Do I Have ETD If I Can Pop My Ears with the Smallest of Effort? My Ears Also Pop by Themselves

Hello all. I had a quick question.

I have always been able to pop my ears with the smallest of effort. They also just pop by themselves a ton. It happens constantly. I never really cared and never bothered me. Only reason I even know of ETD is tinnitus.

I DO have allergies and post nasal drip. I take an over the counter allergy medicine. I never complained to my ENT about the popping so never got a real diagnosis of ETD.

So my question is, does this sound like ETD or is it normal, especially for someone with allergies?

Thanks!!!

 

See an ENT. Unlike tinnitus, ENTs do know how to diagnose and treat ETD.

 

I am by no means afraid to go to ENT. Just curious about others experience. I never substitute a forum for doc.

 

Having ETD, I would say this sounds very much like it.

 

Ty dude. Like I said just curious. Appreciate the feedback as always

 

The sensation of ear fullness from loud noise trauma is massively misdiagnosed as congestion related ETD.

 

My ears do the exact same thing. I do not have ETD, but I do have confirmed TMJD. It apparently causes very similar symptoms.

 

I wonder if I have ETD as well, my ears can pop by themselves and also get that crackling when I swallow. It doesn’t happen all the time but enough to get annoying.

 

Exactly same thing here

 

Sounds more like patulous eustachian tube to me OP. Go see an ENT who is knowledgeable on ETD and patulous eustachian tube and clear your mind from the questions you have.

Not true, I have patulous opening in my right ear and still have ETD symptoms. Frequent fluid trapped in the ear.

Many people with ETD are suffering with no cure. Even balloon surgery doesn't work for some people.

 

That's because they never had ETD to begin with, the inner /middle ear can be damaged by loud noise and cause ear fullness, and then it gets misdiagnosed as ETD.

Audiologist literally just guess when they say ETD most of the time, or even crap diagnosis like water behind the ear, rarely can then verify it objectively. That would require a specialist otologist. Read stories on this forum about people visiting different doctors and getting different diagnosis, obviously someone's wrong.

Audiology is a very primitive medical field, it has a really long way to go.

 

Exact same thing here! I always do valsalva maneuver which is painful! I know i most not do that but that's the only option! Even when i do my right ear pops and the left stays closed sometimes! I have been to several ENTs and they told me you have ETD. The last ENT told me to use a nasal spray for 2 months. In case it doesn't work you need VTs! Been using NS for a week and it has had positive effects. ENTs are not that helpful when it comes to ETD. The doc told me there's nothing on earth you can take except for NS & VT.

* ETF test showed that i have ETD
* ETF = Eustachian tube functioning

 

Following weeks to months after my acoustic injury from very loud noise, my right ear felt blocked and hard as a rock sometimes. That certainly could not be allergy/ETD related as I never had a history of ETD before, it certainly had to do with a damaged ear from noise exposure.

 

I'm able to make my ears pop by swallowing or moving the muscles in my neck. Could this ETD?

 

Agreed. It's terrible, very primitive as you say. We don't even know why some people with severe hearing loss don't have any tinnitus while some with minor loss or no loss at all have tinnitus.

Friend has been to over 100 concerts, has double hearing aids now and no tinnitus. He's only heard tinnitus after concerts.

 

Not everyone with a lost limb has phantom limb syndrome, that would explain why not everyone with tinnitus has hearing loss. But we don't know the mechanisms and determining factors why.

ENT's have no interest in tinnitus, hyperacusis, noise induced pain and whatever other problems come from a damaged inner ear. It's just about selling hearing aids.

 

Exactly my point, which is why I believe curing most types of tinnitus is a long way off.

Also from your first point ETD does not only come with pressure and pain. There's the whole incorrect functioning to allow proper fluid drainage. Most people are chronically suffering with that. Me included. They have no idea how to properly treat the eustachian tube, most of it comes from the fear of it being too close to the carotid artery as well as it being difficult to get to.

 

I actually meant to same not everyone with hearing loss has tinnitus. I believe almost everyone with tinnitus has some degree of hearing loss playing a role in it, and exceptions are very rare.

 

Dr. Rauschecker says that we have some problem in the limbic system that causes tinnitus to reach consciousness. But I guess it's just a hypothesis.

 

Listening to music sometimes makes my ears feel they want to pop. That's when I know to turn it down (though it's rarely above 45dB these days). Anyone else get that?

 

I never had any issues with ear popping and crackling until after developing tinnitus. Currently it’s happening daily sometimes periodically sometimes constantly (like this morning). Very annoying

 

Quite likely. But actual nasal congestion, and post-nasal drip, clearly do not result from loud noise trauma. Both of those could be symptoms of an ETD.

We don't know exactly why some people experiencing loud noise trauma are damaged by it, whilst others experiencing the same noise do not. If a pre-existing ETD could be a cause, then would treating that ETD make any difference to the current noise damage? Probably not. But could treating an ETD decrease the chances of the existing tinnitus getting worse? That's my question.

 

I've been doing a lot of research and it seems like this thread it helping me figure some things out. I've had high frequency hearing loss since I was a child (26 now) but recently after a concert started to develop clogged ears and ringing in my right ear. The ringing didn't start until about two weeks after the concert - in the middle of a hearing test which was weird. I've had the symptoms of clogged ears and ringing for a little over two months now and the clogged ear pressure has become more severe. Never had ETD before, but after a swallow test an audiologist said I had an abnormal ETF test. Reading the comments here it seems like the audiologist might not be so accurate with this...

 

Are you still suffering from the blocked/clogged sensation, or has it improved for you at all since?