Ear Pressurization or Ear Barotrauma

I'm very curious about others with tinnitus having this issue. My tinnitus was caused by neck/head injury and was very mild. Then about the 4th month in I kind of freaked and listened to bad advice. That my tinnitus was now lingering because of the many sinus colds I had during the winter. I was advised to plug my nose and blow, then to sleep with hot packs on my ears for the night.

It got worse and I quit doing it all. (After way over doing it and having panic attacks.) Sadly I woke up one night and I was pressing my face so hard into my pillow and the new T started. I quickly realized that anytime I swallowed my ears would get pressurized. Also put my jaw way out of place which I didn't realized I had hurt in my accident. It's been 5 months and this has lessened, but I still have to swallow to allow my ears to equalize while driving.

It still even still does it when I swallow and I'm sitting. I'm assuming it gets better over time, Ear Barotrauma is supposed to slowly cure.

I know my T reacts to it now. Not always. One drive spiked my ear for seconds where I could hear nothing but T and then that new T noise was there much more quietly until I reset it with sleep. I did go up in elevation in 1,00os when it did that. However, I did one that was a whole day with sea level to 7,000 above and it handled better.

I'm curious about others having pressurization issues with their tinnitus? Did you have it and it went away?

Thanks I'm curious as I've tried searching the threads.

 

Bump. Still curious if other have issues with elevation changes and their tinnitus?

I know that's when mine got out of hand and I didn't have it until month 4 of my tinnitus.

 

My ears can’t equalize pressure and I have to swallow all the time to get little pops and then 10 minutes later they are “full” again. Did this ever improve for you @Shera?

 

seems to me that an ENT should have answers to symptoms like this, but if not then i really wonder what ENTs can do?

 

Tinnitus can be caused by Eustatian tube blockage or other issues as @Shera describes. My ENT has checked mine and that is not the cause of my issues. However, I do remember him saying that if meds or sprays didn’t work that they could surgically place tubes through the ear drum to equalize pressure. I suspect that might be @Shera issue and a visit to a good ENT may be helpful.

 

@Michellejean Kind of. My jaw has gotten better. As it has the issues aren't quiet as severe with the preassure . . . kind of. Though I notice it lessons and then comeback full strength. They really can sort themselves out. In fact, I went swimming in a 10 foot pool. My ears were constantly trying to pressurize and when I surfaced the literally farted air pressure. The noise and feeling was creepy, and tickling.

@BobK544 I've thought this as well.

@BobbyH I've thought about this too. I've only gone to an audiologist who happens to run a free program at the university near by. So I'm not sure if the air pressure test he does can fully tell if it's a blockage though he says it shows they're pressurizing well. Don't really have faith in ENTs, but the real issue is I can't afford it. Self employed taking care of my parents and I have no health insurance. Before Obama care I could at least get a deal on paying for it without insurance. But it would cost $1,000ish for the first visit and then maybe the lowest at $500 for followups if I'm lucky. Don't get me started on drugs or anything else.

I've had a feeling that the severe TMJ/TMD caused something funky in my Eustachian tubes. I keep hoping that the more my TMJ heals the more the ETD issues will. But it's not working that way.

I've tried flonase nasal spray cause it's cheap and it seemed not to help. What kind of meds or sprays do they usually have you take? It would be nice if it was over the counter stuff, but I have my doubts.

 

@Shera that pressure test the audiologist gives you is to check for a hole in your eardrum that could be causing hearing loss. Equalizing pressure across the eardrum is a function of the ENT. I sympathize with your concern of cost and insurance. If the VA wasn’t paying for my care, I’d be in the same boat as you.

OTC decongestants are fine if the tinnitus comes from Eustatian tubes blocked by allergy. If they don’t work, then the next step is to see if it’s a physical issue within the ear. When you mentioned you got some relief while at 7,000 feet elevation, that’s what made me think it was a pressure imbalance across your eardrum causing tinnitus spikes. I don’t have any experience with TMJ. I’m sorry you’re suffering and I hope you find relief soon. Take care.

Bobby

 

Thanks!

I have tried some of the over counter OTC decongestants then. Yeah, didn't do a thing.

I'm pretty convinced it has something to do with pressure imbalance or such as well.

 

@Michellejean Keep me posted on what your doctor thinks or does for you. Your sounds pretty much like mine. I'd get fullness and weird pressure changes so often. I was swallowing twice a minute it felt like and when I'd exercise my ears were popping all the time because even breathing changed them. I actually started forcing myself to quit swallowing so much.

Like I said it's a bit better now and I think it's because my jaw is a bit better.

 

I'm still struggling with the exact same thing. Constant crackling and popping when I yawn and swallow. And a constant feeling that my ears need to pop. I also have tmj which doesn't seem to heal because of the need to yawn everyday lol. I also have excessive pleghm. I constantly feel it in the back of my throat, and never seem to be able to swallow it down. l did read the other day that tmj can be rrsporesponfor a blockage of eustachian tubes, and an excessive production of phlegm, so I guess all out problems probably lie in the tmj

 

Yeah. After research and the 1 year and 8 months joy of this I'm thinking TMJ is the main cause of my ETD/blockage issues. I was thinking of you for this after people started replying.

Have your doctors recommended anything for it?

 

No nothing new unfortunately. I've tried countless nasal sprays, antihistamines, steaming etc. But nothing seems to work

 

I think if it stems from TMJ/TMD the normal stuff doesn't work to treat ETD. Treat the TMJ to see some ETD relief. Though the splints and braces seem to be hit or miss.

However, I did find that glucosamine chondroitin msm helps bring down inflammation and joint pain. Even with my TMJ. Took about a week and I could feel better. Two before my TMJ really felt it.

Has your T at least remained low in volume?

 

It varies a lot. It really seems to depend on my posture and positioning of my jaw/neck etc. I have some control over it by massaging my shoulders and neck. Sometimes its hissing very agressively, and then i move into another position and it lowers in volume. It does make me feel partially happy yet also on edge that I seem to have a little bit of control over it. I do occassionally wake up with screaming fleeting tinnitus in the middle of the night which never fails to paralyze me with fear until it goes away. I feel like im always lying with my neck in a weird position when this happens and my shoulders are always stiff so it definitely seems to be related. I do seem to be having a weird hearing problem lately where my own voice and voices of others seem to have this weird metallic feedback and I dont quite understand what that is about. I do feel like my ear is clogged with mucous everytime its prominent, so its probably a sinus thing, but it still freaks me out

Sorry for this whole rant haha

 

No-no! Share and rant away! That's what were here for on TT to give and get some support. I had some feedback/weird hearing issues like that for about 7 months. Now they're almost gone but occasionally come back, but go away after a good nights sleep.

Maybe try soaking your ears in a nice hot tub? I know it sounds odd but once I had a horrible flu and my left ear got super quiet T. It felt a bit clogged and the mucus just kept running down the back of my throat. I took a super hot bath the next day and soaked in the tub for about an hour before suddenly my ear made a crazy noise and released.

I've taken a few hot baths like that and it helps relieve some of the ear fullness for a little bit.

 

Same boat! My ears popped terribly while on high elevation and now my ears are in tremendous pain plus having a bit of clarity problems. Hoping it clears up in a few weeks.