Does Anyone Have Bad Eustachian Tube Dysfunction (ETD)?

Does anyone have bad ETD? Where your ears feel full all the time.

I was diagnosed with ETD, I had negative pressure in both ears, which showed on my hearing test.

My ears will not open, I can pop and make them crackling just by opening my jaw. Right after I pop them they go back to feeling full.

I hate this feeling, the weird part is, when my ears do feel more open which is rare, my tinnitus becomes more louder!

The fuller my ears feel, most of the time my tinnitus is more baseline and I can deal with it a little better.

Does anyone else experience anything like this?

 

I just got diagnosed with ETD yesterday.
I don't know much about what to do about it yet.

 

I have the same problem. I've not been diagnosed with ETD but have my suspicions.

 

@CrystalB and all, I have bad negative pressure too, I don' know if that is causing my T since i have other somatic symptoms too. What are you doing to treat ETD? What type of sound do you have? Sometimes I feel air is being blown out if my ears...same? I was using Flonase but stopped after a week.

 

A relatively new and effective treatment is balloon dilatation for eustachian tube, you can google it.

 

Well I have been on nose spray on and off, it seems to help a bit with the fullness and pain but the tinnitus is still there. I have an extremely high pitch hissing sound. What kind of sound do you have?

Today has been a bad day, my ears are in pain, so full and loud, my ears have just had it. They mentioned surgery but said it may or may not help the tinnitus, and I would lose some hearing. So I don’t know what to do.

 

@CrystalB My ears feel full too; the audiologist did tell me I have a lot of negative pressure. I have an extremely high pitch hissing/tonal/whistling sound, ranging from low volume to very loud where masking is not possible and keeps you awake. I'll try the saline spray; I'm a bit hesitant on using Flonase since I have some vision issues and Flonase causes vision issues. My T also seems to be very somatic; it changes with neck and jaw movement (bending down/leaning back, etc). Does yours?

Do you feel fluttering/slight movement/vibration in your ears as well? If I plug my ears with my fingers, I also hear a whisking sound, like an extended pulse sound, if that makes sense.

 

My ears pop every time I swallow or move my jaw and my eardrums are slightly impacted, but they move fine and pressure in ear is fine, so docs say I don't have ETD.

However, last ENT specialist recommended the balloon method referred to above. I tried to use it a couple of times but struggled to blow it up with my nose (which is a bit embarrassing as it's primarily meant for children!), and it really hurt. Made me a bit worried, so I've been hesitant to use it.

 

I can’t say if you have ETD, but balloon dilatation is actually different. A small balloon is inserted in your eustachian tube and inflated to open it up.

 

Did you do an extended audiogram up to 16000 or 20000 Hz?

It could be just regular tinnitus from damage to high frequencies and ETD on top of it.

 

Oh sorry! Yes, the balloon thing I was referring to is just something you buy online for £5...

 

That was my first hearing test done when it started, and then my second hearing test.

 

Hi @CrystalB, did your ETD resolve or alleviate? Thank you.

 

Yeah, mine is constantly swollen/full. I had an MRI yesterday focusing on this area, and am waiting to hear back the results for it. I might look into the balloon dilation or having a small tube inserted into the middle ear through the eardrum to alleviate air pressure and drainage.

Problem with the balloon is it doesn't seem to have an effect on this little bony corridor leading from the middle ear (below picture). I had my ENT insert a camera up my Eustachian tube but other than it being "crusty," it looked fine. We will see though... I'm tired of this swelling/dull pain for the last 4 months.

I'm praying it isn't permanent. When I get exposed to 70+ decibel noise, it does swell up and the dull pain comes along shortly thereafter. I pray this isn't a form of noxacusis given to me for the damage I did.