Left ear is perennially blocked

#1

I was aware of the feeling of it being blocked the last 3 months when I had terrible allergies. I went to a new audiologist and got tested. I asked if I should wait to test but she said it wasn’t necessary. I’ve trialed 2 (I’ve worn HAs for 25 years). The last time I went back she acknowledged my left ear was blocked from she thought a pressure problem and also maybe bc my canals are very small. I never have wax. She does REM and Best Practices if that matters.

My question is could this affect the results of the hearing test and then which program I get and why I’m having a hard time getting the right program. I’m now trailing Widex Moment 440s. My speech recognition in that ear is 40. Right is 60. I’ve seen my ENT and he said I had allergies
Thanks!

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#2

It could. But it also might not. The audiologist should know, so if she thinks not then probably not. Do you have an audiogram from prior to this left ear fullness?

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#3

I do from a year ago and it’s similar but couldn’t that mean it’s a chronic issue that hasn’t been addressed? And then before that, 8 years ago they were both at about 92%

#4

Maybe, is there a big gap between the air thresholds and bone thresholds?

#5

Eustachian tube blockage can affect hearing quite a bit, and cause you ears to feel blocked. Plus, one can develop fluid trapped behind the ear drum. there’s a half dozen other possibilities involving middle ear conductive loss alone.seeing An ENT may be the better idea. Audis can only see as far as the canal and drum.

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#6

I don’t know. Where would I find this info.

#7

As I mentioned, when I saw my ENT he said it’s just allergies. At that point I hadn’t been aware of my speech recognition deficits in the hearing test. Maybe a new ENT

#9

Well no, they test middle ear function, they know if there’s a conductive component.

But chronic fluid in the middle ear would lead to treatment. On the other hand, chronic negative pressure might not impact hearing at all but can certainly cause aural fullness.

On your audiogram, air conduction thresholds are X’s and O’s. Bone conduction thresholds are < > or [ ]. Significant gap has to be pretty big to be relevant though, as bone conduction had more variability than air.

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#10

Thanks so much for the education

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#11

Sonno: I was diagnosed with a similar problem a few years ago, by an ENT. She said my tubes were habitually congested from day to day. She prescribed a daily steroid flush with a RX chemical and a non-Rx squeeze bottle. This has helped me enough to make a meaningful difference. It did NOT “solve” the problem entirely, but it has helped enough to be worth doing daily.

Jim G

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#12

@JimGnitecki Thanks for sharing this. Did the treatment improve your hearing? I’m guessing yes bc here you are but want to make sure. And I guess too the steroid stays locally in the ear? I’m asking bc I don’t do well w steroids. Thanks again

#13

Sonno: The daily steroid flushing did indeed help. I still had “bad” days where my unassisted hearing(i.e. before my Jabra HAs) was notably attenuated compared to good days, but it WAS better than before I started the flushing.

The steroid flush is NOT done into the ears, but rather via the nose. You squeeze the squeeze bottle one nostril at a time, twice (i.e. each nostril gets 2 quick flushes: Left, right, left again, right again. You do this every morning. Aqueezing the bottle pushes the solution up into the congested tubes, and opens them up a bit. It’s not instantaneous. It’s something you do every morning - like brushing your teeth.

Now that I have the Jabra Pro 20s, I don’t even notice the days that my natural hearing is weaker. It’s all good when I am wearing the Pro 20s.

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#14

Thanks for the explanation. Did you do hearing tests before you started to do the flushes and after or jsut you know it’s better? Anyway, thanks!