I went to the ENT this morning after having an audiogram and tympanogram done yesterday. He says all is normal except the eustachian tubes ( the ones from the ear to the throat ) are blocked. He didn't want to do anything, until I told him it has been like this for months and months. He wanted to wait it out to see if it got "any worse", but its been like this for close on a year now and progressively has gotten worse. My GP had me on several decongestants to try and drain the fluid, but to no avail.
So I managed to get the ENT to put a tube in one of my ears, the worst one.
My question is, I guess lol, can blocked eustachian tubes cause trouble in understanding speech, brain fog, fatigue, light-headedness, vertigo, etc? and can this stem from severe throat infections I have been having the past year? ( which I assume so, throat and ears are connected lol ). Also, what else can I do to help relieve this, it is very frustrating, ppl blame me for not paying attention, or listening, when in fact I am, I just can NOT understand them or what they're saying.

Also, how long before the anesthetic wears off? lol, my ears are "rumbling"

Well I haven't been experiencing those symtoms, only the sensation of my middle-ear feeling stiff with mucus(no runny nose) and phlegm at the back of my throat I need to keep coughing up. I saw my ENT last week and after all the tests he said everything was fine; just that my Eustachian tube was a little swollen. Then he shoved a camera up my nose and down my throat and found adenoid tissue.

Hopefully after the biopsy things will go back to normal, BUT I THINK an allergic reaction has developed - probably milk and soy.

Does anyone else with a chronic middle-ear infection like mine suffer with poor sleep? I tend to wake up around 4am and then not get back into a proper sleep. I used to sleep 8-10 hours flat out but for the past two years with this infection I sleep very light. The ENT said this is not related - is he wrong?

Hello Angela and Magical Rat,

Sorry I don't have advice, but I do have a question -- roughly what was the cost of the ear tube procedure?

All I have heard from others is "a lot" which could mean anything. To some "a lot" is $2000, could be $500, could be $1000. Could be more than $10,000.

So I have absolutely no idea whatsoever how much we're looking at, even just a ballpark would help me -- I'm trying to get the funds together, to have this done.

I think a couple of years ago it might have been around $300. But I would not be surprised if it has gone through the roof by now.

I have 50% loss in both ears from chronic infections, and tubes I think might help me.

Thanks,
Lynie

:eek: Well, I have the answer to my own question. In case it helps anyone else, the rough estimate I got for a myringotomy here in New England region (very rough estimate, probably a bit higher) was: $2850 physician, $3650 hospital fee. So a total of $6500, minimum.
Lynie
PS If anyone knows of substantially lower cost (somewhere in the US), please post!