Bearing in mind that my ETD issues have been misdiagnosed for
many years by serial GPs, and that I have nothing of the sort, being told I had ETD has made me learn to exercise my ETs with various techniques. The upshot of this is that I've spent tens of hours flying in the last few weeks, without a hint of a problem or pain. My tip is to 'pop' your ears every few hundred feet in descent. I can't quite describe the technique, but I manipulate the jaw and muscles around the TM joint, without swallowing, which pops my ears. It's magic and I get no pain in the middle ear at all.
I strongly suspect there are many people with unrelated ENT conditions that are told they have ET issues... Over 5 doctors said I had ETD... Whilst others in the cabin have their faces contorted in pain, I have no discomfort at all... I guess the benefit of misdiagnosis has been learning to open my tubes at will.
