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Help with Eustation Tube Dysfunction

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
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Avatar universal
    After having the vertigo and body purge, I felt better than I had in years.  Also, my ears drained freely for two days.

Now I think the vertigo and purging of my stomach, head and bowels is the bodies way of curing its self.    For several years I have sat ready to stop vertigo with Antivert for dizziness, suppositories upset stomach and diarraha, and steroid nasal spray to dry out the body mucus.   So when my body wanted to purge itself of toxins, etc I would use drugs to stop the disturbing and nasty but natural cure.   That is why I first felt better after taking the drugs but after a few days I felt very much worse.  The body was trying to overpower the drugs and to do its duty to cure.

    But of course, I have been wrong before.
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Avatar universal
  I kept my ears and sinuses clear but I came down with vertigo again, sick and running out at both ends.

Three possible causes:
1) 24 hours before, I spread some insect killer on the lawn and when I poured it into the spreader a cloud drifted up to me and like a dope I just stayed and breathed it in.
2)  Kinks in my back have been known to give me vertigo and I had just gone through some vigorous exercise to correct my posture leaving lots of kinks in the back
3)  All doc's and ENT's told me not to touch dairy products, well a month ago I went back to drinking milk and I had cheese pizza for 3 days before I got sick.  When I threw up there were lumps of fresh cheese coming out and it had been 5 hours since I last had a pizza.
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Avatar universal
   I forgot to mention that it helps me greatly to wash the pollutants off my face and brush my teeth 3 times a day.  Just doing this sometimes opens my ears but I now do it daily without fail.
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Avatar universal
When I have pressure on one or both ears I start feeling dizzy and sick, also my ears start ringing and the longer the ears are stopped up the worse all the above gets.

  My method of survival has developed to the following process to get well for a while.

1.  Keep correct posture so sinuses and ears can drain.  At night I lay a pillow under my knees and a pillow long ways on the bed then I lay another length wise pillow so that my shoulders and head drop to the bottom pillow and I keep my chin tucked in.  I breath in and out only through my nose in a way that restricts airflow to increase the air speed past the Eustachian tube endings, sometimes I do it in rapid burst while trying not to hyper or hypo ventilate.  This will vacuum something from within. I swallow what ever it is and keep on going. I tried spitting it out but that just ruins the whole process.  If I can't breath I take a nose shot of Afrin like spray and within 15 minutes I have a clear nostril.  If the sinuses are too bad I use a steroid nasal spray but not on a plugged nostril.

    In between all this activity I often stop and put my thumb and fore finger over my nose openings and I blow enough to barely make my nostrils puff out and suck about the same pressure.  The alternating of blowing and sucking will make a sound on both ears and doing this helps draw out fluid from the middle ears.

  This very morning I got sick and dizzy but the above process made me well again until the next time.  Now the good times are 90% of my day but at the beginning there were no good times, only maddening blocked, roaring ears, and a foggy head and a unhappy Jim.

  I hope this helps.

Jim
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Avatar universal
I developed a fullness in both ears after an ear infection last spring.  It didn't go away, but I don't have the other symptoms many describe here.  ENT told me to use a nasal spray... I bought a sea water natural version.  I felt a lot of drainage, but I think it was just the nasal spray draining.  I felt a slight lessening of the pressure after I finished several weeks of the spray, but it returned soon after.  I bought the EarPopper to try, I hope it will make a difference, but so far I don't feel a change.  Have you heard of anyone who just feels pressure in their ears finding a solution?   I was thinking that maybe my case is less severe than others described here and maybe there was something that had worked for many many people.
Thanks
Shira
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Avatar universal
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.
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