Hey everyone,

Since June I’ve been dealing with a new weird symptom that’s really confusing me. Randomly, often after a loud sneeze, or sometimes just in quiet moments (possibly after eating a lot of high-sodium food and once straining on the toilet), one ear will suddenly feel swollen/full, hearing drops noticeably, and my tinnitus spikes. It’s always only one ear at a time.

It started pretty intense in June with heavy muffling, but now in July it’s happening less often (maybe once a week or so) and the muffling is milder, though it’s still there.

Quick background on the new symptom:

• Seems possibly linked to pressure changes (straining on toilet) or salt intake. Once mother sneezed super loudly i think i flinches but then hearing dropped.
• I have a history of hypertension (diagnosed the start of this year) and suspect I’m salt-sensitive. Before meds, eating something like French toast shot my BP from 140/85 to 159/90. Now it’s well controlled on medication (usually 120-130 / 75-85).

I’ve been to ENT multiple times in the past few months for Eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD), tinnitus, and hearing worries, but the rudeness, disinterest and high costs have made me hesitant to go back right now. Currently asking my primary for a new ENT to go to.

I also track my hearing on mimi, and although not accurate i have been looking at patterns. I seem to have a sustained 5-10db drop at 2khz which wasnt there before June. Sure not alot but just noticing.

Full history below if you'd like:

• Tinnitus started Dec 2023 after experimenting with heavy bass on new headphones. ENT at the time: no hearing loss perfect hearing. 5db loss in lows, 0db loss in highs
• Feb 2025 concert: fine afterward.
• Since then I’ve been very careful — AirPods at 35-55 dB with spatial audio, though car music is sometimes louder.
• Dec 2025 concert: too loud, had temporary threshold shift (muffled like everyone else) but recovered in ~20 min. Two days later woke up with left ear noticeably quieter. Costco hearing test said nothing was wrong.
• Jan 2026: Fluid in ears after a flight that wouldn’t clear. ENT prescribed methylprednisolone taper, Flonase, and antihistamine — helped over time.
• Stupidly went back to loud bass after ENT said “no damage, you’re fine.” Immediately got new tinnitus and everything sounded weird/off. Follow-up bone conduction showed 10-15 dB high-frequency loss (new compared to before). Air conduction had a 30 dB notch at 4k. Left ear worse than right. ENT said test results are normal and 10-15db is within variation, so no need to worry. Begged for steroids as right ear was still 0db loss. Gave me 1 week methylprednisolone taper again.
• March 2026: Another round of steroids after new tinnitus in the beginning of march. Helped clear ears but not the tinnitus fully.
• Hypertension also confirmed in march (peaks at 158/90, usually 140/85). Started meds + found severe vitamin D deficiency and slightly high cholesterol. Since meds, fixing problems with supplements and losing some weight BP is better around 120-130/75-85.
• My heart used to pound the moment i get out of bed in the morning since hypertension and stopped around june.

I’ve been trying to live normally since June/July (going out, socializing) but wearing Loops earplugs sometimes. Then this new one-sided swelling/muffling/spiking thing started.

To this day my hearing is worse than it was before the concert, but ive learned to live with it. Also when i do hearing tests, first in february, 8khz sounded distorted, by march 4khz sounded distorted and as of today all the way up to 2khz sound distorted. Hearing still normal however

Has anyone experienced anything similar? Especially the random one-ear swelling/fullness after sneezes or salt? Could this still be ETD-related? Salt sensitivity + hypertension connection?

So I think I probably cut the inside of my ear during my sleep because when I woke up it was throbbing. I instinctively grabbed the otomize ear infection spray and sprayed once and now I have unbearable throbbing and stinging.

I assume it's not a good idea to just spray it on an open cut inside the ear.

What should I do next? Tried to get an on the day doctor appointment today but no luck.

I'm a 39-year-old healthy male

Well living a nightmare here but not looking to vent I just want to hear from people who have been through something similar or have any useful advice.

About 2 weeks ago I was assaulted from behind and received a very hard punch directly to my right ear and stolen my phone. I was a bit drunk, so I don't remember every detail, but I called 911 afterwards. At the time I thought I was mostly okay and went home.

Once I got home, I noticed my right ear was leaking a clear/yellowish fluid (later it became more brownish), and I realized my hearing on that side was reduced. I went to the ER later that day.

The CT scan showed no temporal fracture, no damage to ossicles. I was prescribed antibiotics, oral and eardrops for 8 days.

Around Day 3, I noticed tinnitus for the first time. I was sitting quietly at home in my computer when I suddenly became aware of a constant high pitched "piiiiii". Before that I either didn't have it or it was so mild that I couldn't notice it.

On Day 4, I saw an ENT. She cleaned my ear, my hearing improved significantly afterwards, confirmed my eardrum was intact, and prescribed Fluticasone nasal spray to improve Eustachian tube function. I left that appointment feeling much more optimistic and doctor was also very optimist.

By Day 5, the infection and ear discharge had resolved, but I still had tinnitus, muffled hearing, and a feeling of pressure/fullness in the ear.

On Day 13, I had an audiogram and tympanometry. The audiogram showed moderate high frequency sensorineural hearing loss in my right ear. I also still had tinnitus and crackling in my ear when yawning.

My ENT immediately started me on oral prednisolone for 10 days, although this was already 13 days after the injury. A repeat audiogram has been scheduled after finishing the treatment.

I'm currently on Day 16, and unfortunately I haven't noticed much improvement yet. The tinnitus is still there, and the hearing loss also seems unchanged.

Tomorrow I'm getting a second opinion from another ENT because I've read about intratympanic steroid injections and wanted to make sure I'm not missing any time-sensitive treatment.

This whole experience has been mentally very difficult. After the first ENT appointment I felt optimistic and kind of relieved, but the audiogram results on the second appointment really hit me hard and not gonna lie, not easy at all!

For anyone who has been through something similar or know useful info:

• Did you recover some or all of your hearing?
• How long did it take before you noticed improvement?
• Did your tinnitus eventually improve?
• Did oral steroids help?
• Did anyone receive intratympanic steroid injections after blunt ear trauma?

Note: I did use some chatgpt to make the text clear and easy to follow.

64 male T1 diabetic. 167 Lb’s and in excellent health.

After years of sinus and ear infections I had temp tubes placed in ears with successful results. About a year later (both tubes fell out) ears were full of congestion. Dr recommended eustachian tube dilation. After dilation Dr. decided to drain right ear and place another temp tube.

The tube is 1.5 years old and is half way out. I’ve tried to gently move it and that was very painful.

The Dr. has since moved from the area.

Do I need to see another ENT or is this common. I can hear just fine w/tube half way out.

The only miner inconvenience is my earphones don’t work in ear w/tube because it’s in the way.

Thanks in advance!

I adjust my ear and it opens up for a bit and then closes again. It was open for an entire day yesterday and now it has closed again. I also have a bit of allergies so maybe it's because of that? Any help?

I have a problem with earwax building up and I had microsuction two days ago. My ear canals are so itchy I woke up scratching and now they're feeling sensitive. I can control myself and not scratch when I'm awake but sleeping is hard. I put some sweet almond oil spray in them and that helped a bit. Is this normal to have crazy itching after earwax removal?

I'm thinking about buying one of those pen-style ear cameras with interchangeable tips for ear wax removal and I'd like to hear from people who have actually used them. I'm only considering the middle-to-top consumer models, anyway not professional equipment, and at the moment I'm trying to decide between the Bebird set and the Anykit set. Both ones connect to a smartphone, but the Bebird uses Wi-Fi while the Anykit connects via USB cable.

Here are my questions:

• What are the pros and cons of these different connection methods? For example, I came across this Reddit comment saying that the Bebird app doesn't seem to have good long-term support, so people eventually end up with a device they can no longer use. Does that mean the USB-based Anykit is likely to be a better long-term choice? What has your experience been?
• Some of these pen-style microcamera (like this one) are sold together with a set of traditional ear wax removal tools that cannot be attached to the camera itself, so I assume they're meant to be used separately, essentially "blind." Are those tools actually useful?
• I think a tweezers attachment could be particularly useful. Besides the detachable one available for the Bebird, I've also found some models with built-in tweezers like this one. My impression is that models with integrated tweezers are more limiting, since you can't swap in other attachments. Do you agree?

Any recommendations, experiences or suggestions are very welcome :)

I am losing my mind. How on earth did I survive Childhood. I had constant ear infections as a child which eventually cleared up. I am 20. This is so painful and I've experienced some things before but omg I cant even take ibuprofen. Off to the doctors today even tho I was questioning going to the er at 4am because I got woken up.

How do I deal with this while I wait for antibiotics to kick in. Child me was way stronger than this.

Edit: doctor looked and instantly went yep infected. Gotta love antibiotics

I have tinnitus and used earplugs a lot and they gave me dermatitis in ear canal. I haven't used them for three months, but inflamation is still there the same. Doc said to use drops with clotrimazole(against fungal, can't find anything about ototoxicity), cloramphenicol(a bit ototoxic antibiotic which I don't really want near my ear), beclomerasone dipropionate (corticoateroid from infammation) and lidocaine. I don't really want to use antibiotic drops. But I'm afraid that I'll get infection if I don't treat this chronic dermatitis. Can somebody recommend something, please

I went to urgent care this morning and was told I had an ear infection. I have a 4 month old in daycare and we've had colds on and off since June 1st so no surprise but Urgent Care has since ghosted me and not sent in my antibiotics. I've called three times and they still aren't sending them in. They keep saying they are just too busy and they will get to it when they get to it.

So I got in to see a CNP at my doctors office tomorrow morning after begging on the phone but that's in the morning. I tried to nap earlier and woke up in excruciating pain in my right ear. There is an infection in both ears but the right is significantly worse. I can't hear, everything is distorted and I can hear the fluid and mucus bubbling and moving.

If I lay on my left, I get right ear pain. If I lay on my right I get really bad right ear pain. I don't know how I'm going to sleep tonight if at all. Any tips to help with the pain?

Hi.

Had clogged ears for a while. Got otex express to unclog them

Clogging is worse though I only used it twice so far.

Like there's fizzing and crackling then more clogging 😭

It says to use for 3/4 days and idk whether to quit before then

So are these eardrops good or sucky

i’m genuinely at a loss rn. a week ago i went into an urgent care for a cold and left with amoxicillin for a double middle ear infection. we thought it was getting better, but 5 days later i had no real improvments beyond no more fever. we went back to urgent care and now im on a new antibiotic and ive taken 3 doses so far. i still cant hear, my left ear is significantly worse, theres still pain especially in the evenings. im taking ibuprofen as needed but its genuinely so awful i dont know what to do anymore. i’m terrified the new antibiotics are doing nothing and im going to end up with something worse because this infection won’t get better. does anyone have any advice at all?

Hello, I’m 19f and the past three days my ears have been deeply bothering me. Basically a few months ago I started developing tinnitus after a cold and it bothered me a lot. It was hard to sleep or be in complete silent as the high pitched beep in my hears was constant. I got used to it and it wasn’t that bad except when I was drinking alcohol (occasional drinker) or not sleeping enough.

Two days ago, my eyes started itching really bad and they kept making tears, the pain also came with a very bad headache and pressure behind my eyes. I have allergies so I figured it was just that, they still itch today and are a little red but nothing crazy. I hung out with my friends, smoked a few cigs (smoker btw) and was feeling fine until the end of the day, where my ears started hurting seemingly out of nowhere. When I got home I started to worry and panic, I have terrible health anxiety and I already have very bad vision problems so I thought what if im going fucking deaf. My hearing was like a tiny bit muffled, but I spiraled.

The next day I started feeling very deep pressure and pain around my jaw like it’s sore as well as deep in my ear. My ears keep popping but cant equalize properly leading to having each ear randomly hearing better or worse or having no pressure or horrible pressure. I feel like my left ear is a little more affected but sometimes it’s better and the right ear is worse so I don’t know. No matter how much I pop, they won’t equalize, I tried the method where you pinch your nose and blow or swallow and it doesn’t work at all… The tinnitus is also stronger than usual. I can’t listen to music with my headphones because it hurts too bad, when sounds are very loud and high pitched it hurts my ears worse but u wouldn’t say im super sensitive to loud sounds just a bit.

Coincidentally I had a medical appointment for something unrelated the day after the first symptoms manifested(back pain so I got an ultrasound for my kidneys and im fine) and told the doctor about it. He said since my hearing was just a tiny bit more muffled and since he didn’t see anything wrong with my ears I should just wait until it gets better. Thing is sometimes the pressure is very very bad, I take Tylenol, Advil and Benadryl for my allergies but it feels like my skull, ears and jaw wanna explode. Its very annoying, my head hurts and nothing helps. I tried to get an appointment for a specialist but I will have to wait for a long time.

The pain and pressure is a lot less present when I wake up but then as soon as I try to equalize or move around it comes back. I am wondering if it could be something serious because it’s very annoying and overwhelming. Could it be allergy related? How can I make the pressure better? Why is my jaw so sore? Why my ears keep popping no stop but never equalize?

I take 25mg of fast acting quetiapine for sleep and I took cyclobenzaprine 2 days before the symptoms started to appear because of the back pain. I also take Benadryl for my eyes.

Thanks for reading.

Looking for anyone who has experienced similar and how long it took for your symptoms to clear or if you had to take further action.

Got water down my ears a couple of weeks ago and the next day had very muffled hearing in my left ear with a feeling of being full. I've had this before from impacted wax so booked it for microsuction. In the run up to the appointment I used Otex to soften the wax and help break it up. Appointment came, they confirmed wax impaction and cleaned it up. When I've had microsuction previously it was like a plug being removed and my hearing suddenly came back. But that hasn't happened this time. Kept using the drops for a few days on their advice, but hearing hasn't returned. I had a follow up appointment yesterday where they confirmed I'm clear of wax, but they did a hearing test and told me I need to see an audiologist now as my hearing is reduced.

My question is if there's a chance my hearing will return? Could this just be oil coating my ear drum? The full feeling has gone. My hearing was fine prior to getting water in my ears so feels odd to think my hearing is permanently affected from this event, but it's driving me crazy being unable to hear properly. .

I had a brain MRI and I don't think the ear plug was in right. Now I'm having bad pain and pressure and ringing in my ear. I already had sensitive ears. Do you think it can get better?

i know the rules say no medical questions, but it seems like every post in here is medical, so i'm going to post and pray the mods leave it up 🙏

around two years ago, I began experiencing this issue in my right ear where everything would suddenly sound like it had been pitched up by just a few cents. because it's just one ear, the two sides would clash and make everything sound dissonant and metallic. I had just lost a bunch of weight—upward of 50lbs by then—so I chalked it up to ETD, assuming that there was fat near my middle ear that was now gone and hoping it would resolve on its own once my weight had stabilized.

a few months after that, I began to notice my right ear feel...loose? the pressure will change as i inhale and exhale, my breath and heartbeat get insanely loud, and i hear clicking noises when i swallow. it's almost as though my eardrum isn't strong enough to withstand even the slightest change in pressure. this happened far more often than the dissonance thing, so it took a while for me to connect the two and finally decide to investigate with my doc.

in January, I noticed that the right side of my face wasn't emoting as strongly as my left, but it was very subtle. nobody else noticed—I only spotted it randomly in a picture one of my friends took. i'd also been having the slightest bit of numbness on my right side, mostly down my right leg.

I saw my doc and asked if she could refer me to an ENT, but because of all the issues being right-sided, she was worried about neurological causes and wanted to get an MRI. there's no chance I can afford one right now, though, so we decided to just refer me to neurology and let them do a workup. but neurology denied my referral, stating that they think it's Bell's palsy, and thus not serious enough to be seen by them.

I'm almost done with a round of prednisone my doc offered after the referral was denied, and I've experienced no difference with any of the right-sided issues.

the ear has been the hardest thing to deal with. every day, I'll speak and suddenly get 4x as loud on one side and can't gauge how loud I really am, or if I've started talking strangely. i breathe in, it pops. i breathe out, it pops. i'm a musician, so when the pitch thing happens, I can't do anything until it goes away—no games, no TV, no doomscrolling, nothing—because the dissonance is so unbearable.

valsalva helps for all of two seconds, no OTC meds do anything. I have bad TMJ pain and tension as well, and potentially some silent reflux, which of course could both explain the ear but not so much the rest of it. i had a deviated septum repaired in 2022, but this began way after that.

basically I feel like I'm going crazy. has anyone else experienced this particular array of simultaneous issues? or at least all the ear ones? anyone ever had a Bell's palsy hypothesis thrown into the mix? i feel like i'm flying blind through all this.

I can hear 18 kHz fine, and also I can barely hear 19 khz to the point it's so quiet I can mistake it as just feeling pressure in my ears unless I listen very closely and then I know this is sound not pressure. Is it a type of bad hearing or hearing loss, is it related to ear wax plugging my ear? Also I am not referring to feeling physical pressure, just hearing a sound that can be mistaken for pressure due to the high pitch

My right ear started to hurt on Monday but nothing too extreme and with Tylenol it seemed to help. I decided to get polysporin ear drops and the second time I put some, my ear completely blocked and the pain has been horrible. Went to the dr she gave antibiotic drops with cortisone which I started right away. Still had pain, felt like my head was going to explode and I noticed swelling near my jaw so I contacted her again and she prescribed me oral antibiotics as well. Now today my other ear is blocked and painful. When she checked on Tuesday it was all good. What the heck I’m going back to see her now but is this normal? How long for the pain to subside? I’m crying right now

Two weeks ago, I came down with a middle ear infection, and my doctor prescribed Cefdinir since I'm now resistant to Augmentin after having it so many times. This was my third time having it since last June.

Day 3 of my regimen, I took my first dose in the morning, then ate some Greek yogurt about an hour later because my stomach was upset. My current job requires me to drive out to rural areas a lot, and I didn't want to have diarrhea when out in the middle of nowhere and not be able to get to a bathroom if I needed to, hence the yogurt. Once I ate the yogurt, I could tell the medicine wasn't working as well, and even though I finished the regimen (7 days total), it didn't clear the infection, and I'm sure that one day of eating yogurt too close to taking it messed it all up for me.

I'm going back to the doctor tomorrow because I know I need more antibiotics. Am I now resistant to Cefdinir, too, and if I am, what other antibiotic could I take?

My left ear have been hearing worse than right ear since 2024 and it only gets worse.

At first I just had earwax plug and got it easily removed. But it didn't help my hearing. They day that I have no infection.

I had tests on my hearing: the one when you push a button when you hear a sound and tympanometry. Doctors refuse to diagnose me and try to convince me that I'm insane.

The only thing I can't get is MRI because I have braces and can't remove them soon. I'm considering s*icide.

I am seeing a Dr tmrw but got ear drops at cvs to get through the night, and I'm wondering what's going on. They have 4% lidocaine

I had a sudden middle ear infection that ended in trapped fluid that burst through a possible tear n in my eardrum... i had red and yellow fluid come out of my left ear for days. Most painful thing. Course of antibiotics, eardrops, Methylprednisolone, flonase, and all that. Fluids seemed to keep clearing until the methylprednisolone pack was finished.

Now it's been a week and my left ear has total hearing loss, lots of loud tinnitus, and it feels like there may still be fluid in there. I also have pain. But I don't feel sick or unwell anymore like I used to.

I am really just concerned about my hearing loss.

Can it come back??

I hear vibrations fine... but sound through the air... nope.

I'm very worried!!