postnasal drip, sinnitus, muffled hearing

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slowexplosion
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postnasal drip, sinnitus, muffled hearing

Post by slowexplosion » Tue Feb 20, 2007 1:59 pm

hey friends..forgot my old username! havent been on in a while but i was curious if anyone on here had a similar situation as me.

i have a terrible deviated septum with a history of chronic sinus problems and ear infections (no infections recently though) and the mucus or whatever builds up and lets fluid into my ears and makes my hearing muffled

its problematic when getting sounds of course, but..i recently started practicing with a full band (drums, banjo, organ, 2 guitars, 2 singers) and when it gets to being loud it feels like the pressure in my ears is always changing. my doctor recommended holding my nose and expulsing air from my ears and that provides temporary relief but i want to know how dangerous this is.
at last nights practice i was so terrified about the volume and almost in pain, but no one else even thought it was that loud. my doctor recommend quitting smoking. he said this would be the absolute best thing i can do...

and i did..on valentines day. i quit completely...i realize that the problems that smoking created will take some time to go away..i also ordered fancy earplugs that reduce frequencies evenly across the board..but, i dont even think the volume was that bad.
i was curious if anyone here has had any experience with postnasal drip, sinus problems and hearing. im just worried as hell, if i go deaf i'm jumping off a bridge (but not shooting my self, that would certainly damage my hearing)
thanks

also, this is the best forum i could figure to post this, as there is no health related tapeop forum..

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Post by markmeat » Tue Feb 20, 2007 2:57 pm

My ears have been crap all winter (they are very winter)... I just down Aleve Cold & Sinus by the handfuls and power through it... they seem to clear ALL the crap out of my head (not just my nose) for pretty close to the 12-hours they claim... and they better for as expensive as they are...
I've also done the "hold yer nose and blow out yer ears" thing and it's painful to play at that volume (plus, I seem to lose all concept of anything happening in the lower frequencies)

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8th_note
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Post by 8th_note » Tue Feb 20, 2007 4:11 pm

Have you ruled out allergies? If you haven't been tested it's a good idea to see if that could be the problem. You may be allergic to things that you don't know about and you can do a better job of avoiding them if you know.

Besides Alleve S&C you could try some good old fashioned Sudafed. This is getting harder to come by because the tweakers use it as their raw ingredient but you can still get it behind the counter. The directions say to take 2 pills but try one and see if that does the trick. Works wonders for me.

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Re: postnasal drip, sinnitus, muffled hearing

Post by apropos of nothing » Tue Feb 20, 2007 7:56 pm

slowexplosion wrote:and i did..on valentines day. i quit completely...i realize that the problems that smoking created will take some time to go away..i also ordered fancy earplugs that reduce frequencies evenly across the board..but, i dont even think the volume was that bad.
i was curious if anyone here has had any experience with postnasal drip, sinus problems and hearing. im just worried as hell, if i go deaf i'm jumping off a bridge (but not shooting my self, that would certainly damage my hearing)
thanks
Now that you've quit smoking, the cilia you haven't killed yet are not inundated with a constant supply of fresh toxins to process and they can actually get to the business that they're built for, getting rid of biological toxins (rather than carbon). They liable to be freaking out for awhile -- "Whoopie, look at all this crap to get rid of!" Bear with it. Congrats on quitting.

Not to scare you, but its possible that you have also developed allergies that you were completely unaware of while you were suppressing your immune system with toxins, too. Regardless of that you've made the right choice. Good for you.

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Post by ctmsound » Tue Feb 20, 2007 10:48 pm

Not sure if it's related to your symptoms, but my ears get congested or clogged quite often and I use wax cones. You can get them at your local natural foods store. I use 'em once a month and it gets all the wax and crap out of your ears. I hear so much better after using them!

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Post by RefD » Wed Feb 21, 2007 12:02 am

i don't have the deviated septum, but my right eardrum ruptured in 1990 and has never been the same since.

when i have fucked hearing due to congestion i drink heaps of water, hot tea if it's really bad, and carefully dose myself with pseudo ephedrine.

but staying well hydrated is really important.
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Post by CurtZHP » Wed Feb 21, 2007 7:42 am

I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV, but I don't think you need to worry about going deaf due to chronic congestion. You may feel like you're going deaf, but it's just copious amounts of snot and swollen membranes that are playing havoc with your ears' ability to do their job. It's sort of like stuffing pillows inside your favorite speaker cabinet. It's ear infections that are more likely to cause permanent hearing loss, and only if they go untreated. (Exposure to ear-splitting volumes notwithstanding...)

I too suffer from chronic congestion. It pretty much runs in my family. I do the ear popping thing once in a while, but if I'm really plugged up, it gives me vertigo. Most of the time, I just use Vicks' nasal spray and drink lots of water.
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kayagum
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Post by kayagum » Wed Feb 21, 2007 8:43 am

What's your practice space like? You may want to invest in a dehumidifier to eliminate mold issues.

You may also want to change your diet. I'm not saying you need to eliminate gluten from your diet or anything that drastic, but you may want to monitor what you eat.

As an example, I have similar issues, and believe it or not, I traced a good part of the problem to the local pale ale I drank- probably the hops. I switched brands, and it improved my situation a lot!

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Post by ataraxia » Thu Feb 22, 2007 9:05 pm

I have a horrible history with similar symptom, i also have health insurance these days which means my regular doctor is an Ear Nose and Throat specialist. I go every 2 months or so and have my ears cleaned out (which can hurt) and I take claritin. I recommend the same. i also get bad vertigo and weak stomach due to all the fluid in my inner ear, you might have the same. I hope your wearing earplugs at practice. ALWAYS. Especially if your tinnitus is kicking in. I get bad infections from ear plugs so I use disposables. Take some ginko biloba, and learn to deal with it.

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Post by bplr » Thu Feb 22, 2007 9:18 pm

ctmsound wrote:my ears get congested or clogged quite often and I use wax cones.
some hippie introduced me to these at a music festival once ... holy moley! i ate mushrooms that night and saw a horrible band that was dramatically improved by the drugs and which i heard INTENSELY well. i forget about them and then use them from time to time - gives me superhuman hearing. i should be using them monthly.
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slowexplosion
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Post by slowexplosion » Fri Feb 23, 2007 7:21 am

thanks everyone.

ataraxia-do you have a deviated septum?

its mostly my left ear that gets muffled and occasional ringing (very short, like 3 second bursts that go away if i adjust the pressure in my nose..so im not sure its official tinnitus)

so, im probably gonna go have surgery to repair my deviated septum, my doc said my septum is one of the most deviant he has ever seen!
and that fixing it would probably stop all the fluid from entering my ear!
only downside is i hope it doesnt change my nasally voice..i like it!

our practice space is an old warehouse with mice and hardcore bands playing next to us, im sure its moldy..but there is little i can do about that!

also, CurtZHP- your post put me at ease, but...don't we have an incresed risk of getting that terrible meinere's disease (sp?)..it says its caused by the breakdown of ear jawns by fluid..i dont think thats the official statement though. reading an article on that is what started my whole "fix my septum" quest of 2007.

one question about tinnitus.
when my ear is really congested, i get a ringing, but if i "pop my nose" it immediatly disappears..is this official tinnitus? because it ONLY bothers me if there is something going on, like..i dont equate it with overexposure to sound. as a matter of fact, i havent had much exposure to loud sound at all. so is that 'tinnitus' or auditory reactions to the changing pressure in my ear?
i go to like 4 concerts a year, we practice 3 times a week for 3 hours a night at reasonable volume with earplugs and set a maximum volume on my ipod that is very healthy.


i really appreciate everyones input, its been a great help.

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Post by CurtZHP » Fri Feb 23, 2007 10:02 am

You probably don't have tinnitus in the traditional sense, where the ringing is caused by permanent hearing damage and never goes away. I have a slight trace of that, but it doesn't sound like ringing. It sounds more like a quiet rushing sound, sort of like fan noise.

I've also heard that ibuprofen (Advil) can cause temporary minor tinnitus.
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trodden
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Post by trodden » Fri Feb 23, 2007 12:05 pm

whenever i go on a whiskey and cocaine bender i end up chain smoking hella cigs and man it hurts so bad the next few days. can't hear shit, can't sing shit, can't do shit at all.

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Post by RefD » Fri Feb 23, 2007 9:39 pm

trodden wrote:whenever i go on a whiskey and cocaine bender i end up chain smoking hella cigs and man it hurts so bad the next few days. can't hear shit, can't sing shit, can't do shit at all.
ooo, i hate it when that happens!
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wedge
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Post by wedge » Fri Feb 23, 2007 10:32 pm

I've had good results with Hydrogen Peroxide in my ears... let it fizzle for a few minutes, and repeat... I've had chronic sinus and ear infections for many years, but this modality has really helped much more than I expected it would...

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