Eustachian Tube Dysfunction and Inverted Eardrums

Just been told I have this - prescribed Betahistine and Beconase steroid nasal spray. Will see what happens.

Anyone else been told they have inverted eardrums? Is this commonly linked with eustachian tube dysfunction?

Maybe this diagnosis would explain why I've had problems with nasal congestion and general breathing difficulties for the past few years.

 

I was told the same thing before. Curious do you experience or have experienced any type of vibrating hum type symptom. Not regular T, something you can almost feel and sound is like 60hz low bass pulsating, as if a truck outside your house was idling.

I'm wondering if this issue has anything to do with it.

 

Yes that's exactly what I have experienced for over 10 years. I'm pretty much habituated to it now.

Interesting if there is a pattern here. We know about high pitched whines being associated with loud music. I believe an ETD could be a factor in why one person going to a concert gets T when the same person next to them doesnt.

 

Yes I have a weird sound going on, have ETD probably caused by TMJ.
Do you guys have any hearing loss?

 

Can ETD improve?

 

My hearing tests over the years were perfect. But will be updating for general tests soon because of this vibration issue coming back in a permanent state.

There's no way I can habituate to it, it's actually killing me slowly. I won't last long if I can't diagnose and treat this. my T/H was nothing compared to this abuse.

Could you tell me a little about how you first got it? A certain trigger, random? Also, is it more of an on and off again issue with certain triggers and periods of remission? Or is it essentially 24/7? Does it alternate in intensity of the sound level and vibration strength?

Mine started in 2015 at random once I awoke in middle of night. I first thought something was outside rumbling and then noticed it was in my ear. This wen't away after a few hours. Over the next month I notice slight ear pain, and the rumbling vibration pulse would trigger when I awoke, or driving a car and turning it off to hear it much worse until it calmed down.

This slowly wen't away fully around the 6 month mark. Sadly, now in May of 2019 it came back at an almost 24/7 rate and more intense. It happened the morning after my Grandfather passed (so a lot of crying and being upset the whole day trying to console my dad ect.). I thought I remember waking up and hearing it vibrate for a minute. It wen't away. Stupidly afterwards, I tried new earplugs that morning to take my mind off things and just do something, and I just had got new earplugs from the brand Decibulz. These are like normal plugs that go into your ear, but have a plastic moldable part that you mold to the outer ear.

After pushing in and around the ear canal for 45 seconds I was feel some discomfort and not a good fit. I took it out and the vibration was back so badly I couldn't even believe it. It's been stuck since with periods of 1/10, 5/10 to 10/10 intensity/loudness depending on if I make it worse.

Driving like in 2015, makes it go to a 10/10 after turning the car off. If I rub ear too much, or even use earplugs now two months later, it will exacerbate it. And when I say 10/10 I mean the vibration/sound becomes just a continuous thing without any pause in-between or break, and the intensity of the vibration skyrockets. It will do this util it comes back down to a 5/10.

Oddly, when I got sick with a Cold, and it peaked on Wed evening/Thur last week, it was 100% gone. I couldn't believe it. I had pressure in my ears like you get with a bad cold, like not equalized on a plane, phlegm in chest/nose, all normal stuff. Even sick my ear finally felt normal.

Of course, once I awoke Friday and the pressure was gone and I felt 95% better, it came back with such a passion. It's been awful for 3 days since, probably I assume a result of the intense coughing and blowing that has further injured or hurt what ever is wrong.

 

Sorry to hear that. Actually I was listening to my "rumble" before I opened my browser today and saw your response. I think it's got a bit louder again since my high "whine" sounds started. Either that or I'm just listening out more for my various sounds.

I'm working at home today to avoid aggravating my whine sounds, but because it's quieter at home I'm more aware of my rumble. I feel your pain, because it's impossible to mask the rumble sounds, just to drown them out.

I've occasionally had a break from it when I've been on holiday, just for the first night or two, but then it rolls in again by the third day. It's as if the ears are attuned not just to my own physical condition, but also to the environment around me. Like it takes a day or two to attune to the new surroundings and then switch on the tinnitus again. Very odd.

 

Is your intermittent outside of vacation times or more continuous and doesn't change in sound and vibration intensity? Does anything make it worse/more intense? Are you able to drive for awhile, turn off card and not feel/hear it more intensely? Or use earplugs in the ear and take them out and not hear/feel it worse? Are you able to sleep on the ear without it making it worse?

When did you first notice it? Did it just start and that was the end, or did it go into remissions at times? Has any acoustic trauma triggered it? Does loud sound at all effect it?

Thanks.

 

I'll try and answer these questions

It's only been on 3 or 4 occasions that I have noticed the humming stop completely, on the first couple of days of a holiday. Perhaps I was more relaxed on those occasions than others, idk. Apart from those times, no remissions. I do think it is slightly less deep than it was at the start.

Apart from that it's continuous, though I'm more aware of it in the mornings and evenings when at home. I usually don't notice it when I'm out and about, and busy. When someone talks to me though, it stops. It's only when there is enough silence that it starts again to "fill in the gaps". I've not been aware of it with earplugs in.

I'm pretty sure the cause of it was a pyrotechnic explosion at a Rush concert in 2007. I later learned they had started using the same pyro team that used to do Kiss shows which I have never attended (because I'm not completely stupid). I remember being on a holidays before then and hearing complete silence, which I've never heard since that concert. My right ear felt an immediate burning sensation and I suffered loss of hearing for about an hour during the concert (which I really should have left at that point). I had a slight high-pitched ring which I could only hear in silence, until a concert in April this year and two further spikes. Very minimal further impact on the low hum though. It doesn't react to sounds the way that my high sounds do.

No ongoing pain or pressure associated with the low T in all that time, just since I got my high T.

Hope that helps!

btw the concert where I got my high T wasn't even a rock concert - I thought I was safe...

 

So I've just come off a chat with my work colleague, and suddenly I am more aware of my low-frequency tinnitus. It does almost feel like my eardrums are vibrating with it.

I think this has always been the case, but I had habituated to it quite well. I'm going to have to watch that I don't de-habituate to it by giving it too much attention.

That's what everyone says - don't pay it too much attention, try and carry on with your life. Easier said than done in some cases, but it's good advice.

I wish you all the best.