Weird Ear Pressure Change

I sometimes get that fleeting spontaneous tinnitus. Which I hate and it terrifies me. Sometimes it's every day. Sometimes not.

Very random

And sometimes this starts with a pressure change in my ear. Does anyone know the feeling I'm talking about?

So what does it mean when this pressure change happens... and no tinnitus appears? I still got my baseline tinnitus (ohhh lucky me)

 

In all honesty, an ENT might know more about "Ear Pressures" than us. Possibly go see one, wish you the best in your journey

 

@fishbone Bah. Already saw two ENTs, and two Audiologists, who told me: "excellent hearing!" and "looks like nothing's wrong!".

Thank's anyways.

 

I'm sorry, that they were not helpful. Trust me, you are not alone in this, at all. I have had my fair share of this and it can be challenging. Still wish you the best.....

 

@fishbone

Appreciate that brother I hope you find peace and quiet

 

Hi @IAmCalifornia - Prior to my getting tinnitus, through the years I experienced a shrill, almost supersonic-like noise in my right ear (the one I have tinnitus in) and I never knew what to make of it. Very strange it is but just as quickly does it appear for no reason does it disappear and I have yet to figure out what it is. Perhaps it was a precursor many years before to my getting tinnitus. I also do get a build-up of intense pressure from time to time but I am not sure what precipitates this either. The pressure is very disturbing and from an ENT visit a while ago, I learned that I had some sub-clinical hearing loss in that affected ear.

I can certainly understand your hating this feeling of pressure and I only wish I had some explanation for it. I am sure you were pleased to learn after you were checked out that your hearing is good and nothing appears to be wrong.

Sending good wishes,
Barbara

 

When I first got T I didn't have pressure change the issue. Not until I woke one night and I had re-pushed my jaw out of place. That happened in March. Which caused my quite almost gone T to restart up with a vengeance. It was super scary and I had tons of new noises. But I noticed right away that every time I moved, swallowed, breathed and so on the pressure in my ear shifted. That's what scared me. Especially for driving/travel as just walking it would have to re equalize. Heck, laying down. I knew it was messing with my T and making it louder when it reacted.

Doctors didn't care and had no answers for me as my hearing was still super great. In fact, they were so dismissive and didn't believe it was really happening. The chiropractor I went to that put my jaw back in place told me it was common for TMJ and that it might fade. Going into my 7th month since this happened and it has gotten better. However, I feel super pressure in my ears my T kicks in a high loud noise. It drowns out almost all other noises.

Even after my jaw finally got put in place I still had severe pressure issues. It took about 3 months to put it in and keep it in. I realize what really helped now is that I have a massage therapists who massages my neck, TMJ, and head. When the pressure thing would kick in and my ears couldn't quite sort themselves out the T noise I got from it would last 30 min to an hour. Now it lasts seconds and quits. My ears are getting much better, though I still have issues.

However, I've gone on all day drives with 1,000 ft elevation changes in short periods of time and my ears do better. The last loud pressure Ts I've gotten have all happened at home when I became congested and my ears couldn't quite adjust. I'm going to Bear Tooth Highway which goes up to 10,000 Ft and I wonder how things will go then.

I've found that information on pressurization issues vary and there's no clear answer. Many say it's from Eustachian Tube Dysfunction. Barotrauma which is only supposed to last maybe an hour max. TMJ symptoms are wide ranged and while my chiro said it was common I had a hard time finding real solid info on it.

But like I said my massage therapist has been a big help. She even does a massage that moves the ear and makes my muscles release. I know when I hear cracking and stuff now that it's from my muscles and cartilage on my Eustachian tube.

Hopefully you can find some help in my long winded reply. Most advice is that it will either resolve itself or not. Mine is slowly getting better so I'm hopeful. I've really never had issues with pressure in my ear accept for one bad flu.

 

@Shera Reading through your reply to the OP's post I have found a lot of good info for some of my issues as well. This forum is pretty wicked sometimes. I hear a bunch of weird cracking noises in my right ear, which is where most of my tinnitus resides as well. I hear this cracking stuff if I flex my ear on it's own, or at least, I think I'm flexing my Eustachian tube (hard to explain). I was told at the beginning of my tinnitus onset that I have Eustachian Tube Dysfunction but this never cleared, and in any case, all ENTs have told me I have healthy ears and good hearing. I will be looking into a good massage therapist because it sounds like you have some similar issues to mine. I grind my teeth but was recently given a mouthguard for sleeping, and while there's no change to my tinnitus, I can't help but feel this is all connected somehow.

 

@RonnieCarzatto Glad you might find some answers from it.

If you think it might be Eustachian Tube Dysfunction I'd suggest trying Flonase and then some garlic and golden seal for awhile. If not it very well could be some TMJ issues.

Interview the massage therapist so you can get one with experience. Some I asked didn't even know what TMJ was let alone that you can massage the jaw and so on. I talked with mine on the phone, and then in person when I got the massage. She was brilliant and has been doing it for over 15 years. She really knew all about it. Not only could she tell my jaw was still out of place, but even worked with the chiro who finished putting it in place. She is also moving my muscles back in place.

The massage she does in the ear (sounds odd) not only helps with TMJ issues, but if you have ETD as well.

 

During tinnitus, I have have good days and bad days.

During the bad days, I have a severe pressure differential that only lasts for 24 hours. Then the pressure stabilizes and goes down to a severe ringing.

How have you dealt with this sudden pressure difference?

Sometimes I gently press the palm of my hand over my ear. This works sometimes.

regards