Eustachian tubes, rhinopharynx and throat symptoms for over 3 months
I found this website looking for answers to what I have been struggling with for the last 3 months. I have never had ENT problems before in my entire life. I am 38 years old and out of the sudden on January 8th my life changed and my ears, nose and throat never felt the same as they used to. This was from a moment to another. I was not on a plane, I did not have the flu, or allergies or anything. I was perfect and then suddenly I wasnt.
It all started with a diffused pain/pressure under both my ears and then the next day I felt it also in my front neck… dont know how to explain but it was all my front neck. Like if the lymph nodes from my neck where hurting from inside. It was not the muscles but like the internal part of the neck sorrounding my throat and under my jaw. In the physical examination the doctor could not found any of the nodes I felt inside and it also did not show in the ultrasound. Everything came out normal (this was on january 27th). Also they run some lab test and they were normal. I had my ears tested and my hearing was also normal but the results for my eustachian tubes came out with problems. They are not functioning well. By this point I had been experiencing also both my ears popping (left more than right). One ear felt pressure and then got blocked as if I was in an airplane and then it opened and then the other ear… and so.
This began to drive me crazy, also because I could here the echo of my voice everytime one gets blocked. I also began to feel the perception of my own voice was not normal. Like when you have laringitis and you feel certain nasalness (dont know how to explain it). But there is certain “shine” in my voice specially when pronouncing nasal letters. Then I began to feel like the back part of my nose (rhinopharynx) was swollen (I feel it when i talk and when I breath out of my nasals). Then that weirdness of my rhinopharynx felt also in my throat in both sides like just above my tonsils. And then it felt like real pain. Sometimes I feel weird when I swallow my saliva (liquids and food feel normal). And sometimes I feel like if I had something stuck in my throat.
I just want to feel healthy and normal again. Dont know what is going on inside of me. I will see the doctor again on april 16th. But I have trouble functioning well daily because i feel all this symptoms and I get anxious and worried. I forgot to mention my doctors treatmet was nasal spray (steroid) and then 1 injection that was supposed to be stronger but neither worked.
I am losing my mind….
Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Support Group.
This post is super similar to what I’ve been experiencing - I hate the ‘am I losing my mind??’ feeling so much. Hope someday soon we can both have answers!
Really messing with me as a vocalist and instrumental music teacher - I’ve never struggled this much for so long with all these symptoms almost always happening at once. Except I also have extra things going on with dry mouth and aching joints. I’m only in my late 20s, I’m so confused as to why I’m so… dysfunctional?
I found FESS recently which has been good for helping my nose at least without messing further with my vocal folds. Heading down the dehumidifier/steam/nebuliser road and might try switching out my pillow in case it’s a muscular cause? So confused
I know how annoying it can be with eustachian tube dysfunction. I experience the same thing and it's be a year now. Nobody seems to have an ideal solution but I understand that there is a surgery that can be done that involves making a smal hole in the ear drum to relieve the pressure build up. That freaks me out because I am a musician in a band and my hearing is extremely important to me. Some days I have a slight improvement and lying down always improves it for a short while. I hope to get an appointment with my ENT doctor in the near future to see what he says about it. My problem began after open heart surgery when I lost a lot of weight while in the hospital and apparently that caused the eustachian tube dysfunction. My weight is still not back to what it was before the surgery and I was told that the weight gain would resolve it. Hope you find a solution soon--good luck!