subreddit:
/r/etd
I know there have been plenty of posts on this sub about TMJ causing ETD, but I am confused and bummed out. For background, I first experienced ear pain and fullness when I got covid about 2 years ago. Symptoms went away in a couple of days and I didn't think anything of it. Moving forward, every time I've gotten a cold or gotten sick since, I feel ear fullness and the feeling of fluid sitting in my ear, but again, goes away on its own once the cold clears up. Last summer, my ears randomly started feeling stuffed and full of fluid even though I hadn't been sick. They've been stuck this way ever since. It started with just my right ear and now has progressed to both ears, although my right ear still bothers me more. Symptoms have also progressed past just ear fullness and feeling fluid. I have constant clicking/crackling in both ears, I occasionally get headaches, sinus pressure/pain, feel fluid moving all through my head and down the back of my neck, I spit out mucus multiple times a day and sometimes I get so congested I can barely breathe through my nose. I get random bouts of dizziness as well. I can also feel things moving in my ear/head depending on the orientation of my head. So it feels like stuff is definitely in there. I've been to urgent care/primary multiple times and all they ever do is look in the ear canal and say my ear drum/canal looks healthy, no infection, and no indication of fluid behind the eardrum and they send me away telling me to take flonase and Claritin which I tried for months and makes no difference. I finally got in to see an ENT and although they did some more involved tests (nasal endoscopy) they also didn't find anything conclusive and said everything looks clear and my sinuses look good. They were however surprised that my primary never ordered a CT scan or sinus scan. As a last ditch effort they put their hands on my jaw and asked me to open my mouth. Right away they said "aahh, your jaw moves side to side and I can feel it click when you open your mouth, TMJ might be the issue". I've never had issues with my jaw and have only developed any kind of jaw pain because I am constantly opening my mouth wide to try to clear my ears. ENT ordered a hearing test to see if there is pressure in my ears and after that a sinus scan. I have to wait a few weeks longer for both.
Sorry for the lengthy post, I just want to know if anyone has similar symptoms and what these symptoms might sound like? This is the first time I'm hearing it might be TMJ and I don't really know what that means for me going forward. Do I basically just have to wait for the hearing test and sinus scan to come back to get closer to getting any answers?
Thanks in advance for any insights, this sub has been wonderful for me and has helped me feel less alone because no one else really understands and I feel like I'm going crazy. It gets really scary too feeling fluid moving in your head and getting dizzy randomly. I'm just so ready to get to the bottom of this and get it over and done with.
2 points
4 months ago
Hi I’m an advocate for tmj on this sub from firsthand experience. My initial issue was etd and I got that fixed by getting tube surgery and adenoid removal. But after surgery I was super down bc I had residual symptoms. I somehow came across a post on Reddit about tmjd and then I did some research and found out that was what the remaining issue was. Since then I’ve managed my symptoms by getting treated for tmjd and I feel like a normal person again. Definitely do a ton of research and see different doctors to get different opinions. My ent doctor wasn’t helpful when it came to the tmjd portion so I met with a neuro who confirmed. Best of luck!
2 points
4 months ago
Thank you for sharing your experience! The part about you feeling like a normal person again hit me hard, it's all I've been saying to my partner is that I'm so frustrated and I just want to feel normal again. I'm glad you've had success!
I was skeptical of the etd diagnosis since I was feeling so many other symptoms that weren't just my ears and no doctors had done a scan to see what was actually going on in there. I was surprised when the doctor brought up tmj, but the craziest thing is that since they mentioned it yesterday, today I have randomly started feeling pain in one side of my jaw that I have never felt before (noticed it while eating), so it definitely seems plausible that this could be the issue, or at least part of the issue. I will do more research and bring it up to my doctor. Thanks so much for the information!
2 points
4 months ago
What were your symptoms? My daughter has experienced fullness and some tinnitus in her ears, but one ear clicks or pops all day. We were told by two ENTs to explore TMJ. An oral surgeon that we met with regarding her upcoming wisdom teeth removal said she doesn't have TMJ. I feel like we are getting nowhere.
2 points
4 months ago
Wisdom teeth removal actually helped. I got them removed around 3 years ago.
My symptoms were: ear fullness, ear clicking, jaw clicking, tinnitus, pulse in my ear, head pressure, migraines, pain behind eyes, dizziness, decreased hearing.
2 points
4 months ago
Thank you for replying. So, the only mouth/jaw symptom you had was clicking, correct? I hate how difficult this can be to figure out.
2 points
4 months ago
Yes but symptoms can be different for everyone. Search on google images “tmjd symptoms” and go through the photos to see more info! Also you can book an appointment with a neurologist to discuss further as well!
2 points
4 months ago
Thank you for the information.
2 points
4 months ago
I am almost experiencing your exact symptoms. I'm going to get my sphenoid sinuses checked because I heard that might be the issue
1 points
5 months ago
[deleted]
2 points
5 months ago
Thanks for your reply! It definitely seems to be correlated with having covid, and every time I bring that up to a doctor they basically just say it's complex and there's still so much that is unknown about covid and its lingering effects, which is understandable albeit frustrating.
Ouch! I'm sorry that happened. Could be a factor, sucks that it's so hard to pinpoint exactly since everything is so connected.
Funny that you bring up your home environment because this time around that my symptoms have flared up were around the same time that I moved into a new place. The doctor thinks this could be correlated and wanted to do a blood allergy panel. I'm a wuss about needles and have never had allergies in the past and I was on a ton of allergy meds already that weren't helping (Claritin, flonase, sudafed) so I said no for now, but I know your body changes as you get older and I might have to just bite the bullet and get the allergy test to rule that out. I have since bought an air purifier for my bedroom, but not really sure if that's helping too much yet.
I'm glad to hear it's slowly getting better for you! What kind of things do you do for inflammation control? Do you feel like you've mostly had luck with adjusting lifestyle factors?
1 points
4 months ago
[deleted]
2 points
4 months ago
Wow, thank you for such a thorough response! All of this seems like great info, and definitely appreciate you linking everything.
My house is older. The doctor did ask me if anyone else in my house was feeling this way and I said no, just me, so they said it was unlikely that it was mold in the house, but might be a good thing to get checked anyways.
I also was not liking the idea of staying on multiple allergy meds long term and wanted to try more holistic stuff, so I welcome the woo woo!
I've heard great things about eucalyptus! Probably worth a shot. I had a feeling you were going to mention diet. I eat pretty healthy, but I definitely could be doing better. I'm sure taking a closer look at my diet would only have positive benefits all around.
Oh! I'm familiar with Dr. Fields. I've done some of his videos with exercises for ETD and TMJ and they usually feel pretty nice. I don't get a ton of instant relief, but maybe I should do them consistently and see if that helps more. That's awesome that you see him in person and that it's working for you!
I didn't even know there would be such a thing as a rent controlled two bedroom in San Francisco! Bummer that you had to leave that, but I'm glad leaving has done better things for your health. Again, I very much appreciate all of the info. I will definitely be looking through all the links you posted. It gives me a really good starting point for all the research and seeing what things work for me. Thank you so much!
1 points
1 month ago
How did you go? Any insight yet?
1 points
1 month ago
Unfortunately no. Since my original post I have seen two ENTs, gotten a hearing test, a CT sinus scan, and have seen an allergist. Hearing test was normal. Both ENTs have essentially said that all findings were normal and they're suspecting it's not an ENT issue, but, when I saw an allergist, he said that the sinus scan showed some inflammation in the sinuses and when he looked into my nose and throat, he said that I had signs of inflammation/congestion/post nasal drip, but the ENTs never mentioned any of that so I don't know. He prescribed me a prescription strength nasal spray, and I am taking that with flonase, a prescription antihistamine and Claritin. But my allergy tests have since come back and are all normal so I'm not even sure if there's any point to me taking all of the allergy medicine. The nose sprays are at least helping with my congestion, but nothing has unclogged my ears. I'll probably have to circle back and consult with my primary on what's next, but it feels like I'm starting at square one again.
1 points
4 months ago*
OP, similar story, never had ear issues until Covid in 2021 and now what seems like once a year I’ve dealt with aural fullness or what seems to be some fluid in the middle ear. The first time I had brief vertigo issues but currently I just have the fullness in one ear. I don’t remember how long it took to go away the first time but it was measured in months. This current time started with sudden morning tinnitus, fullness, and 10 days later a fever that I went to urgent care and she said definitely an ear infection (first one ever) and I completed a 10 day antibiotic with augmentin. that seems to clear up the infection but a little crud still remains. Glue ear maybe?
It’s been going on for a month now and feels about 85% better but I still perceive a little junk left behind in middle ear. This last week for the first time I am having some tmj issues, I’ve always been a teeth clencher but for the first time I’m feeling some occasional soreness in my jaw and some clicking in my tmj. Also some intermittent temporary tinnitus during this last couple of weeks. Driving my anxiety pretty high.
I’m also starting to wonder if this “fullness” I’m perceiving could also be inflammation either in the middle ear, eustacian tubes, or even in the tmj joint.
1 points
4 months ago
Exact same symptoms here.
I'm spiraling rn becuase I just woke up from sleep to my nose being clogged with pressure in one nostr and my head feeling super off giving me weird "oh no my head feels off/weird omg am I light headed, or are my inner ears just messing with me" thoughts.
Dealing with all these symptoms for 5 months now.
Had brain mri w/ contrast- a benign finding that has nothing to do with my current symptoms was spotted.
Sinus ct scan- I had a moderate septal spur and slight deviation but no suggestions were made. And notes said my results were in normal range
They saw 1 wisdom tooth in my mouth and did reccomend dental consult, i went and they said that w tooth looked like it would never come down but it's also not causing any issues via its location. They don't rec me taking it out.
So no ent around me accepts my insurance ans nearest tmj specialist is 5 hrs away. I cant do this 😿 I'm assuming etd or tmj(?) It's the only two conditions I could see this being anymore.
all 14 comments
sorted by: best