Ear squeeze treatment: Ear Squeeze Causes, Symptoms & Treatment

15.09.202303.07.2023 by alexxlab

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Ear Barotrauma: Symptoms, Causes, Treatment, Prevention

Written by Regina Boyle Wheeler

What Is Ear Barotrauma?
Ear Barotrauma Symptoms
Ear Barotrauma Causes and Risk Factors
Ear Barotrauma Diagnosis
Ear Barotrauma Treatment
Ear Barotrauma Prevention
More

Ear barotrauma, also known as airplane ear, is that clogged-up, sometimes painful feeling you get in your ears when the air pressure changes quickly.

It’s the biggest health problem for people who fly. And it can be especially painful for babies and young kids because their ears aren’t fully developed.

Ear barotrauma also can happen when you ride in an elevator or drive in the mountains. It can happen in the water, too. Scuba divers call it “ear squeeze.” As a diver goes deeper underwater, the pressure in the middle ear (the part behind the eardrum) is “squeezed” by the increasing pressure of the water from outside.

The middle ear is an air-filled space formed by bone and the eardrum. It is connected to the back of the nose by a tunnel called the eustachian tube. Outside air passing through the eustachian tube keeps the pressure in the middle ear equal to that of the outside world. If the eustachian tube malfunctions and there’s a pressure difference across the eardrum, pain or ear squeeze happens.

Common symptoms include:

Stuffed feeling in your ears
Muffled hearing because your eardrum can’t vibrate and make sound the way it should
Ear pain

If you hear a “pop” in your ears, that’s a sign your eustachian tubes are open. If they stay blocked, your middle ear can fill with clear liquid to try to balance the pressure. If your eustachian tubes are closed, it can’t drain. In this case, more serious symptoms can happen:

Extreme ear pain
Dizziness called vertigo
A busted eardrum — fluid or blood leaking from your ear is a sign
Hearing loss

With a mild case, your symptoms should go away shortly after you get back on land. If they don’t or if your symptoms are serious, see your doctor.

Your ears are especially sensitive to changes in air and water pressure. Still, most people don’t get ear barotrauma. You may be at risk if you have a problem with your eustachian tube where it doesn’t open normally. Reasons that may cause this include:

Stuffy sinuses
A cold or other infection
Allergies
The shape and size of your ear canal
Tobacco smoke or other irritants
Hormonal changes, such as pregnancy

You’re at a higher risk of ear barotrauma if you’re around loud explosions in the military or scuba dive without proper gear.

If you feel pain, the doctor will ask you a series of questions. These questions not only help diagnose the ear squeeze, they may detect other potential injuries.

Did you have problems clearing the ear?
Did the symptoms begin during descent or ascent?
How long did the symptoms last?
Is there a history of ear or sinus infections?

Regardless of why you feel the pain, your doctor will look inside your ears with a tool called an otoscope. They’ll check to see if there’s fluid behind your eardrum or if it’s damaged. If it is, it may take weeks to heal and you might not hear very well. Usually, the only treatment is time.

If it isn’t better in 2 months, you may need an operation to prevent lasting hearing loss.

Go to a doctor right away if you feel like you’re spinning or falling (vertigo) and your symptoms happen right after flying or diving.

Mild symptoms of ear barotrauma usually last a few minutes. If they last longer, you may need treatment for an infection or another problem. Serious damage, such as a burst eardrum, may take a few months to heal. Sometimes you may need surgery to repair the eardrum or the opening into your middle ear.

For a mild case, you can usually treat your symptoms yourself.

Try to “pop” your ears.
Chew gum or hard candy.
Drink water during flights. Swallowing helps keep the eustachian tubes open.

If yours happens when scuba diving, the treatment begins during the dive. If you have fullness or pain, do not go deeper. If ear clearing techniques don’t work, you must return to the surface. Always complete the decompression stops if necessary when returning to the surface.

If the eardrum ruptures, you might be disoriented or vomit, which may lead to panic. Panic may lead to ascending too rapidly. Your dive partner should carefully observe and assist, if needed, during the ascent, making sure all decompression stops are made. On the surface, no objects or eardrops should be placed into the ear. Keep the ear dry.

Initial treatment involves oral decongestants and nasal spray to help open the eustachian tube. Antihistamines may also be prescribed if an allergy is a contributing factor.
Pain medications are helpful, and eardrops to relieve pain may be used if the eardrum is not ruptured.
A ruptured eardrum will need antibiotics by mouth to prevent infections.
Hearing exams or audiograms may be needed if the eardrum is ruptured or hearing loss is present.
If you have facial paralysis, your doctor might prescribe oral steroids.

You can prevent ear barotrauma by keeping your eustachian tubes open. Ways to do that include:

Medicine. If you have a cold or allergies, take a decongestant about an hour before you fly. A nasal spray or an antihistamine could help, too.
Earplugs. Special plugs designed for air travel can slow pressure changes and give your ears time to adjust.

If you’re a diver, try these things to protect your ears:

Equalize your ears before your dive and while going down into the water.
Go down feet first — it can make equalizing easier.
Look up — extending your neck can open your tubes.
Get back to the surface slowly if you feel pain — continuing your dive can injure your ears.
Don’t dive if you have any sinus or upper respiratory symptoms.

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Ear barotrauma: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia

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Ear barotrauma causes discomfort in the ear due to pressure differences between the inside and outside of the eardrum. It may include damage to the ear.

The air pressure in the middle ear is most often the same as the air pressure outside of the body. The eustachian tube is a connection between the middle ear and the back of the nose and upper throat.

Swallowing or yawning opens the eustachian tube and allows air to flow into or out of the middle ear. This helps equalize pressure on either side of the ear drum. If the eustachian tube is blocked, the air pressure in the middle ear is different than the pressure on the outside of the eardrum. This can cause barotrauma.

Many people have barotrauma at some time. The problem often occurs with altitude changes, such as flying, scuba diving, or driving in the mountains. If you have a congested nose from allergies, colds, or an upper respiratory infection, you are more likely to develop barotrauma.

Blockage of the eustachian tube could also be present before birth (congenital). It may also be caused by swelling in the throat.

Common symptoms include:

Dizziness
Ear discomfort or pain in one or both ears
Hearing loss (slight)
Sensation of fullness or stuffiness in the ears

Other symptoms may develop if the condition is very bad or goes on for a long time, such as:

Ear pain
Feeling of pressure in the ears (as if underwater)
Moderate to severe hearing loss
Nosebleed

During an exam of the ear, the health care provider may see a slight outward bulge or inward pull of the eardrum. If the condition is severe, there may be blood or bruising behind the eardrum.

Severe barotrauma may cause the eardrum to look similar to an ear infection.

To relieve ear pain or discomfort, you can take steps to open the eustachian tube and relieve the pressure, such as:

Chew gum
Inhale, and then gently exhale while holding the nostrils closed and the mouth shut
Suck on candy
Yawn

When flying, DO NOT sleep as the plane prepares to land. Repeat the listed steps to open the eustachian tube. For infants and small children, nursing or taking sips of a drink may help.

Scuba divers should go down and come up slowly. Diving while you have allergies or a respiratory infection is dangerous. Barotrauma may be severe in these situations.

If self-care steps do not ease discomfort within a few hours or the problem is severe, you may need to see a provider.

You may need medicine to relieve nasal congestion and allow the eustachian tube to open. These include:

Decongestants taken by mouth, or by a nose spray
Steroids taken by mouth, or by a nose spray

You may need antibiotics to prevent or treat an ear infection if barotrauma is severe.

Rarely, surgery may be needed if other treatments do not work to open the tube. In this procedure, a surgical cut is made in the eardrum to allow pressure to become equal and fluid to drain (myringotomy).

If you must change altitude often or you are prone to barotrauma, you may need to have surgery to place tubes in the ear drum. This is not an option for scuba diving.

Barotrauma is usually a benign, self-limited condition that responds to self-care. Hearing loss is almost always temporary.

Complications may include:

Acute ear infection
Hearing loss
Ruptured or perforated eardrum
Vertigo

Try home care measures first. Contact your provider if the discomfort does not ease after a few hours.

Contact your provider if you have barotrauma and new symptoms develop, especially:

Drainage or bleeding from the ear
Fever
Severe ear pain

You can use nasal decongestants (spray or pill form) before altitude changes. Try to avoid altitude changes while you have an upper respiratory infection or active allergy symptoms.

Talk to your provider about using decongestants if you plan to scuba dive.

Barotitis media; Barotrauma; Ear popping – barotrauma; Pressure-related ear pain; Eustachian tube dysfunction – barotrauma; Barotitis; Ear squeeze

Ear anatomy

Peak DA. Scuba diving and dysbarism. In: Walls RM, Hockberger RS, Gausche-Hill M, eds. Rosen’s Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 10th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2023:chap 131.

Van Hoesen KB, Lang MA. Diving medicine. In: Auerbach PS, Cushing TA, Harris NS, eds. Auerbach’s Wilderness Medicine. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2017:chap 71.

Updated by: Josef Shargorodsky, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.

Tinnitus diagnosis and treatment in Surgut

Diagnosis and treatment of tinnitus in Surgut.

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Tinnitus is a sign of hearing dysfunction. The main symptom that patients complain about can be described as sensations of sounds in the ears when there is no source of sound. The disease is successfully treated with timely access to an otolaryngologist.

“Tinnitus” in Latin means “bell ringing”, “light tinkling”. A synonym for the name of the disease is subjective noise. It is heard only by the patient, hence the name of the disease.

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Information about the disease

Practice shows that tinnitus usually goes together with some kind of disease, becoming its symptom, but by no means an independent unit. It can appear on the right or left, often on both sides. If a person complains only of noise in the absence of other symptoms, the clinical picture is blurred, it is difficult to diagnose pathology. Noise can be a sign of a number of diseases and may be related to other organs and systems of the body. An ENT can appoint consultations of related specialists: a neurologist, a neuropathologist, an ophthalmologist.

If a patient complains of constant tinnitus that sounds continuously, we can talk about the tonal type of the disease. Periodic acoustic discomfort refers to non-tonal noise.

Types of noise are classified according to the reasons that caused them:

Subjective noise that may be caused by prolonged exposure to sounds on the hearing organs.
Objective noise may develop due to the presence of pathology of the vessels or the muscular apparatus of the ear. While listening to the otolaryngologist with a stethoscope, the doctor also notes it.
Noise of a neurological nature can be provoked by trauma to the nerves of the auditory canal.
Somatic noise develops due to the activation of ear canal analyzer receptors by impulses emanating from other body systems.

Symptoms

The classification of the disease depends on the severity of the symptoms. From whether the patient’s working capacity is preserved, tinnitus is divided into degrees of severity:

Intermittent noise, does not cause undue distress. A person continues to work in the same volume, the quality of life does not suffer. The ability to perceive other sounds is preserved.
The symptom worsens at night, sleep is disturbed.
Acoustic discomfort is present all the time. The habitual way of life of the patient is disturbed, absent-mindedness, confusion of consciousness, inability to concentrate on mental tasks appear. Decreased ability to process information.
Total disability due to persistent tinnitus.

Additional symptoms that accompany the course of the disease include: dizziness, migraine, pressing pain in the temples, disturbances in the central nervous system, increased excitability, negative perception of reality, social phobia, and a decrease in the overall tone of the body. In particularly severe cases, patients develop clinical depression and require psychotherapeutic treatment.

Diagnosis of the disease

The most common symptoms of the disease are described below:

Acoustic injuries, one-time or permanent exposure to noise in hazardous production, hazardous working conditions.
Aging processes associated with degeneration of the auditory tube. Patients over the age of sixty-five often suffer, but recently the disease has noticeably rejuvenated: there have been recorded cases of patients over the age of forty-five.
Ear pathologies as complications after acute respiratory viral infections or acute respiratory diseases.
Complications of hypertension: blood is actively moving through vessels that have thickened walls. In this case, tinnitus in seventy-five percent of cases indicates an impending hypertensive crisis.
Vascular disease, history of atherosclerosis, migraine, aneurysm.
Therapy with drugs that have a number of side effects, including toxic effects on the ears.
Uncontrolled intake of diuretics, tranquilizers, as well as a number of antibiotics. There are known cases of hearing loss in patients taking antibiotics of a certain number of active substances uncontrollably.
Neoplasms.
Osteochondrosis. If the cervical region suffers, the vessels are traumatized by displaced vertebrae, the lumen of the vessels narrows, the patient complains of a feeling of congestion in the ears, noise or ringing, and the inability to concentrate on work.
Head injuries, concussion, bruises, strokes.
Allergic reactions, the toxic effect of which causes irreversible processes in the brain. May lead to death.

How is the disease diagnosed?

The treatment of this disease is the responsibility of an otolaryngologist. The patient may be recommended consultations of related specialists to clarify the detailed picture of the disease and make an accurate diagnosis. The doctor collects an anamnesis, studies the hereditary factor, past illnesses, working conditions.

A number of instrumental examinations are carried out: otoscope examination, audiometry, assessment of the patient’s general condition. Hearing acuity testing is included in the protocol of measures during diagnostic procedures. Shown x-ray of the cranial bones, magnetic resonance imaging, EEG, CT. In some cases, a biochemical blood test may be prescribed, the exclusion of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and neurological diseases. A thorough examination of the cervical spine is carried out to exclude squeezing of the vessels.

Treatment of the disease

Successful treatment of the disease requires a clear definition of the causes of its development. After the otolaryngologist makes a diagnosis, the symptom of which is tinnitus, we can talk about treatment. Prior to seeking counseling, the patient can alleviate their suffering by taking sedatives, as well as using the ear massage technique. Treatment is of two types.

Conservative treatment

The aim of this treatment is not to relieve the severity of the symptoms, but to eliminate the cause of their occurrence. Depending on the cause of the disease, antihistamines, medicines to lower blood pressure, diuretics, antibiotics, nonsteroidal drugs may be prescribed. Physiotherapeutic methods of treatment, massage are actively used.

In some cases, TRT therapy is recommended, which involves working with a psychotherapist. During the sessions, new skills are taught, in which a person must learn to control sensations, as well as not pay attention to a symptom. The doctor uses the innovative technologies of the best psychiatrists to teach patients to focus on the main, ignoring the secondary manifestation of problems.

Surgical treatment

If conservative treatment was ineffective, the patient complains of a decrease in the quality of life, surgical treatment is indicated. After surgery, the noise in the ears disappears. However, surgery is no guarantee that the problem will not return over time. Therefore, the patient must observe occupational hygiene, carry out disease prevention. The operation is planned, the patient stays in the hospital for three days.

A timely visit to a doctor allows you to stop the development of a more serious disease and prevent the occurrence of complications. An untimely treated disease leads to disability, so take care of your own health, do not postpone a visit to an otolaryngologist!

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reasons why it is dangerous for health, how to get rid of

What causes noise, hum and whistling in the ears, what to do with them if they poison life, and in general – is it dangerous? How to determine the cause and is it possible to get rid of unpleasant auditory sensations forever?

I don’t want to hear it!

We have already written about tinnitus – noise, hum and / or whistling in the ears, as a sensation of unclear etiology, without an external source of sound (see the articles “. .. Do you hear it too?” and “I hear a ringing, but I don’t know where it is “). In short: with similar phenomena at least once in a lifetime faced, perhaps, each of us. For most people, the ringing passes quickly, leaving no unpleasant consequences and memories. But sometimes an annoying symptom occurs so often and lasts so long that it forces you to see a doctor. And it is right! To get started, you can make an appointment with a local therapist, ENT, or better – immediately with an audiologist in a specialized medical center.

Detailed examinations (among them MRI, CT, ECG, blood test, etc.) will help to identify the true cause. It is far from always subjective, that is, true tinnitus. There is a high probability of detecting very real diseases.

Vascular problems

Most often they occur due to compression in the cervical spine – let’s say “thank you” to the lack of mobility, hours of work at the computer, rest with a smartphone in hand. But there may be other reasons: cerebrovascular accident, rapid pulse, high or low blood pressure. And this, in turn, is also a symptom. It’s just that there are no big deviations from the standard 120/80 and 110/70.

Treatment will then consist in removal of blocks and clamps in the neck by a neurologist, orthopedist, chiropractor, normalization of blood pressure, etc.

By the way, one of the signs (not mandatory, do not self-diagnose, doctors warn, just take note and pay attention to the specialist at the reception) that noise, hum and whistle in the ears are associated with blood vessels if they have a pulsating character that coincides with the frequency heart contractions.

But there can be very dangerous conditions! For example, tinnitus is one of the first, early signs of a stroke. If you have time to consult a doctor, the destructive effect on the body can be prevented or smoothed out.

Otitis development

Adults rarely go to the ENT for otitis media, they prefer to warm their ears, drip drops, having read advice from the Internet, but by doing this they may not eliminate the disease, but drive it into a chronic form, only by relieving acute attacks. Otitis is considered a childhood, even infantile problem, and few people think about it when they hear tinnitus. But it is worth treating chronic inflammations (by the way, tympanometry, a fast and affordable modern diagnostic method, will help to detect them), as hearing is restored.

Diseases of the nervous system

There are a lot of them! This is multiple sclerosis, and meningitis, and epilepsy, and a consequence of age-related changes (such as Parkinson’s disease) … Dozens of diagnoses, many of which are very serious, but they still need to be made. Noise, hum and whistling in the ears are therefore important symptoms. If they bother you or your loved ones, and the therapist or other specialist to whom you turned for help “brushes off”, they say, this is tinnitus, a sound for no reason …, perhaps, you should look for a more meticulous doctor first. Decide that the sounds come from nowhere and are not dangerous, always in time.

By the way, frequent stress and overwork lead to problems with the nervous system. Maybe until you get an appointment, you should try at least a little rest? Take time out, be quiet and in nature. If the intrusive sounds disappear at this time, you are on the right track. Stress less and rest more. You can ask your doctor to prescribe sedatives, but this is not necessary.

Meniere’s disease

Or accumulation of fluid in the inner ear. It can also be for various reasons (more details here). But the situation cannot be left to chance. Meniere’s disease can lead to deafness! First of all, the treatment will be focused on reducing the pressure of this fluid, eliminating it as much as possible, and only then – finding what is causing this.

Incorrect fitting of hearing aids

As a rule, in this case, a person is worried not so much by noise or hum, but by whistling in the ears. Fortunately, the problem is solved by competent tuning. And in the Signia line, for example, there are hearing aids with a tinnitus masking function.