Hello Doctor, For the last 3-4 years I have been getting occasional autophony. This usually occurs during physical exercises like running etc., or when in college or when I am with my friends. It is very irritating to listen to my own voice echoing in the ear and also I do hear my own heart beat and breathing sounds. But, occasionally when I suspect something has opened in my ear, I hear a mild pop sound. I searched in the internet about the same symptoms and found it to be patulous eustachian tube. And I think that is the problem which I am suffering from. I have seen an ENT doctor and told him about my problem. But I think he is treating me for plugged ears and after about a month of treatment, the autophony is coming rarely. If I stop taking medicines the autophony will start occurring more frequently. Now I do not get autophony because I am taking medicines. But a small sensation of heaviness remains throughout the day. And whenever I yawn, the pop sound occurs giving back some autophony and a lot of heaviness which reduces over some period of time like 20 minutes. If I apply a little pressure by closing the mouth and blowing the nose very slightly, I instantly feel pressure on the ear drums and lot of heaviness in both the ears. What should I do, so that autophony does not start again? I also want to get rid of this little heaviness I feel in my left ear.
Hello. I read your entire history and understood your problem. Autophony is the unusual hearing of one's own voice and even breathing sounds. You have two issues:- The treatments offered to you also shows the same thing. Let us understand the problem first. Eustachian tube is the tube that connects the middle ear to the throat. Normal functioning of eustachian tube is essential to maintain proper ventilation of the ear. If it does not function or malfunctions, it leads to sense of fullness or heaviness in the ear which you have been having. Patulous eustachian tube is a condition in which the eustachian tube remains open most of the time. It recovers by itself over a period of time. However, if it persists for a long time, in that cases minimal cauterization of the opening can be done endoscopically. But this is rarely needed. Regarding malfunctioning of the tube, a small procedure called myringotomy (surgical procedure of making a small incision in the eardrum to relieve pressure) and ventilation tube insertion in the ear will help, as you are suffering for a long time. In this, the ventilation tube is fixed in the ear and that serves the purpose of ear ventilation. Till then, you will have to continue steam inhalation at least once a day in the evening for 3-4 months. You will also need to take a decongestant tablet. Take tablet Febrex plus one tablet in the evening for 10 days followed by tablet Montair Lc once a day for one month. Avoid exposure to air blast and cold exposure. For further follow up, consult an ENT otolaryngologist online -->