Can’t hear properly - blocked Eustachian tubes

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I wonder if anyone has any miraculous cures for blocked ears - not ear wax - blocked Eustachian tubes.

I have had a chronic respiratory illness since Easter. Since taking a flight last week my ears have been completely blocked. I can’t hear normal conversation and have to work from home as it’s embarrassing at work - I can take part in tel calls etc but have to use a high volume which I am worried will cause more damage.

The GP advised steroid nasal spray and anti histamine which I have tried for 3 days now with no effect.

I have booked an acupuncture session in a couple of days in the hope it will provide a cure.

I am worried I will stay like this forever. Does anyone have any experience of cures for this? Should I be referred to ENT now. I am experiencing a significant heating loss.

Thanks

Well not much progress. Saw the audiologist at the hospital. Just confirmed there was fluid in my ears - no shit! She said they would give me another appointment ‘to discuss my condition with a doctor’. I should be grateful there was no suspicion of something sinister but I just want someone to tell me how to fix it!

On the bright side, some hearing returned to the left side when using the Otovent earlier. This side has been completely blocked and was worse than the right. Though it has blocked up again since. Still at least it’s a start.

I have acupuncture again tomorrow but feel more positive that the treatments you all suggested all working!

The nasal irrigation device suggested by @supertedlasso arrived today, so will try that as well!

I had etd for 9mths to a year . It started after a bad cold then flying . My hearing was never that bad though my main symptom was feeling pressure in ears and cracking. I saw 2 ent specialists in that time one was useless and just said it was fluid but other was great did scans etc .

There is a really good article I found online at time that I can share if you need. Was not sure I was allowed to share on here

I hope it goes away soon . It won’t last forever but it was a horrible thing to deal with so you have my symphathy .

At very last resort if it last years but that unlikely they can operate and there is also a new procedure now too that did not exist when I gas my issues .

I steamed every day with menthol crystals. Worth a try

You mentioned you have a kind of hangover respiratory thing in your op. I wonder if it is actually a rhinosinitus with post nasal drip situation.

I have this. It’s been nearly 5 years of coughing and blocked ears. Keep on for an ENT referral. I’m waiting for surgery as a CT scan showed that my sinuses are 90-95% blocked even though there’s no guarantee that it will solve the problem with my Eustachian tubes (and ultimately my hearing issues) it will at least allow the various steroids to get to the required areas.

Blocked ears are utterly miserable. You have my sympathies.

One other thing you could try is a cold or allergy medicine that contains guaifenesin. It is a mucus thinner and very good for ENT stuff, although it wont work overnight. Just be careful you arent using several products that contain multiples of the same ingredients and accidentally overdose on one

There is a really good article I found online at time that I can share if you need. Was not sure I was allowed to share on here

I’d like to read this please, if you’ve got it to hand. Should be ok to share a link here (?).

That was to @Elliejane , apologies.

Just found this article which looks like it has a few things that might be worth exploring:
homeremedyshop.com/remedies-for-eustachian-tube-blockage/
Will definitely be trying some of these myself.
I hate attending with ENT, they always want to shove a bloody camera up or down my nose and I struggle with swabs for COVID tests, let alone having a fricking camera poked down there...

I find that sleeping with my head on a hot water bottle (worst ear on it) helps to draw the ear drum out and helps it to clear a bit. I tend to have one ear that's worst and I always sleep with that ear drum on the pillow. It's a terrible terrible thing to suffer with and always makes me feel so isolated.

I had a massive metal straw like thing shoved up mine, I ws crying and in pain and he just kept on going.

Olbus oil helps clear mine when they get bad. A tissue with some on held up to the nose for hours and a few drops in a vaporiser overnight. Depends what the fluid is though I guess.

@MistyRock the first time I had it done, they didn't even explain where it was going. I made them stop and they did use numbing spray before they tried it again, but it was in a very eye rolling why are you making such a fuss manner.
I wonder if they have to undergo it during training, they bloody well should do!!

I can't remember if my doctor explained it to me, but it was very painful and it made me reluctant to go to any follow up appointments, I obviously did, but I was scared. Tbh I get scared of the dentist too, and I go for colonoscopies... Which are the f**king worst thing in the world for me (crohns). So so painful. I hate anything slightly invasive. But cesarean... Walk in the park. 😂

www.fauquierent.net/etd.htm#google_vignette

@Mainfeature this is link I found it quite useful , I had my ear issues in 2014. They did go away in the end . Mine was a long time and I struggled to cope with it it at time .

Recently in last few weeks I been having slight issues again after flying . No where like before but I always wear it happening again .

@IdiotCreatures & @MistyRock sorry to hear about your ENT encounters, sounds horrible.

On the acupuncturist’s advice, I put a couple of drops of warm olive oil in each ear - a mistake as it gave me a mild earache.

Thanks for the links and hot water bottle idea. Also @SeaToSki’s comment about guaifenesin - arriving later today.

@Iwantcollarbones point about nasal drip is spot on. Trying to address that with the nasal wash device.

My ears are completely blocked today again. Thanks again for all the ideas and sharing experiences - it keeps me going to know I am not alone.

It is awful trying to cope with it for so long. I’m good at lip reading now at least. For ages my ears would hear sounds differently too - only noticed when I heard a dial tone completely differently depending on which ear I used. My ENT said my ears were ok when I went, but by that point I’d been irrigating all the time (my GP told me to keep doing it). I still sometimes wake up with fluid in the ear on the side I was sleeping on but it’s never as bad as it was before. I should have mentioned I have TMJ disorder and I think a lot of my ear issues are related to that.

Steroid spray can take a good while to work if I recall too. Nasonex I think it one of best ones .

I don't think anything in the ear will help as the tubes that connect the ear and nose are the ones which are damaged, so anything that goes in the ear won't reach. I think of it a bit like a balloon. The tube bit (eustatian tube) you blow into is damaged so instead of a lovely full balloon/ear drum you've got a horrid crinkling onto its self ear drum that can't work properly until the tube is fixed.

@MistyRock The acupuncturist’s idea was that warm oil would be likely to cause the mucus in the Eustachian tube to liquify and move. I have tried using a heated wheatbag on the ears and head instead. The pharmacist said to try a hot towel round the head.

I am using a guaifenesin medicine now so hope that helps.

Also added steaming to the repertoire. Still using the nasal wash, Otovent and the steroid nose spray (piritese on doctors recommendation) and anti histamine.

Oddly enough, I tried humming at a low pitch so that it seemed to resonate and that seemed to improve it for a few minutes.

Ah, okay.

Oh yes, low humming helped me too! And ENDLESSLY doing huge fake yawns and waggling my jaw around helped also. I think all those things massage the tubes. Really hope you get some definite progress soon!

I've had this problem for 6 months now. Third occasion and twice for shorter period last year. My GP really fobbed me off regarding an ENT referral - I had to ask three times and eventually got a 12 month referral!

I went private a couple of weeks ago and so far have had to pay £800+ for a consultation and CT scan!! The consultant saw a lump blocking my ear hence the scan to check what's going on. The GP missed this on examination and assumed eustachian tube dysfunction. Results this week, but I may need to pay out again for surgery depending on the result.

From the sound of your very urgent referral it sounds very much like I suspected that they've not followed the correct guidelines here.

It's absolutely awful to be without hearing for so long OP, I hope you're sorted quickly and it's not anything other than blockage.

Thanks @CuppaWhiteTea I have been following the massage videos on YouTube. Glad I’m not the only one who thinks humming helps!

Sorry about your experience with the rubbish GP @honeynougat I hope you get it sorted out without it costing the Earth.

I think the first GP I consulted over the phone was spot on that it’s an allergy type thing as the underlying cause. The second GP who I saw face to face (after my complaint) was convinced I had ear wax and then panicked and rang the hospital when I obviously didn’t.

I am in the process of changing GP after 20 years because I am sick of receptionists deciding who gets to see a GP and ears are just for nurses apparently.

I have heard nothing more from ENT at the hospital but imagine it will entail some unpleasant poking around my nasal cavities and waiting 3 months to see if it goes by itself. So no great hurry.

I was tempted to go for a private ENT but don’t want to rush into surgery if there is a possibility it would just clear up.

You have had a chronic respiratory illness since Easter, this plus the flight plus possible seasonal allergies (are you a hayfever sufferer?) is all likely to contribute to ETD. Certainly in my case & mometasone fuorate steroid nasal spray helped so be prepared to keep on with these + complimentary cures a while longer before considering private. Sorry you've got receptionists triaging you, some practice nurses are very good but do understand your wish to move GPs. I looked at otoscopes online (nerdy!) & some have bulbs on then to effuse the ear so the examiner can see more of what is going in behind the ear drum. To my recollectio, GPs I've seen use 'plain' old otoscopes.

@CherryRipe1 yes thanks that is my conclusion. I am keeping on with the treatment.

In respect of changing GP, I did not appreciate the receptionist reading my notes out loud, deliberately muffling her voice to ‘test’ my hearing and then declaring that doctors do not deal with ears among other things. This was when I sitting at work in tears because I could not hear what my colleague sitting next to me was saying and begged for someone to help me. I think the receptionist likes the power element.

When my DH rang to request a copy of the complaints process he was told there wasn’t one! This is just the latest in a series of incidents.

My daughter is a vet and their receptionist would be sacked if they talked to a client like that. I don’t see why I should be treated less favourably than an animal, because I pay through taxation rather than directly.