ear plugged after nasal rinse

just wondering if anyone else has this problem - while doing a nasal rinse with the neti pot, i usually gently blow my nose to dislodge the gunk before continuing with more rinsing. Sometimes my ears seem to get plugged - I assume i'm blowing some of the gunk through my sinuses to my ears!
Any ideas on this? And not blowing my nose is NOT an option, otherwise the gunk doesn't come out.
Is there a way to rinse my ears?

Hi echo,
Nope, no way to rinse your ears, although sometimes I really wish there was!
Do you eustachian tubes stay closed very long? Eustachian tubes are funny. Some of rus have big ones, some have small ones. Some of us have very moist mucosa, and some of us have dry, and some of us have real sticky stuff, which can cause the ears to stay plugged.
Are you rinsing with too much liquid? Are you letting it go too far back? The purpose of the Neti pot is to supposedly just remove bacteria, etc., from the nose and flush it out before we breath it further back.
What kind of solution are you using?
I'm sure you've tried to open your mouth real wide while swallowing, right?
Do you usually have problems with your ears?
Be sure to drink tons of water throughout the day. If it only happens for a short while after the rinsing, I wouldn't worry about it. But chances are, it IS from your blowing. Can you blow without sealing off the opposite nostril?

hi country4ever, that's a good tip. I'll try blowing one at a time

I never ever had ear or sinus troubles before the CPAP. I'm also a diver, so I'm worried about the effect of this on diving. I haven't been diving since starting treatment.

Normally they don't stay closed for very long.. yawning and what you suggested seem to work. But then my ears continue popping all day. Actually the popping ears thing started last christmas, and my sinuses were actually OK back then. The doc said my eardrum (?) looked slightly inflamed on one side and gave me prescription nose spray, but that just made my sinsuses worse so I stopped. Now I just rinse.
I use about 1 heaping teaspoon salt, dash baking soda, warm water from the tap, and 0.5 - 0.75 liter water. (size of a water bottle).
My mucosa is pretty sticky
I need something to get it out of the deeper sinuses too! I think I've got a perpetual sinus infection now, but I really don't trust the docs to do anything about it but give me more (bad) nose sprays. I've tried about 4 different ones and they all just make it worse.
I drink gallons of water a day. Well, couple of liters anyway.

Uh, yes, there IS a thing you can use to rinse your ears. Most swimmers know about it:

Acu-Life Ear Wax Removal Syringe
tinyurl.com/52r8oq

This is the upgrade from the old fashioned bulb irrigator.

It's works basically the same as a neti pot.

I never could figure out the neti pot. I was never good at standing on my head, so I just went for the Sinus Rinse bottle. You might see if the Sinus Rinse bottle eliminates the need to flush your ears, as well.

LOL,
Babs

An external ear wash is fine if you have a wax build-up problem. Do you think you do Echo? I'm thinking your problem is more internal.
Here's something for you to try.........how about Mucinex? Its guafenesin. It thins the mucous in our noses and sinuses and ears. Give that a week and see if your popping goes away.
Its sort of frustrating blowing one nostril without closing off the other one, but see if it works. When we close off one side, the pressure build up on the closed side can cause a back-up into the eustachian tube.
I've had 2 sinus surgeries, and even though I hated them, my sinuses are in such better shape today. I've noticed that when women hit perimenopause, they start having sinus problems. I don't know why, but it seems common.
I'm assuming you're female? Are you getting to be around late 30's, mid 40's? I could always tell when my estrogen dropped, because my sinuses would dry out so badly.
I had major eustachian problems (closing up), until I started cpap, and now I don't have the problem. Maybe its just because the cpap keeps the naso-pharynx more dried out so the eustachian tube can open easier.
Do you have allergies? That can cause alot of funky ear things.
Why don't you make a nasal spray and use it 4-6 times a day, and see if that helps.
Ever since I had the sinus surgery, I make my own, and put it in a store-bought spray bottle. I can't stand preservatives in the otc bottles. My "formula" is 1 cup water (boiled if from tap), 1/4 tsp additive-free salt, and 1/4 tsp baking soda. It works great.
When I was having lots of trouble with my eustachian tube, using the spray and mucinex really helped. And don't forget to drink alot of water.

Just make sure your irrigation solution is isotonic and not too high in sodium, or that would really dry you out. What kind of water are you using?
Sorry for all the questions. I just want to help, since I've had alot of eustachian tube problems myself.
Do you not trust your doc? Have you had a sinus CT scan?

squeeze nose, close lips, apply pressure, stick neti pot in ear and flush it out the other way

my GF and I was on a bean bag one of those styrofoam bee bees got dropped into my ear (think she did it on purpose) and she boiled it out with Peroxide it sizzled for a long time but it came out.

snoredog you read my mind

i don't have external ear wax, well not that I know of ! It's more on the inside. It comes and goes.

Mucinex.. never heard of it but will check it out, thanks country. I'm female, 31... not anywhere near menopause i guess but who's to know. (Some strange lady in the supermarket commented to me that I probably have a hormonal imbalance because i hae really dark facial hair, basically a moustache, but that's probably my ethnicity, though it does seem to be getting worse, and *that* is related with hormonal changes too). Hmmm...

What else? Let's see, I use normal tap water for the sinus rinse. I don't use a sinus spray because i tried that (both pharma stuff and home-made salt solution) and it made it worse. the neti pot really works well, i think, it's just that i can't seem to clean out my ears I thought I mentioned it somewhere, but I use 1/5 liter of water + 1 heaping teaspoon salt + dash baking soda. If I use less salt it doesn't work (i.e. mucus doesn't get dislodged).

I remember now, snoredog mentioned peroxide.. there's a swimmer's drop thing that helps remove water in the ear after swimming, and I think that might also have peroxide in it. I wonder if that would help? Probably not though, since I think the congestion is on the inside, probably the eustachian tubes as you put it.

I get stuffy sinuses all that time due to food allergies, but that's mostly under control (food avoidance), and it never got to my ears. I don't have a milk allergy, which my sister had - and she had to have tubes in her ears and the whole works. Luckily i just got the runny nose.

I've moved around a lot these past two years and had a whole spell of doctors in the meantime. The latest one wasn't so interested in anything I had to say, just like the rest, and I have had such bad experiences with doc's in the past I prefer to rely on my own body's signals. Like the fact that they could never find the food allergies, therefore my running nose, migraines, muscle aches MUST be ALL IN MY HEAD... never thought to ask for a sinus CT scan since it's never been a problem since starting to avoid foods i'm allergic to (which I've been doing for 15+ years).

I seem to have the opposite problem as you - the more I use CPAP the worse it gets.

I bleached everything a few days ago because I was getting mold bulid-up in the HH tank + probably the hose, and that has helped some, but the nasal rinse has still been the most useful. The popping ears is a bit reduced but it's still there. But it's not *all* the time, and thats bizarre. I keep the HH on the low setting and I haven't changed it the whole time, so I can't imagine that's a factor.

I don't mind the ear popping so much in day to day stuff, I'm just worried about screwing them up permanently!!

I keep thinking that I probably have an infection that's not going away - but how can they really tell that? I mean, the stuff coming out isn't green or yellow or anything! I got sick a few times in a row around Xmas and that's when the whole thing started... and since then I just keep getting sick once every one or two months! I thought it was just stress (studying and working), but I'm having issues in a whole host of areas and it's probably all connected. I"m big on trying to find the root of a problem, rather than treating seeminging unrelated but probably connected symptoms. The only thing I can think of that I'm continually fighting some virus and that's why I'm so tired all the time, and the congestion problems, etc.

anyhooo, that's one long post so I'll stop now!

thanks for all the advice so far, everyone!

Hi echo,
In some of us, our eustachian tubes are very sensitive to changes in our bodies. One thing I forgot to mention was how sensitive our ears are to our salt intake. If you're a big salt eater, try cutting back and see if it helps.
A sinus CT scan (or maybe an MRI if they're doing them now for sinuses) would show if you have an absessed sinus. that can cause problems without a huge amount of drainage. My main symptom with one was horrible headaches and some dizziness.
Ask your OB/GYN about the possibility of a hormone imbalance.
My fibromyalgia began after having the flu one winter. After that illness, nothing has been the same......so maybe that happened to you too.
I know exactly what you mean about doctors. And even though I'm married to one, I try to avoid them like the plague. Every once in a while, I get a good one...but they're pretty rare. Have you seen an ENT for your ear problem?

If you use city water, you're using chlorine in your rinses. If that's the case, I would buy some distilled water to use.
Too bad I can't look in your ears with my otoscope and see if you have wax buildup. I wouldn't use peroxide. It can be harsh on the tissues. If you have one of those little blue bulb syringes, you can gently wash your ears out. But that popping is usually internal.

You might try giving up milk products too. I can't tolerate them, but don't have the usual symptoms. Milk can definitely thicken up your mucous.........so try a week or 2 off it. I like to drink Almond milk instead.

Sounds like you definitely need to clean out your humidifier tank more often........at the very least once a week........and be sure to use distilled water in that. You don't want mold in your sinuses! I would white vinegar to clean your plastic cpap stuff out, as bleach will degrade it.

Have you had any labs run recently?
In light of the comment you made about your facial hair and other symptoms, and sleep apnea, do a google search for "Polycystic Ovary Syndrome" and see if those symptoms are familiar to you.

And please do try the Mucinex. There was a time awhile back when that was the only way I could keep my ears open (plus lots of water and cutting back on salt). You will know within a few days if the Mucinex is going to work.
Keep me posted echo.

thanks for the info country4ever. I'm reading about POS now, some of the symptoms do sounds familiar. I just read on the Mayo Clinic site that it's linked with OSA!
I already had a trillion tests for glucose and thyroid, and although I suspected one or both, nothing came up for diabetes or hypothyroidism. My cycles aren't that irregular, and I never skip one.
As for Fibro, I've had some of the signs for that too, but well... every doctor that I've ever been, I've come with all my symptoms and signs and everything, and basically they told me that nothing was wrong... and that's even before the OSA was diagnosed and there *was* obviously something wrong. So I've resigned myself to the fact that they only treat unrelated symptoms, and never look for the root cause. I've yet to find a good doc. I haven't been to an ENT either. My GP looked at my ears over Xmas and didn't find wax, just the slight inflammation in one eardrum.
I've had lab tests run at lesat once every 2 years, once I can convince the doc that it's not " all in my head " but nothing significant ever seems to come up.

I can totally relate to feeling awful alot, yet lab tests are always normal.
I'm lucky in that my most recent internal medicine doc really pushed me to have another sleep study. He said that he wondered if alot of my various symptoms weren't because of sleep apnea. I do feel alot less fatigued with the CPAP, but alot of my funky symptoms are still there...........but I'm 58 and have had these funky symptoms for many years.
Finding a doctor who believes in fibromyalgia can make all the difference.
Are you in a small town? I think doctors don't believe in things they can't test for.
You definitely need to see an ENT for your ear problems. With that specialty, they're more likely to find what's wrong.
I have found that when I had sinus infections/abscesses, I felt horrible in a very general way. It always seems to have the element of panic with it too. That's very strange.

Did the doc wonder why your eardrum was reddened?

If you don't want to see an ENT, at least give the Mucinex a try.

Do you think you might have fibromyalgia? I'm convinced that some of the cases of fibro are connected to female hormones. Too bad its not more of a man's illness, or they probably would have figured it out by now.

When you had your sleep study, did it show alpha wave intrusion? I have that, and its very common in fibro. That's what keeps us from getting deeper sleep.

How long have you been using CPAP, and has it helped at all?

whew, sorry it took me a while to reply.

So let's see...

I do feel alot less fatigued with the CPAP, but alot of my funky symptoms are still there...........but I'm 58 and have had these funky symptoms for many years.

I'm only 31 but feel 88! ... I know the feeling though.

Finding a doctor who believes in fibromyalgia can make all the difference.
Are you in a small town? I think doctors don't believe in things they can't test for.

Isn't that the truth?! 4 years ago I went to a doc with all these complaints, in retrospect many were related to OSA. He offered PROZAC. It took another 3 years to get diagnosed, and that's only because my mother knew someone who got diagnosed, many of his symptoms were similar to mine, and she kept nagging me... go mom!
I'm not in a small town so to speak, but I've moved around a lot these past 7 years and have not had a stable GP. As soon as I try to get a handle on some medical issue, I move again, and then I'm busy just trying to get life back to normal! I guess I haven't had too much time for doc's...

You definitely need to see an ENT for your ear problems. With that specialty, they're more likely to find what's wrong.

I think my sleep lab has their own ENT. I need to check into that, good idea!

Did the doc wonder why your eardrum was reddened?

Ha ha, NO! Just "take thse drops and go". But as I said I've moved around a lot, and this was a doc I went to only once while I was in another town and had had about enough of the ear popping. Now that I finally have a stable GP, I think it should get better. But of course it dpeneds on how good she is...

Do you think you might have fibromyalgia? I'm convinced that some of the cases of fibro are connected to female hormones. Too bad its not more of a man's illness, or they probably would have figured it out by now.

I've wondered about that for like 5 years now. Never thought I could find a doc here that would know anything about it, or even took it seriously. I've got ALL the sore spots plus a few for spare... and other symptoms. I haven't followed up on it lately, do MDs now take it seriously??

When you had your sleep study, did it show alpha wave intrusion? I have that, and its very common in fibro. That's what keeps us from getting deeper sleep.

No idea. I still haven't requested the full sleep study. It's next on my (long) to do list.

How long have you been using CPAP, and has it helped at all?

1 year anniversary in two weeks!! It has help[ed TONS. That is, I am no longer a walking NIGHTMARE during the day - I don't yell at people as much, I wake up feeling only half choked instead of completely choked. I can wake up easier SOME days, my mouth isnt' completely dried up in the morning.. the monring congestion is gone (yeah i know that's a contradiction, but it's a different kind of congestion, if that's possible...).

I had a ton of energy in the beginning and in the middle (august, then it went downhill, then again in February, then it went downhill again). So now I'm back to feeling like crap in the mornings, but I feel like more crap if I don't use it. Also I seem to recover faster in the mornigs with the CPAP than without (I go from bitchy to normal phase quicker, my eye puffiness goes away quicker, I feel more alert quicker).

So it has helped, but I want my old self back!

Thanks for your help country4ever!!!

I have an apointment with the new doc this afternoon to discuss hormones, GERD, etc , and other possible reasons for tiredness...

Hi echo,
It sure sounds like you might have fibro. Lots more docs today believe in it (or at least pretend they do!), but alot just depends on the doc. I've had some that wouldn't come out and say they didn't believe in it, and would focus on other things (that I knew wasn't the problem). One doc I had even implied I just didn't WANT to feel better!!! (If I'd had a gun!!)
My internal medicine doc I have now is pretty good. He's not so hot in bedside manner, but he makes good choices and he's very informed.
The first thing he brought up when I told him I had fibro was the importance of a sleep study.......since lots of people with fibro symptoms have sleep disturbances.
You mentioned not having a "full" sleep study. What did you first have that lead to your using the cpap?

Fibromyalgia is an illness of exclusion. That means there aren't any specific tests for it, so you just have to rule out all the other possibilities, that there are tests for...........like lupus, Lyme disease, thyroid problems, etc.

I think I always had fibro. As a child I had lots of problems.......but they say that lots of people with fibro have had abusive childhoods......which I had. When I first got pregnant at age 37, I was very sick all the time......incredible stiffness, headaches, feeling like I had the flu, etc. Then it cleared up until I got the flu in l995, and I never really recovered from that. I've heard its common to develop it after an illness.

The doctor, if he's a good one, will run lab tests to rule out any inflammatory autoimmune diseases, and all the other usual tests, like chem profile, CBC, thyroid.
You could also see an OB/GYN who could check your hormone levels. Maybe you are approaching menopause, even though you're young.
Hormones are a tough thing to follow. They can be all over the place, depending where you are in your cycle.

My life has been really hard, since that l995 flu. I have felt bad most of the time. I had a really good year last year, and I began thinking it all had been because of my fluctuating hormones and started thinking the nightmare was over..........but about 5 weeks ago, it all came crashing down again.
I was working in the garden. It wasn't that hot out. My heart was beating really hard (because I was working hard), when all of a sudden I got very confused. I ran to the house and stayed confused for a couple of days. Unfortunately, the rest of my family was out of town. No fun thinking you're dying when your family is gone!
Anyhow......long story short..........I feel like I'm back to square one........I have intense anxiety, I break out in a sweat for no reason, my GERD and IBS have flared up, my cpap isn't doing well, and my brain is pretty much useless to me.
I've always gotten these "fibro flare-ups", but I was hoping they were over......but I guess not.
I hate that I've wasted so many years feeling like crap. They'll probably find a cure for this when I'm 90.

The thing about fibromyalgia is you just have to slowly, through trial and error, find a custom-made treatment for yourself.
Some people are on alot of meds, which helps them. I'm medication phobic, since they all seem to bother me.
Some people find a good type and amount of daily exercise which helps.
We all have had to learn how to budget our time and energy, to get the most out of a day.
It IS hard to let go of who we used to be. Its really like a death. We will never get our old lives back, and its very sad. But we slowly learn to adjust and accept it (sort of!).

Since I quit having periods, I know for a fact that my ovaries are still doing things. About every 4-5 months, I would get all these symptoms back for about a month..........headache with aura, GERD would act up, IBS would act up, my muscles and joints would ache, I wouldn't sleep well, my heart rate and BP would go up, etc., etc.

I'm really convinced alot of women with fibro have some sort of problem with the changing hormones. It seems that some of us have bodies that are too dependent on a certain hormone level, and when that begins to change, everything goes to hell. Its much more than just hot flashes. Its like being sick with the flu all the time. It seems like every body system is affected.

Hang in there echo. You might not find the perfect doc, but hopefully you can take something from several of them that helps you out.
Lots of people with fibro have rheumatologists as their main doc. I've found that a good internal medicine doc is the right choice for me.
You can send me a private message if you'd like to talk more about this.
Keep me posted on how your doc visit went today.

You mentioned not having a "full" sleep study. What did you first have that lead to your using the cpap?

Guess I was typing too fast - I HAVE had a full sleep study (PSG) and a titration (on separate nights), as well as full lung function tests, ECG, chest x-ray, full blood work - I just don't have the full PSG report with graphs etc. I only have the doc's dictated 1 page summary report. So I still need to write a letter asking for the full study.

Just got back from the doc! Thyroid, sugar levels all look OK. She recommended a nutritionist to help with a good diet - she think's I'm hypoglycemic, and the blood sugar monitor i've been using this past week seems to confirm that. No diabetes yet luckily. Thyroid has been checked a million times in the past year (including full T3, T4, T7 workup) and that all also seems to be normal. CRP is fine, so are the different blood levels (monocytes leucocytes etc) and cholesterol. In fact, everything looks tip-top. That was confirmed by 2 different blood tests, one in Feb and one in Oct or so, last year. As for the tiredness, she wants me to get my biological clock in rhythm first, and I agree. I've been using melatonin, and I've been able to shift my sleep schedule back by over one hour - so that's a big plus already. And that's only after one week. The sleeping affects my meal cycles too, so I'm going to work on fixing the biorhythm first.

One thing that stood out (that the previous doc didn't mention, and I just got the full report from my NEW doc!)), was that I was positive for Hepatitis A back in October. I don't remember getting immunized or it (but maybe I did?? I went to Haiti back in college for a week and had some immunizations beforehand, but I can't remember if Hep A was one of them?? probbaly...??).

I remember getting very sick twice: once after coming back from Haiti (about 10 yrs ago), and once after eating some pork soup/stew in Hong Kong about 3-4 years ago -- actually I started getting really sick after that trip to Hong Kong. Maybe I caught some weird infection from that soup and that's caused this fybro or CSF or whatever it is that I now seem to have..?? Of course the docs will say it's all in my head .

OB/GYN is a good idea. I was also suspecting some funky things with hormones. The new doc said that was all checked in the other blood work i mentioned, but when I was reviewing the paperwork at home, they didn't check estrogen and all those hormones. I get really really bad PMS some months.

I'm sorry to hear that you're not doing well. I know exactly how you feel - one minute you're doing well and really positive, and then you're back to square one. I feel Exactly like that right now , actually.