Prevent Opened Auditory Tube Disorder / Patulous Eustachian Tube from Getting Worse

Hello,

Allow me to begin with that I am grateful for life and everything that is in it.

I have tinnitus and hyperacusis. I am curing the hyperacusis right now.
My right auditory tube sometimes opens and remains like that for a while. I want to prevent it from getting worse. I am also interested in how much the "sniffing" that people usually do is harmful.

How do you think the worsening can be prevented?
In your opinion, is the sniffing harmful?

(Most people call this phenomenon Patulous Eustachian Tube, but there is some disagreement about these terms. Some call it patulous eustachian tube *dysfunction*. The other phenomenon, where the tube stays closed, they call it eustachian tube dysfunction, but this name is also a collective noun for the above two states, so it is delusive.
I propose these names: opened auditory tube disorder (OATD) and closed auditory tube disorder (CATD).)

I have OATD in my right ear that is triggered a few times per day, but if I do the sniffing, it is not bothersome. However, if I can't use the sniffing (because it would be harmful), then it is quite annoying, because it stays open a lot longer.

Due to this, I am interested in whether you think the sniffing is harmful, even if done lightly, and what can be done besides this.

I have collected some things from the internet which affect OATD, but I thought I would ask here, because I think you have more or different knowledge about the subject.

So far I have collected these influencing factors:
- Low body fat is bad. I used to be 110 kg (obese), now 79 kg (normal, lean). Maybe OATD was being present less back then, but maybe just because I was doing the sniffing. Maybe I will try gaining weight, but my diet is quite good now and I am hesitating.

- On the Wikipedia talk page of the condition I have read about "Jia-Wei-Gui-Pi-Tang" and the tea made of it, which can help, but it causes a loss of short-term memory. I don't want to use this. I used piracetam previously (a horrible drug that I would't recommend to anyone) and I have experienced this too, and I never want to go back.

- Forcefully inhaling (sniffing) may be harmful, for example for the eardrums ('The eardrum can be atrophic secondary to the constant drum motion from breathing or sniffling. ' source: https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/858909-overview ) What do you think?

- Surface tension has something to do with it and pregnancy causes OATD through this mechanism. Estrogen is a possible treatment because of this too. I want to do some research on what else can influence surface tension; maybe those are helpful here as well.

- "The condition is sometimes associated with medications (eg, oral contraceptives, diuretics). Other predisposing factors include fatigue, stress, anxiety, exercise, and temporomandibular joint syndrome."
source: https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/858909-overview
I have social anxiety, but it is only triggered sometimes, and during those times, my OATD doesn't react to it. Maybe this type of anxiety doesn't influence it.

- Stressful exercise is bad.

- Other things that you wrote here (e.g. salty nose spray):
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...tubes-vibrations-and-many-other-things.14754/

- I have difficulties with cleaning my teeth properly, and the back of my throat looks unhealthy, like it is irritated by the bacteria. There were periods when I was using a mouthrinse daily. I have observed it twice that when I stop using it, the OATD seems to occur more. I suspect that if my throat is inflamed or the area near the auditory tubes is inflamed, it would cause them to lose elasticity and remain open more easily.

- My OATD sometimes goes away when I drink water (the tube closes).

I welcome any ideas.
Thanks in advance.

 

Did you lose your weight really fast?

Have you considered surgery to refill the fat pad?