Otovent

Hi all, I thought I would tell you about a product I've just purchased from Amazon for very low cost. £6 (roughly $10) It consists of 5 small balloons and a plastic "nozzle" for want of a better word. What you do is place the end of one of the balloons over the nozzle and hold the nozzle up to one of your nostrils. Hold the other nostril shut by pressing against it with a finger. Then take a deep breath, and with your mouth closed, blow as hard as you can through the nozzle to inflate the balloon to about the size of a grapefruit. Keep your mouth closed and swallow. Then take the nozzle away and let the air come out of the balloon. Repeat this with the other nostril. Do this 3 times per day for about 2-3 weeks.

There are various causes of tinnitus and this will only work for tinnitus caused by some sort of ear or eustachean tube dysfunction, which is what I think mine is caused by.

I have tried the Vasalva technique and notice that my right eardrum pops but my left eardrum will not budge (which is the ear mainly affected by Tinnitus).

My Tinnitus has been pretty bad yesterday and today - hissing with a high-pitched whistle over the top. Last night I had a really bad night's sleep because of it so was very low this morning. I started using the Otovent device yesterday and noticed that it did partially pop my left ear which is a good sign that things are starting to move.

You may think this is yet another "scam" device making all sorts of wild claims and preying on desperate people. Well for such a low amount of money I am willing to give it a try, and you can use ordinary party balloons once the ones in the pack are spent so it's really just the nozzle that you are paying for. Also, please google the reviews. It has received rave reviews from lots of consumers who definitely sound genuine. Click here to read the reviews: Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Otovent Glue Ear Treatment

I will keep you updated on my progress. I would also be interested to hear anyone else's experience of this product.

All the best.

 

Hope this works for you, but without trying to make anyone worried I would be wary of doing this, or the valsalva maneuver too much. I caused my tinnitus to become worse in my left ear after doing the valsalva maneuver once too many times. I got used to doing it because my left ear always felt dull compared to my right ear, and would regain a good chunk of my hearing after popping it (I think I also have some sort of ETD to do with my enlarged adenoids) - however it was always a weird struggle to get it open, sometimes it felt like blowing up a balloon in my ear and then one day after popping my left ear, I experienced significant pain and then super loud tinnitus which subsided in a few hours but did make my tinnitus overall slightly worse in that ear. So be careful!

 

You are right to warn people. I have noticed that my left ear seems to budge a bit more when I use the balloon but have also noticed an increase in intensity of my tinnitus so am now rather wary of using it myself. I had also read that it was not too good to do the Valsalva Manoeuvre too much. Yesterday I bought some eardrops containing hydrogen peroxide, after reading another post elsewhere on this site, but then read on the leaflet that it should not be used by Tinnitus sufferers! Aaarrrrgggghhhh! Anyway, how is your tinnitus fairing at the moment?

 

I'd suggest to try neti pot first. It has reduced my tinnitus a lot and also helped my ETD!

There are lot of tutorials on internet how to use it.

Just make sure:
to use non-iodized salt (sodium chloride)
to use boiled water (I use 2 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of salt)
that the water has cooled to body temperature before you use it
to blow your nose gently afterwards

Usually after I blow my nose I bent my waist so that my face is parallel to ground and move my head from side to side. This will help water to come out of my nose.

Nasal irrigation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Thanks for this - it's worth a try.

 

4 days ago, I booked an appointment with my GP as my T was making me very depressed. She said she can definitely see bubbles behind my left eardrum (which is the loudest ear by far) and has now prescribed Flaxinase Steroidal Nasal Spray. She did tell me to be extremely patient as it "takes a few weeks to work". Also, she recommended Otovent and said it is commonly prescribed for this condition! Anyway, I told her I had it but that I was a little wary of using it too much. She said that I should use it as often as possible as everytime I use it or perform the Vasalva manoeuvre it really helps open the tube, so I'm back using it again. However, last night was a bad night for sleeping - high pitched loud whistle in left ear. Still got it today but not so bad with other noises around.

 

I use a neti pot and or the nasal squeeze bottle kind (easier and more efficient, imo). I use kosher salt or Himalayan salt with a pinch if baking soda as recommended recently as a new protocol by Dr. Oz. Use distilled water, never tap water unless boiled as mentioned above. I find it very helpful and great for allergies. Blowing gently is key.

 

I have had a high pitched ringing in my left ear for 6 years,i have got used to it,i only tend to notice it when it is quiet,however the last 2 weeks i also started to hear a low rumbling noise as well as an echoing sound and that is more annoying than the ringing.
I went to see my GP thinking it was wax or an infection,turned out it was neither,he said i just need to pop my ears,something which i have never been able to do.
I read about the otovent kit,so i ordered 1 from amazon and have now been using it for 5 days,i think it is working as the rumbling sound and echoing is now intermittent,so i'm hoping it goes completely.
I have an appointment for a hearing test next month as the doctor said i have some high frequency hearing loss in thet ear.

 

@Sybs are you still around?

How did things go after this?

I've ordered an Otovent, but it hasn't arrived yet. I was going to be very cautious about using it in any case, but I appreciate your warning, and I've seen some other cautionary messages on the web, but also the rave reviews.

It's interesting that some UK GPs have been recommending this, as they are usually a rather conservative lot, but at least I thought that must mean it was relatively safe. (May not be the case of course).

I'd been thinking of also getting the Neil Med nasal irrigation bottle, but then saw a comment by a doctor on their website that it shouldn't be used if you have a Eustachian tube blockage (which I strongly suspect I have).

The ENT I've seen hasn't confirmed that, but then (although he is a nice chap) he doesn't use technical language with me - assumes I won't understand I suppose, and last time I made a slip of the tongue and called my "air-bone gap" an "ear-bone gap", thus destroying any technical cred I might have had, so he assumed I hadn't a clue what it meant when in fact I had done quite a lot of research into it. Next time, I'll go armed with a set of technical questions and perhaps some diagrams ...

@Lulubug69 if you are still around, would you care to comment on the advisability or not of using the squeeze-bottle irrrigator with a (possibly) blocked Eustachian tube?

 

I used the Otovent for about a week (9 days) and my ears popped when swallowing but then a couple of days ago my ears popped when starting to inflate the balloon... does this mean it is likely that the eustacian tubes are opening much easier and - should I continue to inflate the balloon... or stop....
and new edit... the inflation has reverted to as before.. inflate balloon and swallow and ears pop...

 

Sorry to post again, I don’t like to keep bothering all you wonderful people
but there’s just no other place with anything approaching answers.

The doctor gave me an otovent today, and I started it this evening. You’re supposed to inflate the balloon up to the size of a grapefruit and I just could not do it I really couldn’t the air just wasn’t coming out my nostril (which is weird because I breathe through my nose but whatever). I did it as much as I could anyway. I felt both my ears pop, left one quite a lot and just afterwards the ringing was worse in each ear, but the left one feels as it did before now, both still feel like they need popping as they always do now. But I think the tinnitus is marginally worse especially in my right ear.

Is it getting worse before it gets better? I’m not sure what to do, should I keep on with the otovent and hope it will begin to help, or should I ditch it and find another way to treat the ETD?

I caught a train a couple of weeks ago, on which my ears both popped severely and worsened tinnitus which has only just got back down to baseline so it seems almost silly to pop them on purpose, I don’t know what to do. I am wondering if I should do steam inhalations and a saline nasal spray for a few days before I try it again to soften everything as I’m extremely wary of forcing it.

I am also worried because I am at home with my mother for a couple of weeks and she will be furious if I refuse to do it (she treats me like a child and won’t listen to my opinion despite knowing ZERO about tinnitus) and I know that sounds stupid but she is terrifying when angry. I said outright today that if anything made the tinnitus worse I wouldn’t do it, because I was worried about some iron supplements I have to start taking (severely anaemic) making it worse and she said ‘you have to, anaemia can kill you’ and I just said straight that I would rather die than have raging tinnitus (I’ve been having a rough few weeks with it) in a simple attempt to explain the seriousness of it to me, and she looked at me like im a stroppy teenager, she doesn’t get it. And of course if she is angry she will yell, haha, which would also make me worse, and I can’t get back to where I live in exeter without taking the ear-popping train journey.... rock and a hard place. Sorry that turned into a ramble.

Any thoughts/experiences?

 

Hi all,

I get a range of tinnitus from single tone sounds to chirping to being able to hear my own pulse, but its the Otovent I really want to discuss and find some others who can perhaps help or support. I was looking for an active forum and found this one. I hope this is a topic that is ok to talk about here, I suspect many people may have overlapping ear issues like me.

I have trouble popping my ears and I have retracted eardrums. I cannot generate a reliable pop from Valsalva. I have success sometimes when in the shower, due to the steam loosening things up I assume. Also when exercising, my ears sometimes pop. When they pop it is always uncomfortable, due I think to the stickiness of the eustachian tube and the hypermobility of my ear drum. Its also normally the right ear that pops first, I am hardly ever able to get the left ear to pop. Its also the right one that hurts more (and where I normally get the tinnitus).

I have an Otovent balloon but I cannot inflate it. It feels too much force to get it going, so I can't bring myself mentally to push hard enough. I am anticipating the uncomfortable and slightly painful feeling that I will get when my ears do pop, which is holding me back.

Through research I have found out that the balloons are designed to inflate at a pressure of an equivalent of 0.7-0.9m depth in water. That is not a very high pressure but it certainly feels it when trying to inflate the balloon with my nose.

Does anyone use the balloon? Has anyone had the same issue as me with inflation and how did you get through it? Does anyone use the balloon regularly with retracted/hypermobile eardrums and get any problems? Did using the balloon help? Does popping your ears get easier over time, does it help to exercise/train the eustachian tubes?

Would love to hear people's views.

Thanks


Edit 13:30 - notice my post moved into this existing thread which hasn't had any replies since 2017. Was really looking for an active forum to discuss this issue but am having real trouble finding anywhere. There is no support available.