To ask about blocked ear/eustachian tube dysfunction - desperate!

[fortunatelynot]

Sorry to be incredibly boring but does anyone suffer from ETD?
Had it on and off for a few months after getting a rotten ear infection a while back - it seems to have made my ear susceptible?
Some days I am fine; others I wake with a completely blocked ear, ear pain etc. It (not surprisingly) gets bad if I have a cold/sinus issues etc but also seems to be present at other times. I try to clear it by pinching my nose and blowing and get lots of crackling.
I take decongestants, blow regularly etc. I have seen the doctor occasionally but they don't really say a lot apart from keep using decongestants.
I often now hear ringing and to be honest, its really getting to me. It is only ever one ear (and the same ear)
Any other sufferers/tips etc?

Does this work if there is fluid behind the eardrum? Or just if you get water in your ear?

I really don't know how it works, any science behind it and if it causes long-term damage or not, but when you're in agony with nowhere else to turn, you'll try anything. If you put a few drops of olive oil in your ear first and wait a day or two, then it reduces the risk of making an existing problem worse.

Although I've had positive results every time I've tried this method (irregularly over the years) the last time I did it about a year ago the ear pain went but it seemed to flush some toxins through to a lower tooth, which was odd but understandable; it all settled down eventually.

And in regards to tooth pain, I found another similar remedy that worked so well I had to mention it to my dentist at the time:

Use a cotton bud to soak the painful tooth in hydrogen peroxide.
Then use a cotton bud to apply Vanilla Extract to the tooth.

@Helen1625 hi! You described exactly what i feel like? What helped you? Also how long did it take to go ? Thankyou :) x

I started getting a blocked ear regularly at the start of the year, it was only one side and lasted about a day at a time then went away for awhile and then always seemed to come back. I hadn’t had an ear infection for years. I used those ear oil drops a few times and I haven’t had a blocked ear since.

@Luxell934 what ears drops? Just olive oil? X

Saline spray and otovent is what the ENT recommended to my daughter. After nearly a year of ear pain it solved it in a week.

Hi Starrrz, it took 3 long months for mine to show any improvement and another month or so for my ears to feel normal like they were working together. The tube must have just opened enough to get some drainage. I tried saline sprays, steroid sprays, antihistamines, steam, using a humidifier in the bedroom overnight, Sudafed and an Otovent. I can't honestly say which of those things helped as I didn't seem to be getting a relief from any of them. It just began to gradually ease.

@Helen1625 thankyou for replying :) ive also been doing all the above ! Hopefully it will wase soon! I hate that rumbling noise in my ear! Soo annoying xx

Hi Starrrz, hopefully it will ease for you soon. I paid to see an ENT consultant I was in so much discomfort, he didn't help a great deal to be honest, he said it was most likely eustachian tube dysfunction and suggested a couple of hearing tests to see if the fluid had gone but didn't really advise much further than that. I saw another ENT at the beginning of this month following another brief spell of having a blocked ear. He put a camera up my nose to have a good look around to see if anything untoward was happening. (If only the first consultant had done that 🙄). As I wasn't experiencing any symptoms at that time he couldnt say for sure but again felt it was ETD. He's given me a letter that says I can ring up any time in the next 12 months if I experience symptoms and he'll see me quickly to get a firm diagnosis then a plan of action. Hoping it doesn't happen again as it was awful.