Pomona Valley News

• Eustachian tubes are small tubes that run between your middle ears and upper throat.
• Blocked eustachian tubes can cause pain, hearing difficulties and a feeling of fullness in the ears.
• One possible treatment for eustachian tube dysfunction is balloon dilation.

Trouble breathing isn’t the only problem associated with sinusitis. If the infection gets into the inner ear, sufferers can experience hearing loss or other auditory problems as well.

“Eustachian tube dysfunction is the collapse of the tube that runs from the nasal cavity to the ear,” Dr. Matt Hershcovitch of SoCal Breathe Free Sinus & Allergy Centers told Pomona Valley News. “This is what you feel when you're going up in an airplane, going up through a mountain pass or diving deep underwater -- that's the pressure you feel in your ears. It's a very, very annoying problem when it does occur.”

Hershcovitch can relate to the symptoms.

"I'm an avid diver and I've had it happen to me, and it is quite frustrating and annoying,” he said. “Unfortunately, it does not resolve very quickly for some people, and a lot of people who have chronic sinusitis and allergies have this as a chronic problem.”

Eustachian tubes connect your middle ears to your upper throat. They are responsible for equalizing ear pressure and draining fluid from the middle ear, or the part of the ear behind the eardrum. Eustachian tubes are usually closed except for when you chew, swallow or yawn, according to Healthline. 

These small passageways can get plugged up for a variety of reasons. If your eustachian tubes are blocked, you can experience pain, hearing difficulties and a feeling of fullness in the ears. The condition is referred to as eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD), and it is a relatively common condition.

Depending on the cause, the problem may get better on its own or through simple at-home treatments, such as chewing gum, yawning or using a saline nasal spray. Severe or recurring cases might require a visit to the doctor, Healthline says.

The National Center for Biotechnology Information lists balloon dilation as one possible treatment for ETD. This procedure is minimally invasive and is relatively new. A study of 126 children who underwent balloon dilation to treat ETD found that there were no reported complications, and symptoms improved in 80% of patients. 

“We can actually do a balloon dilation of the eustachian tube to force it open, remodel it and keep it open, so the ears can ventilate it,” Hershcovitch said. “Prior to the advent of the balloon catheter, the only way to do this was to take (patients) to surgery and make a hole in the eardrum and sometimes have to put a tube in there."

If you're interested in learning more about ETD or sinusitis symptoms, take this Sinus Self-Assessment Quiz.