please help - fluid? - Hearing Disorders Message Board

endofmyrope · 06-13-2003, 07:24 AM

Every night when I sleep, my left ear becomes clogged. When I wake up, all I usually have to do is yawn real big, and it opens with a loud whooshing sound. I have a history of ear problems, I suffer from a 30 db loss in each ear. It seems that I am also more susceptible than others to cnages in pressure, and every time I get a cold my ears become clogged for days on end. Toda when I woke up, my left ear was completely clogged, and I cannot hear anything out of it at all. There seems to be nothing I can do to help. This is very alarming and extremely irritating. I also have a sinus infection, so I am more congested than usual. What can I do to open my ear passages again? Is this permenent?

mlgable · 06-13-2003, 08:11 AM

The sinus infection is most likely causing the clogged ear. Use sudafed as needed to see if that helps. Take care of the sinus infection and if you are not sure if it is totally gone when finish the antibiotic then ask the doc to do a set of sinus x-rays to be sure it is totally cleared up. Some times it can take more than one dose of anitbiotics to totally clear up a sinus infection. Also be sure the doc checked your ears for possible infection/fluid buildup when he diagnosed your sinus infection. In the future be sure to use a good antioxidant supplement to help prevent future sinus infections.

zip2play · 06-14-2003, 07:06 AM

endofmyrope,

Off the top of my head, I'd say you have narrow eustachian tubes.
Best you can do without drugs is a nice piping hot cup of chamomile tea before bedtime....keeps fluids flowing while you sleep.

See if something like Sudafed (or cheaper OTC pseudoephedrine) helps at all to keep the channels open. Take this in the morning or it will have you awake all night.

Long steamy showers.

Learn the middle ear ventilating techniques (hard to describe on-line...somebody else called it VALSALVA)