The Medical Consumer's Advocate
Draining ears
Q:
Hopefully you can help me
with a problem I have been dealing with for 5 years. I
got sick 5 years ago, and ever since then I have had
problems with my ears. They are constantly filled with
fluid, they are constantly popping. I even wake up in the
middle of the night to clean them with a Q-tip because I
feel the fluid coming out... when the Q-tip comes out, it
is fully saturated. It's clear fluid, like water.
My doctor told me just to open my mouth wide to get
my ears to pop, but when I do you can hear a popping
sound coming from inside my mouth... Please help me, I
just want it to go back to normal.
A: Your doctor's advice suggests that
he/she thinks your problem is Eustachian tube dysfunction.
There may be a bit of this going on; however, if you are
really draining fluid from your ears, Eustachian tube
dysfunction is NOT the whole story! You almost certainly also
have either chronic otitis externa (inflammation of the ear
canal skin) or chronic otitis media (inflammation of the
middle ear). Either way, the next step is obvious and is
essential to your well-being: you need to see an ENT (ear, nose and throat
doctor). These problems are treatable!