Hi

I hope somebody on this board could provide me with some advices.
It's been 3 months that I've been having a problem with my ear. My left ear started to feel blocked. I then experienced vertigo and a hissing high piched tinnitus. My left eustachian tube was blocked. This condition was relieved with medrol. But I still have the tinnitus and now loud and painfull crackeling sounds when I swallow. Anybody knows about this? My ENT says these slaping noises means that my ET are functioning but they didn't use to crackle this way before. I never had any ear problems before, but the whole thing started while I was really really stressed. I also experience ear pain some times or a itch but there is no sign of infection or allergy. What do you think?

Fibrine, Paris, France (escuse any spelling mistakes)

My ears play a symphony to me, in all sorts of strange clicks, rings and sounds.
Swallowing, and clicking is usually a sign of a recent ear infection of sinus infection that also affected the "tubes" of your ears.
Swallowing uses a lot of muscle in your jaws and neck. If you have been sneezing alot, it will surely bring on the swallow clicks.
I have had ringing ears since I was 9 years old (34 now).
It scared the hell out of me when I first noticed it, in the middle of my 4th grade class and I freaked out.... and back then, noone knew what it was, and I was tossed from one hearing "specialist" to another.
Bottom line....once you get the ringing, ...it never goes away.
It varies in the intensity, but taking control and dealing with it will make life easier.
Sleep with a fan, a large noisey fan, to keep your ears occupied, and take your mind off it.
To this day, I can concentrate on the ringing, and listen to it, and it will get louder, louder LOUDER...and so loud it almost brings me to a panic attack.
I consider myself an expert on this, going through so many doctors when I was young. I feel that I can teach them a thing or two now since I have had to deal with it on my own because none of their therapy worked. Back then, Dimetapp was the prescription for it. My mother bought gallons of it, thinking because it was a prescription drug, it would work. Guess what? Today you can buy it at Walmart and its no more effective than my 10 dollar fan I sleep with at night.
On days or hours when you notice it the most, if you stop and think, its during times of stress that you notice it the most.
For emergencies, when the ringing gets so loud you think you are going to run down the aisle at the movie theater screaming " I cant take it anymore!!"....the most effective thing to do is take your hands and scrub the outside of your ears with them. just rub them repetitively in a circular motion around your ears....the loud sound will drown out the ringing...and take your mind off it for a few seconds. Keep doing it until you find something else to worry about!
Good luck....and dont sweat the throat clicks.....they are just a welcome committee from the Tinnitus group telling you "Hello"
I will be monitoring your response since Email exchange is against the rules here. But if you need anymore advice, post here, and I will respond.
D@N

thank you very much D@n for your reply.
I have found a very good board: "tinnitus support" and got a lot of support from them. Do you know this site. Your long experience with tinnitus could be of help there. I am getting my tinnitus under control (it's still there but I don't panick as much). Crackling of the eustachian tube is still there too. I wondered about tension from the jauw and neck muscles ...and I think there is a connection.
Fibrine