Ear problems

Hi Ama, sorry for late reply. I don't take meds for my AS only the occasional Ibuprophen 400mg, I was diagnosed with it 18 years ago after the birth of my last child, apparently the mechanics of childbirth had triggered it off, it started with Iritis in one eye which was misdiagnosed for 3 weeks and me ending up as an outpatient at the hospital for three months, it was after tests of different kinds that AS was diagnosed, the bottom of my back was found to be fused, over the years I have had flareups all of which eventually burn themselves out, about 30 years ago i had bouts of terrific neck pain which radiated down my arm, these bouts would last from a day to two weeks, I never went to the doctor because I just thought it was one of those things, I now think that it was AS, anyway that eventually burned itself out, but I do suffer from balance problems albeit slight and sonehow put this down to the neck episodes.

Hi Lucy, Sorry for the late reply. All this started back in August with a rumbling in my ears, I left it for over 6 weeks thinking that I had just got a blockage and that it would resolve itself over time, but as it dragged on and became annoying in that all sounds were making it worse, being in a noisy atmosphere gave me a headache because of all the noise droning on in my head, my voice also sounds loud in my head. The firsr Dr thought it was ear wax (I should say that on the onset of the rumbling my ears had stopped producing wax, this was unusual because I have since a child had an over production of wax to the extent that my ears needed wiping round every day, so this makes me wonder if my symptoms have something to do with this coincidence) and so I had just one ear syringed the next day, my good ear wasn't syringed because there was only a tiny amount of wax in it, anyway, I thought that this would have cleared the problem up, but not it sort of made it worse, so I saw another Dr a week later and she examined my ears and said it was a Eustastia Tube Blockage and prescribed a Becanase spray and lots of steam inhalation with Olbas oil, I didn't steam as much as she said I should due to time restrictions, but I did think that the steam helped but only slightly, what I do find when I steam is that I can hear lots of movement on my good side but none at all on the blocked side and if I pop my ears the good ear pops straightaway, the other side pops eventually but doesn't pop as well as the other ear. I went baack to the Dr's last week saying that there wasn't really any improvement, this Dr again examined my ears and said that the bad ear was slightly pushed across inside the ear canal, he also did a tuning fork test on both ears and said that both my ears were hearing fine in that they were both conducting as they should do, he prescribed another nasal spray Mometasone Furoate 50mg, one spray in each nostril once a day, at first I thought this was beginning to work in that my face felt calm, but that feeling didn't last above a day, I'm still left with the rumbling in the ears, my voice sounding loud in my head (perhaps not quite as bad) but the most worrying thing is the tinny sound in my bad ear, sounds going in this ear seem tinny and distorted as if something is preventing the clear passage of sound, funnily enough I only hear the tinnyness to it's full extent if I close up my good ear, when both ears are open the tinnyness is minimal to the extent that I hardly notice it and I only noticed it because I've found that if I block my good ear for a few seconds it somehow relieves the rumbling in my head. This whole thing has me totally confused and very frightened because I'm worried about my hearing albeit that I've been told my hearing is fine. I just hope that this problem resoves itself at some point, its' taking over all my thoughts at the moment.

Mometasone is a steroid, which reduces inflammation.  It's ok short term.

you can address build up of wax by putting 1 drop of warm olive oil in your ears every day, lying on your side and massaging behind the ear so it goes right down.

There is no quick fix - you need to make sure you clear your nasal passages - and the only way to do that is with inhalations.  You may find strong throat pastilles are easier, as you can chew them while doing something else?

 

Thank You Lucy, I will try the olive oil, I have been using the odd drop of Otex Ear drops but stopped this because of having my ear syringed, I still don't understand why my ears stopped producing ear wax, but i expect the olive oil would keep any wax in there moving? I have days of where I make the time to steam my face on an hourly basis, but with only little result, perhaps sometimes I feel a small amount of mucus in my throat, I'm presuming this is a result of steam, perhaps I should be more determined and not give up because of non results, I will try the throat pastilles. I'm wondering if this blockage has been a slow build-up because the stuffiness in my nostril has been going on for months usually with me waking up with it during the night, but as soon as I've moved or got up it's cleared, so perhaps the blockage I have now has been slowly building up and maybe more compacted, I also find that if I sleep on my good ear, it relieves the rumbling, it's only when I lie on my bad ear that the rumbling comes back, the tinny sound is there all the time, I know this sound is only a distortion but it still worries me because it is so odd. I have just made another Dr's appointment for this morning, more for reassurance than anything, they'll start to think that I'm a hypochondriac!!, (sure I've spelt that wrong lol) I'm not, I rarely visit the Dr's. I'll let you know how I get on. 

Been to Dr's, he has assured me that it is doubtful it is anything to do with my AS. He examined my ears and told me that the ear canal is being pulled in because of the pressure and fluid behind the ear drum and that is the reason for the sound distortion and that it is basically a time thing for the blockage to resolve itself, he asked if I've suffered with aches and pains in my face, I told him I had for many years, to which he said that people with sinus/hayfever often have inner ear problems at some time, I've to carry on with the spray, plenty of steaming and yawning/chewing actions to get the tubes open. I will keep you updated. :-)