I am having ETD my ears start to ring a little then more and more until I get dizzy and on into vertigo.

    I can open my ET's by one squirt of Afrin in my nose and lying down with a couple of pillows under my knees.  I extend my jaw like I am about to yawn and try to get my ears to pop.  I do this for some 10 minutes and my ET's start to drain and I start doing a gentle sucking action while breathing in.  The popping seems to loosen up the middle ear fluid so it can drain out.   This often stops my ears from ringing for hours but it doesn't happen happen immediately.  I don't use Afrin more than a couple of times a day, often sparying one ear will clear them both up.  Some easy exercises helps to open my ears too.

    When I speak of stopped up ears I am not refering the the outer ear that the doc looks at.  My outer ears have never been a problem, my problem is with fluid in my middle ears not draining out of my Eustachian tubes.

  And yes, a Chriopractor is more help for me than a doctor.

[sslats]

So, I have been having problems sleeping due to a constant ringing in my ears at night. I went to the doctor, and she told me I have a Eustachian Tube Dysfunction, but i dont have the clogged feeling that everyone here seems to have. I can hear just fine, I dont feel too congested (although the doctor said I was), and i dont have any pain at all. The only symptom i have is the ringing.  I was prescribed Fluticasone Proprionate, and Clariton. I have been taking it for about a month now, but nothing has changed. Was I diagnosed correctly?

[akteach11]

Question?? Has anybody suffered from chronic otitus media and ETD??? I have had ear infections since I was born and have tried almost everything that has been said here. I cannot pop my ears, even with the help from a pressure machine(ear popper??). I am only 24 and having a harder time understanding spoken language everyday. I have had 3 sets of PE tubes and with each set my ear drums became more and more scar tissue than actual "ear drum" tissue. I was just curious if anybody is like me.

[oneandsix]

************** !!! IMPORTANT !!! ************

I never post things like this, but I feel obligated to so I can maybe help some of you! I read these comments a few weeks ago because my ears constantly needed to be popped and it had been happening for about 6 months. It freaked me out! I didn't think I would ever get it fixed.

Well, I went to the chiropractor and he explained how his neck adjustments would help. It's complicated but it makes sense.

He just popped my neck, pretty much the same way you see everyone do it -- and viola! My ears pop about 10% as much as they did! I've got in 3 or 4 times just to get it done again, but I was amazed!

GOING TO THE CHIROPRACTOR IS WORTH IT. GIVE IT A SHOT. I WAS READY TO SHOOT MY HEAD OFF!!! HE SAVED ME!!!

P.S. I also had a friend with the same problem go, and he got it fixed too. My ear popping was where some days I needed to pop my ears because they hurt ever 10 seconds, sometimes every 5 minutes.. but it was very annoying. I tried taking decongestants like the doc said. They didn't really work.

-Nathan S.