kylen Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 Well finally I made the connection. For the past few years during the cold & flu season my hearing would go to hell for a while. I mistakenly attributed this to my ears 'cloggin' up and tried ear drops to clean out the extra ear wax that would appear (sorry for the biology!). Well the ear wax is a red herring and I was right about the ear being clogged up but it's on the OTHER SIDE OF THE EARDRUM, doh ! There's a little connector known as the Eustachian Tube that is responsible for keeping the pressure equalized in the middle ear. If the tube gets blocked or if there is fluid in the middle ear that can't drain...voila - your hearing is seriously screwed. Dig This: Obstruction or blockage of the eustachian tube results in a negative middle ear pressure, with retraction (sucking in) of the eardrum membrane. In the adult this is usually accompanied by some ear discomfort, a fullness or pressure feeling and may result in a mild hearing impairment and head noise (tinnitus). There may be no symptoms in children. If the obstruction is prolonged, fluid may be drawn from the mucous membrane of the middle ear creating a condition we call serous otitis media (fluid in the middle ear). This occurs frequently in children in connection with an upper respiratory infection and accounts for the hearing impairment associated with this condition. I had these symptoms as a kid and I remember being told I would grown out of it - I'm now thinking that's only partially true. I also had my adenoids removed as a child so there was really an attempt to ease all my symptoms. The past few years though I've taken a serious interest in mixing & mastering and have upgraded my monitoring equipment gradually over time to where it's pretty decent. Last night I was listening thru both my Senn HD600 and my Beyer DT770/80 phones to some music that just a few weeks ago sounded dynamic had depth and a nice stereo field (Wreaking Ball - Ken !) - it sounded like someone had flattened it with an iron and it seemed to be pretty much in MONO. I pulled out my favorite hard rock Auf DerMaur, same thing! The music even sounded BORING - I turned it off in disgust...then I got the idea this morning about the Eustachian Tube and the MIDDLE EAR, searched the internet and there are my symptoms...FINALLY after all this time. Quoted material and further article here: http://www.houseearclinic.com/eustachiantube.htm Got Hearing ? Thank your Eustachian Tube Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanmass Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 Cool. My 6 year old just had ear tubes put in to drain his ear of chronic infections. It has had a dramatic impact on his overall health. In adults, they can do this out patient, though I don't know that it applies to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Flier Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 Yeah, I had terrible ear infections as a kid so at age 5 I had the tubes put in. Took 'em out a year later and I have not had an infection since. Sometimes allergies do mess with my hearing though - probably not as badly as they would if the ol' tubes weren't open to the extent that they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylen Posted December 10, 2004 Author Share Posted December 10, 2004 I'm glad that modern medicine can help your son that way! I remember when I was a kid that I just wanted the pain to go away - and boy did it hurt! Maybe I need a drain job too we'll see ! I already tried the 'Valsalva maneuver' per the article above (I've seen lots of folks do this now that I think about it): The Valsalva maneuver is accomplished by forcibly blowing air into the middle ear while holding the nose, often called "popping the ear". This should not be done, however, if there is a cold and nasal discharge. But it's no joke or something to be taken lightly - I think I'm on to something here for myself at least... These are my current symptoms - straight from the article: "...a fullness or pressure feeling and may result in a mild hearing impairment and head noise (tinnitus)." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylen Posted December 10, 2004 Author Share Posted December 10, 2004 Interesting Lee...tubes, tubes, tubes...maybe they use those to kind of guide the growth of the tubes at a young age - I didn't have those...in fact we were lucky to have enough feed for the horse so we could ride the wagon into town Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Sayers Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 we call it glue ear - one of my kids had it and the solution was to take her off all dairy products. cheers john Studio Design Forum Studios Under Construction Home Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylen Posted December 10, 2004 Author Share Posted December 10, 2004 Originally posted by John Sayers: we call it glue ear - one of my kids had it and the solution was to take her off all dairy products. cheers johnThis is starting to sound very familiar... Almost like the joke - 'I sure wish I'd listened to what my Mom said when I was growing up' ...pause... 'Well what'd she say?' ...exasperation ... 'I don't know - I wasn't listening!' Hmmm...Cool facts I'm collecting here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj jud Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 Try nasal washing - It sounds gross, but you get a childrens medicine dropper and make up a salt solution of 16 ounces of warm water to 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Get over the sink and flush each nostril with it several times. The saline gets back to the opening of the eustacian tubes and washes away contaminants and mucus. My allergist recommended it, and it really worked for me. That and the Valsalva. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylen Posted December 10, 2004 Author Share Posted December 10, 2004 Originally posted by dj jud: Try nasal washing...and the Valsalva.OK dj - thanks for the tip, that sounds like a good combo. Actually I just got into nasal flushing last month when I had a sinus infection - there's a little kit I got at the pharmacy and about 200 little pre-measured packets with flush (similiar to yours). Once I got the feel of it it worked really well - I'll nicely say that it's a bit like going in the ocean and having salt water forced up your nose by a wave...except there are bodily fluids involved (leave it at that!) but it's well worth it. I haven't tried it with the Valsalva...heading to bathroom for further biology experiments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Flier Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 Originally posted by John Sayers: we call it glue ear - one of my kids had it and the solution was to take her off all dairy products. This does work for some people, although it didn't for me. Made no difference at all. Also, a lot of people with lactose intolerance/allergy can actually tolerate dairy just fine if it is fermented in some way. In other words, yoghurt, kefir etc. is fine, straight milk or cream, not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj jud Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 Just to clear things up, there is a difference between lactose intolerance and allergies. Lactose intolerance is an age related decrease in lactase, an enzyme in the gut responsible for breaking down a sugar, lactose, present in dairy products. Deficiency of the enzyme is responsible for cramping, diarrhea, and flatulence, but not for mucus production in the upper respiratory tract. Some people, on the other hand, produce a lot of mucus with diary products, which isn't really an allergy, but is responsible to stuffy sinuses and possible eustacian tube problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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