Awful Cold — Blocked Ears

[Karl28]

So I've had a cold for the past few days.
However the past 3 days my ears have been completely blocked up and I cant pop them at all!

I've always had problems with eustachian tube dysfunction but it seems like this cold has made that already existing problem even worse!

Nothing unblocks them and i'm starting to get worried as my tinnitus is alot louder as a result.

Has anyone had this with a cold?

 

[geg1992]

So I've had a cold for the past few days.
However the past 3 days my ears have been completely blocked up and I cant pop them at all!

I've always had problems with eustachian tube dysfunction but it seems like this cold has made that already existing problem even worse!

Nothing unblocks them and i'm starting to get worried as my tinnitus is alot louder as a result.

Has anyone had this with a cold?

All the time, just cold out from a nasty cold and my T was raging a week before it even manifested itself. Stay calm and things will improve as the cold does. I can't see any reason why it wouldn't.

 

[yonkapin]

Don't force the popping of your ears, it's no good and you risk giving yourself barotrauma.

You'll be fine in a week or two, just give your body some time to heal up. Had a nasty cold a few weeks ago, I was sick for a solid week and a bit, and the symptoms lingered on for at least another week on top of that. My tinnitus was raging because my eustachian tubes were blocked up but by the end of the second week my ears began to function normally and I was all good again.

Happens every time I get sick.

 

[Telis]

Don't force the popping of your ears, it's no good and you risk giving yourself barotrauma.

You'll be fine in a week or two, just give your body some time to heal up. Had a nasty cold a few weeks ago, I was sick for a solid week and a bit, and the symptoms lingered on for at least another week on top of that. My tinnitus was raging because my eustachian tubes were blocked up but by the end of the second week my ears began to function normally and I was all good again.

Happens every time I get sick.

Good advise, I originally got tinnitus performing the valsalva method repeatedly.

 

[Constable85]

Good advise, I originally got tinnitus performing the valsalva method repeatedly.

People just make stuff up here all the time.

 

[Telis]

People just make stuff up here all the time.

Who are you referring to?

 

[Constable85]

You. Blowing your nose to pop your ears doesn't cause tinnitus. If you say it does, cite to some professional medical study that says so.

 

[Telis]

You. Blowing your nose to pop your ears doesn't cause tinnitus. If you say it does, cite to some professional medical study that says so.

Barotrauma? Do your own research, quit being lazy and ignorant.

Next time your ears get plugged, blow with all your force, even if it doesn't unplug, just keep trying, good luck smart guy.

 

[Constable85]

Barotrauma? Do your own research, quit being lazy and ignorant.

Next time your ears get plugged, blow with all your force, even if it doesn't unplug, just keep trying, good luck smart guy.

First of all, you made the assertion so it is up to you to support it. So you are the one being lazy and ignorant.

Second, barotrauma refers to injury sustained from failure to equalize the pressure of an air-containing space with that of the surrounding environment. The most common examples of barotrauma occur in air travel and scuba diving. Unless you're doing the valsalva maneuver during a deep sea dive I don't believe it can cause that type of pressure required to cause tinnitus and actually the valsalva maneuver has been known to help alleviate certain types of tinnitus. See http://www.aafp.org/afp/2004/0101/p120.html ("The symptoms may disappear with Valsalva's maneuver or when the patient lies down with the head in a dependent position").

Try backing up your claims with respected authority. People come here for truth not a bunch of random, made-up nonsense.

 

[Telis]

First of all, you made the assertion so it is up to you to support it. So you are the one being lazy and ignorant.

Second, barotrauma refers to injury sustained from failure to equalize the pressure of an air-containing space with that of the surrounding environment. The most common examples of barotrauma occur in air travel and scuba diving. Unless you're doing the valsalva maneuver during a deep sea dive I don't believe it can cause that type of pressure required to cause tinnitus and actually the valsalva maneuver has been known to help alleviate certain types of tinnitus. See http://www.aafp.org/afp/2004/0101/p120.html ("The symptoms may disappear with Valsalva's maneuver or when the patient lies down with the head in a dependent position").

Try backing up your claims with respected authority. People come here for truth not a bunch of random, made-up nonsense.

If you want people to answer your questions or expand on their comments, it's easy, just politely ask. You don't have to run around here making accusations that people are "making stuff up".

I ruptured both my ear drums and caused hearing loss using this method. No, I'm not sending my medical history, nor will I prove this to you.

I will stick to my original post here and agree 100 percent with what @yonkapin posted:

"Don't force the popping of your ears, it's no good and you risk giving yourself barotrauma."

Just so you know, we are on an online forum here genius, 99 percent of what is said here can not be proven. Do you even have tinnitus? I don't know? Where's the proof?

Anyway, I will respond to your sheer ignorance in this case for the benefit of the other members. I would hate for anyone to get injured due to your irresponsible nonsense posts.

Here is a quote from a ENT online, there are 6 other doctors who agree with his statement:

"if it takes extreme effort to pop your ears, don't keep on trying. If you continue to try, you might rupture your ear drum or rupture a membrane leading to your inner ear. This can lead to dizziness and/or hearing loss. If you can't clear your ears effectively, you will need to see an ent"


Source: HealthTap, https://www.healthtap.com/user_questions/45929

 

[yonkapin]

First of all, you made the assertion so it is up to you to support it. So you are the one being lazy and ignorant.

Second, barotrauma refers to injury sustained from failure to equalize the pressure of an air-containing space with that of the surrounding environment. The most common examples of barotrauma occur in air travel and scuba diving. Unless you're doing the valsalva maneuver during a deep sea dive I don't believe it can cause that type of pressure required to cause tinnitus and actually the valsalva maneuver has been known to help alleviate certain types of tinnitus. See http://www.aafp.org/afp/2004/0101/p120.html ("The symptoms may disappear with Valsalva's maneuver or when the patient lies down with the head in a dependent position").

Try backing up your claims with respected authority. People come here for truth not a bunch of random, made-up nonsense.

I don't understand why you're so worked up over this.

The valsalva maneuver is indeed safe for most people, and commonly performed for a range of exercises and activities to help equalize pressure in the ears, but that doesn't mean it can't cause tinnitus or damage your hearing.

You're actively forcing air through your nose while you have them blocked, you don't think it's possible that someone could force too much air and have something go wrong? Or better yet, already have a pre-exisiting condition like ETD and have that interfere? A bunch of people have their hearing messed up when traveling by air with a cold (blocked nose against pressure change), and I've seen other members on here have to discontinue HBOT treatment because it was causing more harm than good - not saying the treatment is inherently dangerous, but I'm pointing out that you can't really claim that extreme pressure changes can't mess with your hearing.

There's no one size fits all when it comes to this stuff. So, for you to say that we're just making stuff up is ignorant.

I had mild tinnitus starting 2012, and was dealing with it fine for about a year. Always felt that my ears were stuffy (common with tinnitus sufferers) and got into the habit of equalizing my ears when they didn't feel quite right. One day I perform a valsalva maneuver and instantly I felt something go wrong in my left ear, it popped weird and my tinnitus went from 3/10 in my left ear to 20/10 for about 8 hours along with an insane amount of pain. For the next year and a half my left ear was messed up: significant tinnitus increase, severe hyperacusis and TTTS symptoms.

Reason I advise against it to most members is that it's totally unnecessary in 99% of cases. Most of us suffering from tinnitus or hyperacusis have the feeling of fullness in our ears. Performing the valsalva maneuver will at best only provide temporary relief. There are also much safer alternatives to equalizing pressure.

So yeah, lose the attitude. We're all here to help each other and share our personal experiences.

 

[Nucleo]

Second, barotrauma refers to injury sustained from failure to equalize the pressure of an air-containing space with that of the surrounding environment.

Barotrauma is physical damage to body tissues caused by a difference in pressure between a gas space inside, or in contact with the body, and the surrounding fluid.

Yes and doing a forceful valsalva maneuver will do just that. When you have ETD/blocked ears you have negative pressure in your middle ear. Forcing air through the eustachian tube leads to a great over pressure outside the middle ear. When the tubes finally open to equalize pressure, air enters the middle ear cavity forcefully, possibly damaging the eardrum, ossicles or even worse, the oval or round windows.

 

[uae96]

I don't understand why you're so worked up over this.

The valsalva maneuver is indeed safe for most people, and commonly performed for a range of exercises and activities to help equalize pressure in the ears, but that doesn't mean it can't cause tinnitus or damage your hearing.

You're actively forcing air through your nose while you have them blocked, you don't think it's possible that someone could force too much air and have something go wrong? Or better yet, already have a pre-exisiting condition like ETD and have that interfere? A bunch of people have their hearing messed up when traveling by air with a cold (blocked nose against pressure change), and I've seen other members on here have to discontinue HBOT treatment because it was causing more harm than good - not saying the treatment is inherently dangerous, but I'm pointing out that you can't really claim that extreme pressure changes can't mess with your hearing.

There's no one size fits all when it comes to this stuff. So, for you to say that we're just making stuff up is ignorant.

I had mild tinnitus starting 2012, and was dealing with it fine for about a year. Always felt that my ears were stuffy (common with tinnitus sufferers) and got into the habit of equalizing my ears when they didn't feel quite right. One day I perform a valsalva maneuver and instantly I felt something go wrong in my left ear, it popped weird and my tinnitus went from 3/10 in my left ear to 20/10 for about 8 hours along with an insane amount of pain. For the next year and a half my left ear was messed up: significant tinnitus increase, severe hyperacusis and TTTS symptoms.

Reason I advise against it to most members is that it's totally unnecessary in 99% of cases. Most of us suffering from tinnitus or hyperacusis have the feeling of fullness in our ears. Performing the valsalva maneuver will at best only provide temporary relief. There are also much safer alternatives to equalizing pressure.

So yeah, lose the attitude. We're all here to help each other and share our personal experiences.

Yes dame

I don't understand why you're so worked up over this.

The valsalva maneuver is indeed safe for most people, and commonly performed for a range of exercises and activities to help equalize pressure in the ears, but that doesn't mean it can't cause tinnitus or damage your hearing.

You're actively forcing air through your nose while you have them blocked, you don't think it's possible that someone could force too much air and have something go wrong? Or better yet, already have a pre-exisiting condition like ETD and have that interfere? A bunch of people have their hearing messed up when traveling by air with a cold (blocked nose against pressure change), and I've seen other members on here have to discontinue HBOT treatment because it was causing more harm than good - not saying the treatment is inherently dangerous, but I'm pointing out that you can't really claim that extreme pressure changes can't mess with your hearing.

There's no one size fits all when it comes to this stuff. So, for you to say that we're just making stuff up is ignorant.

I had mild tinnitus starting 2012, and was dealing with it fine for about a year. Always felt that my ears were stuffy (common with tinnitus sufferers) and got into the habit of equalizing my ears when they didn't feel quite right. One day I perform a valsalva maneuver and instantly I felt something go wrong in my left ear, it popped weird and my tinnitus went from 3/10 in my left ear to 20/10 for about 8 hours along with an insane amount of pain. For the next year and a half my left ear was messed up: significant tinnitus increase, severe hyperacusis and TTTS symptoms.

Reason I advise against it to most members is that it's totally unnecessary in 99% of cases. Most of us suffering from tinnitus or hyperacusis have the feeling of fullness in our ears. Performing the valsalva maneuver will at best only provide temporary relief. There are also much safer alternatives to equalizing pressure.

So yeah, lose the attitude. We're all here to help each other and share our personal experiences.

yeah same thing happened to me just few weeks ago i did cause i felt my ears were stuffed and my t suddenly changed and went from to the roof for the whole day , but went back to base , so yeah doing that manouver can be dangerous to an extent and if theres no need to , dont do it ,