Your ears may feel plugged or full. Sounds may seem muffled. You may feel a popping or clicking sensation (children may say their ear “tickles”). You may have pain in one or both ears.
If you're showing signs of eustachian tube dysfunction, your healthcare provider will examine your ear drum to see if it's functioning properly. They may also run tests to measure the pressure inside of your ear.
Clicking or popping sounds. A feeling of fullness in your ears. Pain that mimics an ear infection. Dizziness, vertigo or balance problems.
Eustachian tube dysfunction usually resolves in a few days to two weeks without treatment. You can take certain actions to open up the tubes, such as swallowing, yawning, or chewing gum.
Eustachian tube dysfunction may occur when the mucosal lining of the tube is swollen, or does not open or close properly. If the tube is dysfunctional, symptoms such as muffled hearing, pain, tinnitus, reduced hearing, a feeling of fullness in the ear or problems with balance may occur.
Symptoms of Eustachian tube dysfunction usually go away without treatment. You can do exercises to open up the tubes. This includes swallowing, yawning, or chewing gum. You can help relieve the “full ear” feeling by taking a deep breath, pinching your nostrils closed, and “blowing” with your mouth shut.
Close your mouth, hold your nose, and gently blow as if you are blowing your nose. Yawning and chewing gum also may help. You may hear or feel a "pop" when the tubes open to make the pressure equal between the inside and outside of your ears.
In some cases, people need surgery for a blocked eustachian tube. The doctor makes a small cut in the eardrum to drain fluid and to make the pressure the same inside and outside the ear. Sometimes the doctor will put a small tube in the eardrum.
In my experience, the most common cause is chronic nasal congestion, either from allergies or environmental irritants. Infection of the adenoids or the sinus or nose also are likely causes; to determine this, an ear, nose and throat doctor would visualize the adenoids to assess their condition.
They may be closed for months on end, leading to long-term symptoms of inner-ear pain and hearing difficulty. Chronic ETD is unlikely to go away on its own and must be treated by a healthcare professional. Allergies, illnesses and infections that cause inflammation may lead to ETD.
Sometimes, dried mucus or other particles can get stuck in or near the eustachian tube and cause symptoms. Clearing the passageways can help eliminate anything clogged in the passage.
If your ears are plugged, try swallowing, yawning or chewing sugar-free gum to open your eustachian tubes. If this doesn't work, take a deep breath and try to blow out of your nose gently while pinching your nostrils closed and keeping your mouth shut. If you hear a popping noise, you know you have succeeded.
In most cases, Eustachian tube dysfunction can be managed at home. There are several different things you can try. Steam inhalation can ease symptoms by getting more warm air into your nose and subsequently your Eustachian tubes.
Most cases of Eustachian tube dysfunction clear up in a few days with the help of over-the-counter medication and home remedies, but symptoms can last one to two weeks. If you're still having symptoms after two weeks, or they're getting worse, you may need more aggressive treatment.
Myringotomy (ear tube placement)
Through this outpatient ENT surgery, we make a small incision in the eardrum and place a pressure equalization tube in it to allow fluid to escape. As a result, it not only resolves chronic earaches, but Eustachian tube problems as well.
Pop Your Ears
But if an infection or irritation is present, that tube can swell. This causes fluid to back up. Popping your ears can help open the eustachian tube, allowing fluid to drain. The simplest way to pop your ears is to yawn, chew, or swallow.
Tympanometry is simple to perform and is repeatable, with a ME pressure below −50daPa highly suggestive of obstructive ETD, and correlating with other more complex ET opening tests.
Fluticasone nasal spray is available over the counter and is a nasal steroid spray. It is frequently recommended or prescribed for chronic eustachian tube dysfunction.
When it becomes stretched inward, patients often experience pain, pressure, and hearing loss. Long-term blockage of the Eustachian tube leads to the accumulation of fluid in the middle ear space that further increases the pressure and hearing loss.
When your sinuses are blocked, or irritated, your Eustachian tubes can become blocked as well. This is why sinus medication can help you clear your ears. Antihistamines (Chlophenarimine, Entex, ternafdine (Seldane) will help. Also, decongestants as discussed above and nasal steroids can help.