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Ear pain close to 2 months

Posted , 4 users are following.

Seand0612
Seand0612

Hello-first time posting, I’ve been experiencing phantom and sharp ear pains in my inner right ear for close to two months. I originally went to the Doctor Who checked my ear, no infection but said it was inflamed and prescribed me Flonase, most likely due to allergies. Please note, I have never experienced hardly any inner ear pain in my life, never had an ear infection also. Been religiously taking the Flonase in addition to Sudafed, Afrin, ibuprofen, and other decongestants with no relief. Went to the ENT  hello-first time posting, I’ve been experiencing phantom and sharp your pains in my inner right ear for close to two months. I originally went to the Doctor Who checked my inner check my ear, no infection but said it was inflamed and prescribed me Flonase, most likely due to allergies. Please note, I have never experienced ear pain in my life. All of these seem to help very little. Went to the ENT  three weeks later and said ear was textbook. Ran a hearing test which went very well also. Wanted to conduct an allergy test a week later but due to my high end insurance deductible, I decided not.  I am still experiencing the phantom ear pain and a fullness feeling in my right ear. I recently purchased the eustachi tool and started to use. I went on a 3 day beach trip the day I started using it and didn’t experience any pain - I was ecstatic. Once I went back home, the ear pain started up again! Please help. I am at the end of my rope with this. The anxiety from this is killing me. My wife thinks I am crazy and overreacting. 

0 likes, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • ChristinaGD
    ChristinaGD Seand0612

    Posted

    Hi. I have fullness in both of my ears. It started when I moved to the mountains. I've seen 3 ENT Specialists. First one looked in my ear with the plain ol' Otoscope and it took him 3 seconds to decide I needed Grommets (ear tubes.) I had one surgery to have temporary Grommets inserted and they fell out immediately. Went back to him and he said I needed permanent Grommets (not really permanent, they're supposed to last 7-14 months or something,) they also fell out immediately. Second ENT Specialist told me there's nothing she can do and to move down the mountain. (Which I cannot do as I'd be leaving my family and our newly started plumbing business.) Desperate, unable to cope any longer, I searched on forums and found someone with similar symptoms who said that Balloon Dilation surgery helped them. I looked it up and found it wasn't approved in Australia yet so I was considering travelling back home to the US to have the surgery. After saving up I searched one more time and found a doctor that performs it here in AU finally! I was super excited and set an appt to see him. He looked in my ears, nose, throat with his super high-tech equipment and said that my Eustacian Tube is actually too open and so I didn't need that surgery. I said "let me guess, there's nothing you can do and I should consider moving down the mountain?" He said "are you kidding, I'm a Master Surgeon, there's always something I can do." He sent me to get my first ever Head CT, MRI and Hearing Test. Once he got the results he had his receptionist call me and say everything looks fine on my scans. I told her that I knew because I checked after each scan and that I was just waiting to find out what surgery he was planning on doing. Turns out he's stuck on what to do next and gas now referred me to a 4th ENT who has just returned from performing Eustacion Tube surgeries overseas to see if he can help me. The feeling in my ears is annoying but the main thing is that my ears take on a mind of their own and attempt to pop themselves thousands of times/day which causes pain and is absolutely unbearable. I am at the end of my rope. I have headaches every day from all the attempts of popping (to no avail) and really don't know what else to do. I suggest you ask about these surgeries to see if they may help you? Another thing I was told to try was blowing balloons 5 or so times each day to flex the inner ear and that it has helped people in the past.

    • Seand0612
      Seand0612 ChristinaGD

      Posted

      I’m so sorry to hear about your struggles with this. I really do hope their is some clarity for you  when you goto your 4th ENT. I will definitely look into the surgeries. I have another ENT appointment in 1 week and will mention this to the Dr.  thanks for the reply. 
  • ChristinaGD
    ChristinaGD Seand0612

    Posted

    I really do hope you find some relief Sean. I've read a LOT of posts from people suffering as we do and the fact that these seem pretty common it's a wonder why it is still so hard to get a diagnosis/ some answers and a fix. It's very possible that one of these surgeries could be the right one for you. I've read that they have helped others. Good luck. (P.S. My husband thought I was crazy too. And my family back in the States...until super anti-drug me had to take up smoking weed just to find some way to get through my days without snapping at everyone.) Weed masks the issue by the way, but it definitely doesn't cure it. Towards the end of the day when I would usually have to go to bed and leave my husband and kids to do dinner without me I can now smoke a little and at least get dinner made. I still do hate how it makes me feel though and I just hope to God this 4th ENT will know just what I need and be able to fix me. I'll keep you posted on my end. smile

  • mrsmop
    mrsmop Seand0612

    Posted

    https://patient.info/doctor/temporomandibular-joint-dysfunction-and-pain-syndromes

    Hello Sean & Christina aswell!  As soon as I read the beginnings of your post Sean, I immediately thought of Bruxism - teeth grinding.  I suffer from that, though I am not as bad as I used to be.

    The leaflet has a lot of information & if you also Google Bruxism, you will find more.  It was a dentist who first told me that I was a bruxist & he made a bite guard for me to wear at night.  I had ground my teeth down so much, that they no longer meet - bite together.  When I am highly stressed, I get jaw pain &/or earache.

    Read & research this & see whether it sounds feasible.  And good luck to you both.

     

    • Seand0612
      Seand0612 mrsmop

      Posted

      Thank you fir the reply. I am going to research this. I currently do not have any noticeable jaw pain not do I notice any teeth grinding but I did make a dentist appointment for next week so I will bounce this off him. The entire ear pain thing is very strange to me. I am starting to think maybe it isn’t EDT related as I am able to clear my ears rather easily, no ringing, no dizziness, no ear infections per the DR. 
    • ChristinaGD
      ChristinaGD mrsmop

      Posted

      mrsmop,

      You amazing woman, you! Thank you. I DEFINITELY clench my teeth when I sleep. The fact that no ENT is able to help me could be because I need a friggin Dentist to help me! I'm going to book in to see my dentist asap. I'll let you know how I go.

      How did you go Sean?

    • ChristinaGD
      ChristinaGD Seand0612

      Posted

      How did your dentist appointment go Sean? Did they say you may be clenching?
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