Can someone help me with my ears!

[Realitea]

Always had tinnitus since I can remember.
Last year I also had labyrinthitis.
This year I've had a virus for about a month and my ears feel swollen inside if that makes sense. If I talk too loud or shout, the noise inside is deafening like something needs to pop.
I constantly have a high pitched ringing and when I swallow it makes a crunching noise.
To make it worse i recently got on a plane. Since then everything's worse and it sounds a lot of the time like I'm holding a seashell to my ears.
I don't hear quiet noises as well as I used to.
What in earth is it!

My ear was like this when I perforated an ear drum. You really need to be referred to ENT. Sorry I can't help more

You have helped..I was thinking it might be something like this. I haven't had any sudden pain in either ear though and they're both as bad.

My DH suffered for ages like that, backwards and forwards to the GP who was useless. In the end he paid to see an ENT surgeon privately who diagnosed glue ear. He had a grommet put in by this surgeon but on the NHS. He's so much better now.

How strange, I was just reading about glue ear and I'm convinced that's what it is! I'll see what my gp says. I'm sure this is what it is!

Could even be as simple as wax build up?? I'm a practice nurse and when people come to have their ears syringed this is quite often what they explain it feels/sounds like x

Have a google for 'Eustachian Tube Dysfunction'.
Do you recognise yourself?

Lots of help available for that.

ETD

I have ETD sounds exactly like it.

What can be done for a ETD? It really sounds like that. It would explain a lot.

The link I posted suggests possible treatments.

It's basically all about debunging yer tubes

So, steam, menthol crystals, short-term decongestant sprays or tablets, longer-term nasal steroid sprays (as an anti-inflammatory), antihistamines all have a role to play.

Blowing up balloons can be good too as it gently pushes pressure up the ET while you 'push' air into the expanding balloon.

Glue ear in adults, while possible, is not that common because adults are bigger than children - it's purely a size problem. Bigger head, bigger tubes, better drainage. Of course just as the shape of everybody's nose is different, everybody will have a subtly different size/shape of ET, so some people are much more prone to these problems than others.

I know I am deaf for about 3 days after flying. It wears off or 'pops' if I yawn in just the right way

What treatment have you had so far? Have you spoken to your GP about it?

As far as I know from my ent appointments nothing can be done. The things that work for me are antihistamines and Flixonase nasal spray.

I was nearly referred six months ago to have my ear issues looked in to but the gp decided there's no point. Maybe I should talk to her again if my new purchase doesn't work. I've bought a balloon you blow up through your nose to fix this exact problem! I'm quite excited but have to use it once the cold has gone.

I had a appointment at the ENT clinic, the doctor pushed something up my nose like a metal straw, all the way up, it was effing painful, he sent me away with two nasal sprays and thought grommets might work. I went back and the grommets were a no go! Not sure why but apparently they are not a permanent solution. I get my ear trouble maybe once a year and it lasts for about 2 weeks tops. When I get it I take antihistamines and the nasal spray as well as normal pain killers.