I have pressure in my ears that is worse when leaning forward. A blocked, like the ears need to pop, feeling. Tubes made the symptoms worse and my neck/lower head sore. Dr's are puzzled. Tests show normal pressure and ctscan was normal. My right ear is now sore to the touch. Due to the tubes obviously. They come out wednesday. I've done antibiotics, taking allergy shots. Any thoughts?

Sounds to me like you are suffering from a similar form of eustachian tube dysfunction that I am suffering from. Although the doctors have trouble seeing any problem it is obviously bothering you. Believe me. I know! My ENT suggested a PET tube in my left ear. Sounds like my suspicions are valid. The original injury involved a perforated ear drum and the symptoms were 20x more severe back then! I wish I can give you any sugestions. My problem bothers me so much that my GP gave me 30 mg codeine and 0.5 mg clonazepam pills to calm my nerves and reduce pain and suffering. He believes it should eventually clear on it's own. In the meantime it is taking forever. Hang in there.

I also experieince from pressure and popping my ears. I had drainage tubes put in 8 days ago and I think they are making everything worse. I have Eustachean Tube Dysfunction as a result of an infection from 1993. I have been suffering since. When I fly, it is awful and it takes 4-6 months to recover. The tubes are supposed to help equlize the pressure when I fly or go into higher elevations. I don't know if I can stand the symptoms that I feel now with the tubes. I have headaches in the back of my head/neck area now and I don't like it. I am going back to the ENT next Thursday. I think I might be better of having the tubes removed and dealing with the circumstances when I fly. There are Ear Planes out now which are pressurized ear plugs that help to stabilize the pressure in the ears. Decongestants prior to landing and Afrin Nose spray are supposed to help as well on an airplane decent.

The pain from the tubes went away about a week later but the pressure is the same. I left the tubes in because I don't feel like going the hassle of removal, so they should fall out on their own. Flying doesn't bother my ears. I have had more headaches and a sore/tight neck.