Deafness & pulsating "Whooshing" noise after grommet operation

Did your eventually go away? Mine took almost two weeks but feels normal now :)

I was having ear pressure from 2 months when I dived in 11 feet swimming pool without ear caps and I was having nasal congestion that time am Indian here people ,doctors don't know much about ear poppers so after 2 months of pressure in ear they told me to put grommet(ear tubes) in my right ear but after operation pressure still builds up my ear feels like so much cotton balls in it and when I speak my voice echoes in my head I have to ask people to repeat what they are saying before 2 months I was a happy 16 year old who was living life perfectly now it feels like I should die I am eating lots of medicines now also after operation for nasal congestion and nasal sprays are given to me it's been 7 days from operation and pressure still builds up when I swallow my spit sometimes I get Relief for 2 seconds then it comes back again I am ready to die it's so depressing my doctor thinks a just imagining this problem in my head and my ears are alright after operation and no way pressure can build up but what he will know how I feel so I bought ear popper will it be safe to use ear popper grommet are fitted 7 days ago and am still on medicines and sprays
Plus from 2 months when I have this ear problem my nasal congestion is still there please help me if anyone had this problem please I beg you help me and will it ever go away and will I ever feel normal again

You do not do the Valsalva manoeuvre with tubes in ears!

I agree! this is the only web site that I can find about adults with tubes.

That's awesome, my ent said once the grommet comes out and the ear heals over everything should return to normal. Fingers crossed for everyone that this occurs. Cannot wait for my grommet to fall out.

Did you symptoms finally resolve? I just got tubes put in 4 Days again and of course I have the pulsatile Tinnitus and a bit of regular Tinnitus along with feeling of fulllness.

Has anyone had their ENT recommend allergy shots or a prescription for steroids?

had bilateral grommets put in Friday just gone 12.01.18 . as soon as I woke up I said to the Nurse and the consultant I feel as if something is in my ear apart from the grommets they just looked at me like I was mad! it's now 5 days post op my hearing in both of my ears is muffled, sounds are hollow and tinny I have no infection no discharge from the ears just this awful bunged up sensation in both of the ears. This is worse than my ETD at least I could hear properly. I was not warned to expect this my GP said it may go after 2-3 weeks everyone is different. This is of no comfort to me it's totally knocked me after suffering and being fobbed off by my GP's In the past with regards the ETD I was led to believe having the grommets would resolve the pressure issue but it did run the risk of infection after surgery, grommets falling out or a hole in the eardrum ( but told this may actually help with the pressure) No mention whatsoever of this horrid sensation in both ears I feel so down with it now and I hope it does go as if it doesn't I will be asking for the grommets to be removed.

I too had grommets fited last week . First four days i felt fine on fifth day the whooshing noise started and it is so bad now that im having problem sleeping. I phoned the surgary and spoke to surgeon today. He tells me that this is normal and some people can hear diffrent noises, and they can not do anything about that.
Nobody told me anything about that before the surgery.
Good news is that i can hear lot better now then i did befor the surgery Even if the sounds feel weird.
Pam

Hi. I had grommets put in over a year ago and still cannot hear properly and have exactly the same issues as you have. Its caused no end of problems especially high pitch voices. Im hoping when the grommets fall out my hearing will be back to how it used to be. It drives me insane every day

HI PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME AM IN THE POINT OF COMMITTING SUICIDE I HAVE NO MENTAL ISSUES NOTHING ITS ALL HAPPENING DUE TO MY RIGHT EAR PLEASE READ IN FULL MAYBE YOUR ANSWER CAN HELP SAVE MY LIFE I WAS A VERY HAPPY 17 YEAR OLD BOY WHO WAS LIVING VERY HAPPILY TILL LAST YEAR IT ALL STARTED ONE DAY I DIVED DEEP IN THE SWIMMING POOL 12 FEET AND NOT WEARING ANY EAR CAP WATER WENT IN RIGHT EAR I STARTED FEELING BLOCKED HEAVINESS FEELING IN RIGHT EAR PRESSURE STARTED TO DEVELOP AND HEARING WAS SLOWLY STARTED TO REDUCE IN RIGHT YEAR I WAS SO TENSED AFTER 1-2 MONTHS OF VISITING SEVERAL DOCTORS AND TAKING SEVERAL MEDICATION NOTHING WAS CURED THEN A DOCTOR PRESCRIBED GROMMET OPERATION I DINT WANT TO DO ANY OPERATION ON MY EAR BUT THE CONTINUOUS INCREASE IN PRESSURE EACH DAY EVERY DAY AND LESS HEARING MADE MY PARENTS WORRY SO I DECIDED TO GO WITH GROMMET OPERATION AFTER THE OPERATION THINGS CHANGED I STARTED TO FEEL LESS PRESSURE AND CLEAR HEARING BUT THE HEAVINESS FEELING WAS STILL THERE ALMOST WAS SAME AS BEFORE IT WAS DRIVING ME CRAZY I DID EVERY HUMANLY THING POSSIBLE ON EARTH THAT CAN FIX MY PROBLEM I VISITED E.N.T DOCTOR SEVERAL TIMES THEY ONLY TOLD ME IT WAS ALL IN YOUR HEAD AND NO PROBLEM WAS THEIR I ATE ALLOPATHY HOMEOPATHY I TRIED EVERYTHING TAKING VAPOR EATING SINUS MEDICINES TAKING NOSE DROPS EVERY THING IN THE WORLD STILL NO HELP IN HEAVINESS BLOCKED FEELING AFTER 10 MONTHS OF STRUGGLING 4 DAYS AGO I VISITED THE E.N.T DOCTOR WHO PUT IN GROMMETS HE PULLED OUT THE GROMMETS AND TOLD ME EVERY THING WAS FINE BUT NOTHING IS FINE I AM TAKING ANTIBIOTICS EVERY DAY IT SEEMS LIKE PRESSURE IS BUILDING AGAIN ITS ALL LIKE BEFORE GROMMET I AM READY TO DIE I DON'T WANT TO LIVE LIFE LIKE THIS PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME I CRY SO MUCH ALL DAY ALL NIGHT I AM NOT THAT MENTALLY STRONG TO FACE THIS TYPE OF PROBLEM NO ONE IS UNDERSTANDING MY PROBLEM MAYBE THERE IS 1 NERVE WHICH IS SWALLOWED OR THE NERVE IS AFFECTED BY COLD ITS ALL FEELING LIKE BEGINNING MY EAR START TO FEEL BLOCKED AGAIN MORE HEAVINESS AND PRESSURE DAY BY DAY I CANT GO WITH ANOTHER OPERATION I AM VERY WEAK FROM INSIDE I WILL COMMIT SUICIDE IF ANYONE ANY DAY SEES IT AND EVER HAVE FACED THIS TYPE OF PROBLEM PLEASE HELP ME IT CAN SAVE MY LIFE I AM 17 YEAR OLD BOY WHO CANT FACE IT I AM BROKE FROM INSIDE AND WHAT MY PARENTS CAN DO THEY CAN ONLY SPEND MONEY HERE AND THERE WITH 100 S AND THOUSANDS OF DOCTORS AND MEDICINES AND OPERATION BUT WHEN IT WILL BE OK NO ONE KNOWS IT IS SAID THAT SOMETIMES BIG DOCTORS AND BIG BIG THINGS CANT DO THING WHICH SOMETIMES SMALL HOME MADE REMEDIES CAN DO LIKE MIRACLES PLEASE HELP ME MY LIFE WAS VERY GOOD BEFORE 1 YEAR EVERYTHING WAS GOOD FROM 1 YEAR MY LIFE IS WORSE THAN HELL PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME PLEASE SIR/MAM ANYONE

Grommets / ear tubes insertion and removal – MY NIGHTMARE!!

WARNING, WARNING, WARNING.
If you are an adult and considering getting ear grommets please think very carefully and ONLY consider under the following circumstances:
1. CONFIRMED tests for glue ear, with obvious fluid seen and diminished hearing (not just ENT guessing there may be some fluid).
2. Frequent ear infections that you suffer perforations from.
3. Frequent flying if you have trouble equalizing pressure.
4. Eustachian tube dysfunction – Apply EXTREME CAUTION for this diagnosis, As ENT use ETD as a term for many unexplained feeling of ear fullness, and for which I was ‘supposedly’ diagnosed with.

My background -
I never had ANY ear issues and had excellent hearing.
I would always suffer quite badly with colds and feelings of stuffiness, but they would always resolve.

My story started 18 months ago. I have 2 young children and they had shared many, many colds with me, one time I suffered severe sinusitis. First GP tried treating for allergies, which it wasn’t. Then prescribed a steroid spray and my nose was tip top again. However my ears seem to stay a bit ‘full/blocked/pressured’, worse on the right side. It was annoying and as the weeks passed it was bothering me. I tried more steroid sprays, Sterimar, Otovent, steaming etc. and had no difference. GP finally referred to ENT. 5 MONTHS later, I had my 10 minute appointment with the consultant. He didn’t know what to say, but suggested grommets to try to ‘aerate’ my Eustachian tube and give it a rest and time to recover. It seemed a reasonable idea, I was pleased something could be done and trusted his judgement. Easy – kids do it all the time…… 2 weeks later I was in theatre!

From the moment I woke up I knew something was VERY, VERY wrong. I felt so plugged up like never before, I was 50% deaf, I heard whooshing in my ears (pulsatile tinnitus). I was told they need time to settle and 6 weeks to heal. I had not been warned of ANY of these symptoms and my original issue was 100x worse!

I was sent home and things got worse. Over the next days I felt EVEN more plugged up, sore, pulsatile tinnitus raged all night, my head felt in a goldfish bowl / tunnel. I was terrified. I rang ENT and they confirmed again this is expected. GP also confirmed things were still raw. I tried to persevere and attempted to go to work.

4 weeks later, thankfully most of the worst symptoms had subsided. However what was still most disturbing day to day were the grommets frequently popping (a neat mechanical pop sound) and the pressure changes with the air circulating in my inner ear. I couldn’t concentrate wherever I was – everywhere was weird, and my mental health was deteriorating trying to deal with it. I was signed off sick until it was somehow resolved (I had never had any periods of long term sick, and it hit me hard).

At my 6 week checkup I explained my experience, enough was enough and I wanted them out! Consultant agreed.
I had another very long, miserable 6 weeks to wait until the removal date. I kept myself busy at home, had school runs to do, had support from friends/family, used relaxation videos and meditation. But I was going crazy, my anxiety levels had skyrocketed, I was having panic attacks and had to speak to a Counsellor on various occasions.

I was a wreck on removal day and petrified things might get even worse. I was also petrified of dealing with the resulting 2mm holes left in my ears and their ability to heal. The removal surgery (general anesthetic) was very quick, and I woke up pleasantly surprised! I felt so happy the evil grommets were gone and things were not much worse!! The surgeon had made the holes bleed to encourage good healing over the next 2 weeks.

The following few days the pulsatile tinnitus was gone, along with the inane ‘popping’, and there seemed to be improvement in the airy, pressure changes. Things were a bit more ‘normal’. Almost immediately I felt more myself so pleased they were gone!

Over the following week there was some horrible resonating on sounds, but a few days in things were definitely improving. I had a small ear camera and could check on the progress of the holes healing. I looked after myself intensely – eating well, no alcohol, resting, no heavy lifting, no getting ears wet, no going out in cold breezes & no sneezing/nose blowing. The holes were slowly closing, each one in a slightly different way. Then on day 14 they had closed completely and I was feeling NORMAL!

Regarding my initial issue with a blocked feeling mainly on the right side, that also was better and my ears felt even. So on that basis it seemed a success. But a truly awful experience to go through.

Are u still feeling the same?

Hello I also have this my op was 4 days ago and every day since I keep loosing more and more of my hearing.. more so in my right ear!! I’m so depressed keep crying and having anxiety attacks!

I don’t know if my message got to u.. I have the same I had my op 4 days ago.. it’s making me ill.. how is yours now.. it says u posted this 6 months ago xx