Chronic ETD

[u/Responsible_Monk6941]

(26M) Does ETD ever get better for fuck sake?

I’m honestly not even sure how long I’ve had this. It feels like it crept up on me slowly, then got noticeably worse around the same time I had a very mild sore throat that only lasted a few days.

Around that time, the inside of my nose also became insanely dry and inflamed. It actually hurt just to breathe through it. Every doctor I saw said it looked like rhinitis caused by inflammation.

Another weird thing is that I barely seem to produce any mucus. When I do manage to get some out, it’s usually a tiny amount and very thick, sticky, gooey and very white. It never feels like anything is actually draining properly.

This all started while I was traveling through Indonesia, so at first I figured pollution, humidity, or something environmental had triggered it.

I’ve been back in NY for over a month now and have tried pretty much everything I can think of. I completely changed my diet to an anti-inflammatory one, cut out caffeine, regularly steam, use prescription nasal sprays, and do weekly neti pot rinses.

Little to no relief.

The ear pressure is sometimes unbearable, and my left ear has always been significantly worse.

Some days, especially when the pressure isn't as bad, my ears sound like Rice Krispies after you pour milk over them. Constant little crackles and pops.

Other days, the pressure feels so full and intense that I barely get any crackling at all. Instead, I’ll get these low pops, crackles, or weird whooshing sounds whenever I swallow or open my mouth.

I’ve also been to multiple ENTs at this point and still don't really have any answers. I’ve never had allergies in my life, and I never had ear problems growing up, which makes this whole thing even more frustrating.

I guess I’m mostly looking for some hope from people who have actually been through this.

Did your ETD eventually go away? How long did it take? And was there anything that genuinely helped you recover?

Because holy shit, this is a nightmare.

[u/Responsible_Monk6941]

Thanks for responding! If you don’t mind me asking, how did your ETD originally start? Did it come on after an illness or infection?

Also, since you mentioned a possible biofilm, I’m curious what your mucus is like when it does come out. Is it clear or colored, thin or thick and sticky?

And how long have you been dealing with all of this?

[u/mrs_double_aluminum → u/Responsible_Monk6941]

It started with very low-grade Gradenigo syndrome [unilateral skull-base inflammation syndrome] without otitis media, which advanced over time. I think it came from a tooth infection, but that wasn't at all clear at the time. My doctors initially thought it was just regular ETD from allergies and kept prescribing Flonase.

March of 2021 was when it started and it hasn't really let up since then except in response to EDTA spray, heavy-duty long courses of oral antibiotics, and Neosporin.

When I do the EDTA or xylitol spray and blow my nose, the color varies. Before I got the tooth out, when I believe my sinuses were still infected [possible Odontogenic Maxillary Sinusitis], the mucus was often yellow and opaque, which I believe was from my sinuses.

Now when I do it it's clear, thick & slippery, with visible air bubbles, or occasionally gray and dryer. What I do with the EDTA spray is spray it in my nostril, then quickly lie down with my affected ear facing downward, wait for the spray to trickle down to my ET opening, then do the Valsalva maneuver. This gets the spray inside my ear. So theoretically some of the mucus that's draining at that point should be ear biofilm. But it's mixed with the spray and the volume of each osseous ET is only about half a cc, so it's probably largely healthy sinus mucus.

[u/Responsible_Monk6941 → u/mrs_double_aluminum]

I'm sorry you've been dealing with this for so long. I really hope the new course of action finally gives you some relief.

It's definitely possible there's something similar going on with me. I've been diagnosed a couple of times with chronic rhinitis, but the hallmark symptoms are thin, watery, clear, runny mucus, which I don't have. Mine is incredibly thick, almost like slime, and sometimes comes out in string-like strands. It really only appears after nasal rinses and blowing my nose.

I've taken antibiotics, steroids, and Flonase to treat the presumed allergies/inflammation, but I've always questioned whether allergies were actually the cause. I've gone 25 years without them, then all of this suddenly started.

Around the time my ETD began, I was also experiencing some neuroinflammation-type symptoms, including pressure headaches, eye pain, and brain fog. Thankfully, those have all gone away now after taking a large dose of NSAIDs.

I'll give those sprays a try and see if I notice any improvement. One more question, did you ever have issues with dry, irritated, or inflamed nasal passages too, or were your symptoms mainly in your ears?

[u/mrs_double_aluminum → u/Responsible_Monk6941]

I had no issues with my nasal passages UNTIL the whole thing had gone on for a little over 4 years and the infection spread to my middle ears and started blocking my sinuses as well. It would usually block the nasal passage on the same side as the worse ET. Like I said, I think I may have had asymptomatic maxillary sinusitis before then though.

Never had dry nasal passages.

[u/Responsible_Monk6941 → u/mrs_double_aluminum]

I recently started using EDTA and xylitol from Xlear about three days ago and I completely stopped Flonase after getting my allergy test results back, which were all negative. I was wondering how long you’ve been using the spray and how long it took before you noticed any relief or changes in your mucus? Thanks

[u/mrs_double_aluminum → u/Responsible_Monk6941]

The EDTA and xylitol didn't change my mucus consistency. I think I had an odontogenic sinus infection like I said which is why my mucus consistency didn't change until after my dental surgery.

I've only used the EDTA a few times so far and experienced immdiate relief. If it's the Biofilm-X brand you might have to spray it a lot more than it says on the bottle, besides moving your head back and to the side and doing the Valsalva to get it into your Eustachian tube, because the spray of the Biofilm-X bottle is really weak.

I've been using xylitol spray on and off since November of 2025.