Tinnitus and ETD

Hello guys.

A lot of time has passed since my last post here on Tinnitus Talk. Now, a year after my tinnitus onset, I'm better. I discovered the cause of my tinnitus; stomach reflux which has inflamed my Eustachian tube. I use Omeprazole to treat it.

 

That will cure your acid reflux, but I don't think it's related to ETD. Inflamed Eustachian tubes could cause tinnitus. Check with @engineerLA's methods.

@Jokko, is your tinnitus gone or lessened? I'm going to see an ENT tomorrow about ETD, but I'm quite sure he'll say high frequency hearing loss is the reason for my noise. It could be a combination of things I suppose.

 

Nasal sprays and making sure they get into the Eustachian tube has worked for me.

 

My ETD is as the result of scarring of the Eustachian Tube from a severe ear infection I developed back in 2009; so it will be with me for life, unless medicine discovers some way to regenerate scar tissue somewhere down the line.

However I can ease the symptoms (especially when ill or during recovery after an ear infection) by doing the following:

• Steaming with essential oils (my choice is usually Olbas oil).
• Chewing menthol gum.
• Eating spicy food (anything with chilis).
• Eating raw garlic.
• Using a nasal decongestant spray (esp. steroidal versions like Beconase).
• Taking Ibuprofen (don't do this one myself due to the anecdotes about spiking, but theoretically it should help).

The above will either resolve or reduce the ETD symptoms, dependant on whether the individual case is acute or chronic. Because much like tinnitus, ETD has a window for treatment (that usually involves targeting its root cause). But once you've had it for over a year, it's indicative of a problem you will probably have to become accustomed to long term.

 

This I disagree with.

I’ve had ETD for 4 years. Started as a clicking in my right ear when I walked or ran and developed into loud pops every time I swallow or yawn.

I used Beclometasone for 3 years with no improvement. I was then put onto Mometasone spray, still with no improvement.

I then changed my regime to try and treat it once my tinnitus appeared as I was scared it was from ETD, which I now realise it isn’t.

I started using a nasal rinse 3 times a day as mine is due to chronic sinusitis and instead of using my nasal spray in the morning, I used it at night to allow it to properly sit in my nose without disturbance. I changed from spraying it up my nasal cavity to placing the bottle perpendicular to my face and then pointing my face directly down so the bottle was upright, you can actually feel it go right to the Eustachian tube when you hit it right. Once sprayed, do the Valsalva manoeuvre 2-3 times to get the spray inside the tube.

I noticed a 75% reduction in symptoms within a week.

 

Thanks @Damocles - sorry to hear about your ETD.

I have Olbas oil en route from Amazon today, so will try steaming when it arrives.

I've self-diagnosed the ETD based on symptoms of crackling in both ears when swallowing after a small noise trauma a week ago (hit my hand on plastic indoors clothes line).

The noise wasn't even that loud really, even by my phonophobic standards, but the crackling happened almost straight away (within 15 minutes) - all the tones of my tinnitus increased in pitch, and sound more 'tinny', along with the crackling.

Does this sound similar to your ETD symptoms?

 

Thanks @DeanD. But as I said, it's the least of my problems. Still live in hope that one day it will be the worst of them.

Good job. You won't regret it (ask my mate @ZFire).

Crackling (esp. when swallowing) usually hints at fluid trapped behind the eardrum, which yes, is a subsequent result of ETD and the tubes not draining efficiently.

I suppose it's not inconceivable to think perhaps the noise event had some knock on effect which caused both effusion and constriction of the Eustachian Tubes, at the same time.

That or alternatively, the crackling is some form of TTS which was triggered by the noise event (sometimes it can be a straw that breaks the camel's back, after multiple cumulative noise traumas over time).

In any case, there would be no harm in addressing the problem as if it were standard ETD to begin with, and then approaching it as if it were TTS or acoustic trauma later.

In both the latter and former's cases, treat it (like with the steaming) and/or avoid further complications (read: noise traumas), and the issue will likely resolve itself eventually.

No. For me I only experience crackling post-ear infection or cold/flu, as I mentioned.

My day-to-day experience of ETD is simple equalisation issues. I wake up every morning with air trapped behind my left eardrum, making sounds sound far-away, and the tinnitus a lot higher in volume. It can get stuck that way for a couple of hours, but will eventually correct itself by me swallowing or being exposed to some sound that makes the eardrum contract.

Not sure where the disagreement is.

It sounds like you have chronic ETD which you're managing to alleviate via a daily routine.

Chronic ETD is chronic ETD and the likelihood is that your symptoms will resume as soon as you stop what you're doing to remedy them. For all intents and purposes, I could steam every day to assuage my ETD problems, but who has time for that? It's not making that big an impact on my life anyway.

The day my ETD stops being chronic is the day a resolution for the damage an ear infection from 13 years ago has done, can be undone. If your ETD has lasted 4 years without fixing itself, then for you too, I imagine it's going to take more than a nasal rinse to cure.

Playing with fire doing the Valsalva manoeuvre btw. Same goes for nasal rinses and Neti pots. Wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.

 

@Damocles, what's the issue with nasal rinses and Neti pots?

 

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This falls under the same bracket as the headphones "debate". But basically, I've never found any need to use one of these things, and have no intention of ever doing so.

For everyone else who feels these handful of stories are of no value, please continue to enjoy your Neti pots/nasal rinses. I've about as much interest in debating it, as I do debating whether you'd fall off a crane if you climbed it for a selfie.

 

I haven't noticed any damage from nasal irrigators, EarPopper, Valsalva maneuver etc. I just think my left ear was damaged from airplane barotrauma. I'm getting a tube put in my left ear on January 4th, 2023. It might just be damage done that's not fixable. I've tried almost everything.

I asked about balloon dilation but all 3 ENTs say that hasn't worked out too well. One said he would put a tube in my left ear which I had done years ago without any benefit. I woke up this morning at 4:30 am with my left ear blaring.

You could be right, but I remember a person on this forum that did the Valsalva maneuver like 30 times per hour to rid himself of his tinnitus:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/posts/242760/

I don't think it would hurt your eardrum, but as far as penetrating your inner ear and damaging the inner ear hair cells, I'm not sure.

I mainly use an EarPopper which has controlled pressure to blow out my Eustachian tubes. I kind of do it out of habit or panic when my noise is loud in my barotrauma ear. I don't blame you for being cautious as you don't want to make things worse.

 

Thanks @Damocles - I've started with the Olbas oil steam and will see how this goes.

Unfortunately my symptoms of this unexpected 'trauma' seem to be a mix of symptoms shared between conditions ETD, TTTS and MEM - and all triggered by this one event (about 60 dB max!). I hate trying to self-diagnose. I can't imagine that one incident has triggered all three symptoms).

I know I had TTTS beforehand as I felt muscle tightening and contracting inside my ears. This though had started to get slowly better.

Now I have strong constant head pressure being driven by one of the tones of my tinnitus, slight dizziness and disorientation especially when walking upstairs, to crackling sounds when swallowing, to 's' sounds beginning to sound very 'tinny', and causing an immediate reaction to one of the hissing tones of my tinnitus.

Although I am keeping noise at bay, and living in near silence (albeit without earplugs) I am finding symptoms are only worsening each day.

Even a washing machine running downstairs, or the heating boiler in the next room running, and I can 'feel' the sound as pressure at the top of my skull. I had none of this until last week.

Not knowing what it is, and how best to move forward is - like many of us experience - the hardest part.

 

Well, @DeanD, my tinnitus had slowly been climbing between the ages of 13 and 19. Then 2009 saw me develop an ear infection off the back of a concert I attended. To this day I'm still uncertain of which event to credit more or less for my life as it is now. But it would seem my lifestyle was going to bring me here one way or another. Maybe just later, rather than at the point it did.

So basically, what I'm conveying to you here, is that there's not much point in trying to pin down the exact event that brought about your current circumstances (unless that event is something rectifiable: like a neck problem you've developed that might be responsible and could be fixed). I say this as one of this site's (probably) most straightforward cases. And yet, I've given up thinking it over: which one thing I should have done differently.

My ultimate thoughts on your situation are: that whether it's becoming worse or not, even in silence, nothing is going to make it worse than further noise trauma. So keep on protecting, whatever happens. I saw your post in the other thread and I am telling you, on no account let the fear of losing your girlfriend pressure you into exposing yourself to another trauma. Pushing yourself will result only in her leaving later, but with you in an even worse state than you are in now.

At the point you can (that is to say: as soon as you can), get yourself to a doctor to rule out anything serious regarding these head pressure issues. I've never experienced such a thing myself, but it sounds horrible.

Basically: get yourself checked over (ASAP) as there might be something fixable amongst your issues. But avoid noise, before, during and after you do (at least until symptoms start improving).

Finally, believe in your body's ability to heal. It might never go back to how it was, but it can certainly get a lot better than it is now (providing you don't cause any further damage).

 

I’m dealing with an intense ETD flare up at the moment. I’ve been having pressure issues, fullness, clicking/crackling sounds when swallowing.

When I breathe in through my nose, hearing gets muffled. When I exhale, hearing returns back to normal (more amplified as well). It’s really puzzling... Is this normal?

Finding it extremely difficult to unblock my ears at the moment.

 

I wonder if it has to do with that bad air quality from the Canadian forest fires? I am in Western, PA and it was SO hazy today, instructed to stay indoors. If I recall you're in the upper part of New York?

Not sure if you feel okay doing nasal rinses to clear the sinus cavity but that has helped some people, especially if it is allergens/toxins in the sinuses. Something that helped me get over my temporary ETD stint (pre-tinnitus) was getting on a supplement that helped me regulate and break down histamine. It is called DAO.

 

Hey @ErikaS,

Fortunately, my ETD symptoms have started to subside since writing that post. It was a bit scary though...

I think it was a classic case of ‘airplane’ ear for me. I went hiking high in the mountains the other day. I could feel the changes in air pressure affecting my middle ear as I was ascending the mountain trail, popping noises, etc. I’m guessing my Eustachian tubes couldn’t react fast enough. I also didn’t come prepared for this hike. No gum to chew or a decongestant to take beforehand.

Well anyway, it took a while, but finally the pressure has equalized now. Some steaming and pinching my nose while swallowing repeatedly seemed to helped a bit.

Thanks for the input, @ErikaS. This DAO supplement you mentioned is intriguing. I have never heard of it. I know my histamine levels are all over the place, so will look into this.

Those Canadian wildfires sure are something though...