Fullness in Ear After Acoustic Trauma

I have fullness in my right ear after an acoustic trauma.

I don't have hearing loss, but the fullness and tinnitus are still with me. I hear well in both ears.

Has anyone got any advice on how to get rid of the congestion / fullness feeling?

I have cracking in my ears (possible ETD in my both ears, but I have the fullness only in my right ear and it started before ETD).

 

I would check out Gua Sha and acupuncture, both of which you can do on yourself for very little cost. I've had success with both. I think cupping holds potential as well, but I've not yet tried that. -- All the Best...

 

I'm 9 months into tinnitus after loud noise.

Now I have fullness in right ear which makes me crazy.
Fullness in right ear was from first day.

There is no hearing loss or any problems with my ears.

Any advice on how to get rid of the fullness?

I take NAC and magnesium but they do not help...

 

I have the same symptoms... Fullness in both ears following a very loud microsuction procedure in 2016... I have extensive hearing loss above 8khz standard hearing test. After 3.5 years my normal hearing range is beginning to suffer. I still have extreme fullness and debilitating tinnitus that never goes away.

 

Have you tried taking decongestants? Sudafed, Claritin, Flonase?

 

No. Would it help?

 

Update.
Yesterday was better. This morning the fullness was in left ear but now it is again in the right and makes me crazy.

 

I had significant fullness in my left ear for almost 2 months after my trauma. Just be patient and rest your ears.

 

I would like to understand the principle of its occurrence; psychological, physical or is it stagnation of the lymph or if the reason is in the pillow or in nutrition.

It's the 21st century, and we are so primitive and have not investigated simple things.

 

Oh, it’s actually very straight forward! When you get an acoustic trauma, your ear is hit pretty hard. Like every other part of your body the ear gets inflammation when it is hurt. Because the middle and inner ear are so tiny this can block it off and give you a full feeling. As with the rest with your body it will improve with time, but may not return fully to normal depending on the level of injury. Be patient and positive, it makes recovery less taxing on the mind.

 

I like the thought of snail inflammation. Unfortunately, there is no medical information about this. What kind of medicine or dietary supplement can I try?

 

Two possible methods to use to flush crap out of the inside of the ears:

1. PatulEND - basically vitamin c nose drops. Drip it in to get into the Eustachian tube to clear it out. This has an added benefit of killing any bacteria.

2. Sinus Rinses. (NeilMed or others). That will invariably get some salt water up in there to clear it out as well.

 

Maybe if you sleep on 2-3 pillows instead of just one your ear fullness could reduce. I am just speculating, I don't know what kind of acoustic trauma you had, but try it. It could help in cases of tear of round or oval membrane between inner and middle ear.

 

You might have tonic tensor tympani syndrome. Try to avoid loud noises as much as possible. At the same time, you should still expose your ears to normal sounds.

 

ETD is essentially just E tube inflammation, outs is from noise trauma vs the typical allergies. The fullness is a general hearing loss symptom, you could look into an extended audiogram to see how you’re doing.

 

Wow I never heard about this, glad you mentioned it... seriously wonder if that is what is affecting me with the ear pain. Good explanation for the TTTS ignorant, like me.

http://www.hyperacusis.net/other-factors/tensor-tympani-syndrome/

In the comments section...

”Hi everyone. I find that if I hold a mug of warm water over each ear in turn it really does alleviate the symptoms. I do this most days some more often than others. ”

 

Never heard of that 'treatment'. If ear fullness ever bothers me again, I'll try it out.

 

Hello,

If you suspect ETD, it doesn’t hurt to try the above. My first ENT suggested Flonase due to mild congestion but I’ve read it can help with ETD.

I read a post on reddit of someone who cleared their tinnitus completely with over the counter Allergy pills. Claritin D Specifically is a decongestant so if you have any lingering fluids clogging you up it might help. I could feel the drying effects that same day, mostly in my nose/mouth so be sure to up your water intake if you chose to go that route! Sudafed may work as well. I took Claritin D for about 2 and a half weeks in the first two days it seemed to help my fullness go away. I stopped taking it because I ran out and am now taking Benadryl to sleep and it’s essentially the same thing.

My ear fullness does seem to feel a bit better but it could just be that it’s gone down with time as I’m going on about week 8 with tinnitus now.

These are common symptoms, do you have many of these?

• a plugged feeling in the ears.
• ears feeling like they are filled with water.
• tinnitus, or ringing in the ear.
• muffled hearing or partial hearing loss.
• ticking or popping sounds.
• pain and tenderness around the ear.
• a tickling or tingling sensation.
• trouble with balance.

Being that yours is noise induced, I'm not sure exactly how much all of this will help, but it may address your ETD

 

On the warm mug of water... Something my mom used to do for me a lot when I was little was boil potatoes (any kind, around 2). Peel them, mash them up, put them in plastic wrap or a plastic bag and it serves as a homemade hot water bottle.

This can be used on the ears, behind the ears/on the sinus areas. The heat may help loosen any sort of secretions in the area. If you have trouble with neck pain, might not be a bad idea to use on the neck, shoulders as well to help the muscles relax.
Did it last night and it great.

The good thing is the potatoes can be re-used, just reheat them in the microwave and use another day.
You can also use the steam from the water you boiled them in originally while it's still going, place a towel over your head and inhale the steam for a few minutes (also something good to do if you're sick/clogged up)

Russians and their potatoes

 

In my experience, the middle ear fullness seems to be a way for the ear to try and protect itself. The middle ear muscles like the tensor tympani activate, which are involved with eustachian tube functioning which in turn get affected, thus causing ear pressure.
9 months in is not a long time. It takes time, even years. Try to avoid loud noise as much as possible whilst also listening to enriching sound. Do not over protect either. Take some time out from the real world if you can.
Also you might have some hyperacusis too from the acoustic trauma.

 

@Yuri_ol how are you? I'm 9 months after the acoustic shock with very similar symptoms. I will soon try an intratympanic steroid injection.