r/etd

My purpose with this post is reach out other people suffering with ETD and TMJ symptoms, i can't find too much information online and doctors haven't helped in an optimal way.

Here's my timeline:

In 2024:

-I had left‑sided gingivitis infection in the last molar for several months (about 8 months).

-Recurrent sinusitis for more than 4 months in a row.

Both infections resolved by the end of 2024.

Late‑onset symptoms on that year: Pain in the left ear and jaw. Later the pain extended to the left side of the neck and clavicle. I had left‑sided nasal bleeding, sensation of being unable to breathe through the left nostril despite no apparent mucus.

Treatments i had that year: several rows of antibiotics, nasal spray mometasone, antihistamines, and sinus rinse.

Exams: Impedanciometry and audiometry showed left‑sided eustachian tube dysfunction with no hearing loss, but presence of tinnitus. A paranasal sinus CT scan only showed an old deviated nasal septum, apparently not affecting current symptoms.

2025:

-No active infections, but residual pain in the left gum after gingivitis. The last affected molar remained unstable at first but gradually became more stable and mostly painless. Constant nasal drip down the throat on left side. Acute pain in the ear and jaw, and pain when swallowing, all on the left side.

Sensation of mucus stuck in the ear and throat. Constant throat clearing that does not help. Nasal endoscopy (nasovideofaringoscopy) was scheduled but remains pending. Doctors were completely unwilling to commit to the case, some of them didn't even looked at me and told me: "you're gonna have this forever". Too much money spent for nothing.

Treatment that year: only sinus rinse and antihistamines. Some days were better, like actually feeling on track of recovery and then some days were awful.

2026:

-The same discomfort persists; the entire area appears to be compromised: left‑sided TMJ symptoms, crunchy and painful jaw, stiff neck, painful ear with altered air pressure sensation, and sometimes constant postnasal drip. Irritation in ear-nose-throat airway on left side. Voice and resonance affected but not always.

However, there is a new symptom: the thyroid cartilage or hyoid bone is displaced to the left. I can push it to the right with my finger and it makes a “pop” sound, simultaneously triggering sharp pain in that area radiating to the left ear. It feels like being strangled. In addition, the left cervical side of the neck is constantly contracted. There is a persistent sensation of irritation at the internal junction between the ear, nose, and throat that sometimes worsens with vaping weed.

What could this be? i'm quite anxious to rule out cancer and to determine whether there is a muscular dysfunction in that area, for example of the omohyoid muscle.

Anyone else living something like this?

I have had ETD for as long as I can remember. I have had off an on fullness especially bad in one ear for decades and have a great deal of pain when flying or driving mountain passes, often in spite of utilizing Afrin, Sudafed and earplanes. It has really impacted my quality of life as many of you can relate. I have had ear tubes, which end up getting stuck or falling out, balloon dilation (no improvement at all) and tried all of the BS nasal spray routes as well as had successful FESS surgery which helped my sinuses but did nothing to improve my ETD.
After TONS of research, I discovered that cartilage graft tympanoplasty (not a tympanostomy which are ear tubes) surgery could very likely be the answer I have been searching for. My membranes had become thin over the years and my eardrum was retracted even though half of the time I was tested my tympanogram would look normal. Other times I tested it showed retraction. The test is not always accurate. You know when you have negative pressure. It hurts and the Valsalva etc do nothing to relieve the pressure.
I stopped going to regular ENT’s and made appointments with several ent SPECIALISTS who regularly perform ear surgeries. The first 2 blew me off, soooo frustrating, but the next 2 said they thought cartilage graft tympanoplasty with T tube placement surgery would help immensely. If you research using AI you will discover how the thinking about long term chronic ETD treatment is FINALLY changing. I encourage any of you who are dealing with chronic ETD and have ever had an abnormal tymp test to make an appointment with a specialist to talk about the possibility of a cartilage graft tympanoplasty with an ear tube placement. Note: a tympanoplasty is a surgery that repairs a hole in the eardrum that develops due to chronic ETD overtime. The thinking used to be that you could not repair an eardrum if you had chronic ETD because the ETD would just keep causing ear retraction. The discovery was that by adding cartilage graft and T tube it stabilizes the eardrum so it does not continue to retract thus allowing the Eustachian tube to do its job. See below:
“The medical community has traditionally viewed ETD as a functional issue of the inner tube rather than a structural issue of the eardrum itself. Because a tympanoplasty is specifically a surgery to repair the tympanic membrane (eardrum) or middle ear bones, many traditional practitioners historically ruled it out unless a large permanent hole was present. However, reconstructing a chronically weak, retracted eardrum with a sturdy graft can stabilize the middle ear space, stop the painful structural collapsing, and drastically improve quality of life.”

For context, 26M, I never had any ear problems and never experienced any pain or discomfort and I am a frequent flier. The day before a flight, I noticed pain in my ear after coming out of the shower. I very rarely use Q-tips and generally just get the water out of my ear using my finger. Doing it for my right ear - all is good, same as it's always been. Then, I got to my left ear and put my finger in. The second I tried pulling it out and it created that negative pressure/vacuum, there was a very sharp and intense pain that went away after I stopped. I tried a few more times with lower intensity of pressure generated by my fingers and sure enough, pain was always there.

I went to the ENT and told him this exact story, he checked my ears with a camera (both through my ears and through my nose) and said they look perfect except for my left eardrum being slightly irritated/inflamed, but assured me this alone should not cause that level of pain. I assured him my pain is only present when creating vacuum in my ear and I notice nothing otherwise.

He performed a tympanogram (i think). Basically used a device that checks pressure which has like an earbud at its end, which goes into the ear. It was extremely painful so I pulled away almost instantly. He said I have ETD which won't let my ear regulate pressure correctly, but is not sure of the cause. It could be due to a cold/virus/infection or just random. He ruled out infection because of lack of any related symptoms and I didn't have any recent colds.

What's crazy is that the result of the tympanogram(although painful and incomplete because I pulled away shortly) came out good as well. Type A.

He gave me some eardrops for pain, a nasal spray and Parasinus tablets and told me to just wait it out.

Naturally I didn't take my flight because I was scared of causing any permanent damage and imagined pain like in the tympanogram and not just for one second, but for 20-30 minutes during the descent (during which I would have no control and just have to endure excruciating pain)

I'm not sure what to do, I'm taking the meds but don't notice an improvement, if anything my ear feels more weird. No pain but it feels more sensitive to cold air/loud sounds and feels like there is either something there or something missing from there (compared to my healthy ear). I don't want to perform the "Finger test" again because doc advised not to and just let it heal.

Not sure what to do, this seems to have came out of literally thin air and doesn't seem to have an obvious solution? I see people on this sub just live with it forever. I have another flight in one month and wouldn't want to miss it.
Anyone with similar symptoms?

TL;DR: ETD with no general pain in ear, painful during negative pressure tests and very painful tympanogram(pulled away physically). Hearing is good, nothing muffled, just a general weird feeling there. Am I safe to fly?

Hi guys I've had ETD since I was 19 I'm now 23 and the daily fullness / clicking / popping / thumping is starting to get to me, I thought I could just adjust but no luck.

I randomly woke up one day and my shoulder was in so much pain I couldn't move it, it ached bad then I got this horrible electric shock to my ear and then it was blocked no infection I was ill at the time though. I had no fluid and still don't. I don't know what to do to make this any better, ENTS have been useless, I've also got TTTS after a panic attack :/

I've tried nasal sprays, steam. Everytime I swallow my ears crackle and I have tinnitus too

Any advice please. I'm at a loss

Sometimes I get this for hours, other days I don't. It's like something goes wrong in my sleep. Nasal sprays don't help, neither does swallowing/yawning/valsalva. I don't really seem to have fullness / clogged ears. Maybe some mild feeling of pressure.

Any tips?

I got ear tubes about 10 days ago and my ear still feels very clogged and muffled with slight ringing. I did a checkup and he said to wait about 4 weeks. Is that normal? Just freaking out that my hearing is gone 😭

I've had a cold over the last week or so so there's been a lot of nose blowing. Suddenly yesterday for no apparently reason my right ear--the one with ETD, the one that has felt like I need to pop it every single day since the fall of 2017--suddenly opened up. I noted the time because tbh it is rare but not the first time it has happened. For 35 minutes I had the distinct pleasure of feeling symmetrical again, feeling like I could sense through that ear more clearly, feeling uncongested.

Then after that 35 minutes had passed I was back to feeling as though the plane had landed and I needed to pop my ears.

9 years and counting... le sigh

Still trying to connect the dots regarding my ear issue. Now, Ive suspected TMJ for years and it’s only gotten worse and i think it has finally messed with my ears and I have ETD. Has anyone experienced an almost spasm like sensation sound in their ear? It is NOT pulsatile tinnitus as I have experienced that as well shortly after my ear tube was inserted this sound/feeling the best I can explain is that it sounds like a thump, or drum, or “whoom” sometimes it only happens once and other times it’s in succession but never lasting more than a couple seconds and not in sync with my heart beat. Doesn’t hurt just sounds like someone is hitting a drum in my ear lol. It seemed to have gotten better in the ear I got a tube in (left) but still effects my right ear.

Now I know that a lot of people go ghost after they start feeling better and their symptoms start to go away. Well I figure I'll try asking this anyways .

does anyone notice after improvement when everything is healing and recovering that the ear will start to make kind of like an ocean noise and have a light ringing that is constant most of the day?

In my case this happened after I had the helicopter whooshing washing machine pulsing heartbeat sounding noise that went away and the electronic sound went away like when you put your finger over your ear

This problem kind of annoys me because it still hasn't went away like my hearing still feels a tiny bit blocked and I have this kind of constant ringing ocean noise.

Hello everyone!

I experienced barotrauma 59 days ago while driving down a high mountain with a sinus infection. I started taking corticosteroids the very next day, and the day after the barotrauma I felt like my ears had “unblocked.” From that moment on, I noticed high-pitched tinnitus in both ears, and it has been there ever since.

About two weeks after the barotrauma, I also noticed that my ears were crackling or sometimes making dull “popping” sounds when I yawned or swallowed. I feel like the tinnitus has improved very slightly, but really not much.

I’m quite worried because I’m afraid I may never be able to go back to the mountains or go paragliding again due to this Eustachian tube dysfunction. My ears don’t seem to open properly and behave unpredictably.

However, I saw an ENT specialist yesterday: tympanogram — normal, audiogram — normal, auditory nerve — normal, otoscopy — normal.

So why isn’t this going away after almost two months? It’s starting to worry me.

Thank you for your replies!

Hi everyone,

I’m in my late 30s and had tubes put in several months ago due to recurring middle ear infections. The "problem" ear has been feeling great since the procedure—aside from some pulsatile tinnitus (whooshing in sync with my heartbeat) at night.

However, I woke up today with the sensation of liquid trapped in that ear. It eventually started draining a clear, slightly sticky fluid. It’s now draining constantly at a slow rate, and I have total hearing loss in that ear.

I’ve already been to urgent care and started antibiotic drops, and I’m seeing my ENT in two days. In the meantime, I’m curious—have any other adults experienced this kind of delayed, constant drainage?

Do y'all get dry sinus with etd? Or one nostril feels plugged? Ear pain on and off again like a dull ache for weeks?

Disclaimer- not expecting a diagnosis here but im wondering if anyone has had anything similar here and what helped before seeing a doctor?

Basically for the last couple weeks my left ear has been going numb on and off. I didn’t really think about of it as Ive suffered with wax a lot… I’ve also had tinnitus previously which went away with antibiotics. Lately since maybe late Friday? It started ringing and hasn’t stopped. Today I’ve woken up and its worse with an additional ooo sound with the ringing that ive been hearing. I can barely hear anything out from it. Maybe a small amount but even when I do its muffled not clear.

Im 24 and live in the uk… I did sneeze and sniffle yesterday but thats very common for me. Told my mum yesterday as I still live with my parents (just graduated last summer and obviously cost of living whilst on uc only isnt good.) she thinks its probably wax.

Im planning to go doctors either tomorrow or Tuesday. Really dont wanna go a n e especially if its not serious like obvious sshl

Currently no dizziness or anything like that

It has been popping but it hasn’t helped today at all. It feels significantly worse