dodgy eustachians and grommets

[windy1]

My wife suffers from suspected duff eustachian tubes and had the short life grommets fitted 18 months ago. They did work well and completely cured the barotrauma. However, they have now fallen out, but the doc is reluctant to fit parts with a longer life and seems to want her to see if normal function has returned first.

Understandably she is not keen to take a commercial flight and possibly endure misery and maybe damage. I could take her up in my little wizzer but how high would I have to go and how long to stay up there to see if those tubes are working?

............. and any other helpful comments or advice much appreciated

[gingernut]

Sorry windy, not an expert, but with regards to your little whizzer, I'm not sure that the actual altitude is important, rather the rate of change of altitude (and ambient air pressure). From what I can recall from my ppl exams, I think this rate of change is greater at lower altitiude anyway, so maybe the whizzer, could be a good test.

The grommett solution is not always ideal, for exactly the reasons you highlighted, (they fall out).

Is there any underlying cause for the tube dysfunction, which could be sorted out, eg exposure to cigarette smoke etc, rather than resort to surgery. Can she clear her tubes by closing her mouth, pinching her nose, and blowing?

Perhaps a trial of decongestant may be worthwhile, but beware of a "rebound" effect, when used for more than a day or two.

[keithl]

Give it time, is my advice. I had the grommets at one point while I was actively flying in the RAF. I, too, was alarmed when they fell out - well, concerned anyway - and arranged to have the "heavy duty" jobs fitted. However, while waiting for the op I suddenly realised the ears, tubes... everything was working properly. Op cancelled, never looked back!

[Lost_luggage34]

Probably a daft question but have you been back to the ENT surgeon/Consultant who originally fitted the grommets/made the diagnosis ?

In my limited experience they always are glad to listen to follow-up concerns such as this.

[windy1]

Gingernut, Lost luggage

Thanks for your advice: No underlying cause was identified, and the follow up has been with the same medicval team. Initially, decongestants were tried but created more problems than they solved - streaming nasal passages but still blocked tubes. The valsalva maneuvere didn't work and still doesn't.

Subsequent to the initial grommet surgery, the usual build up of earwax occurred so drops (sodium bicarb) were provided. Disaster! - they went through the grommet into the inner ear, caused great pain, infection, bleeding and now there is a permanent hearing loss. Doc said that was unusual, but tough.

I am going to have to wizz her up and down in the Arrer to see what the score is. What is the max rate of change expressed in ft/min which you can be exposed to in commercial airliner?

[monkeyboy]

Windy1, the cabin ROD will be around the 500ft/min mark but don't forget the actual aircraft ROD will be a lot more.

[Kaptin M]

G'day windy. Perhaps it's worth trying to discover WHY your wife's eustachian tubes became blocked vs treating the symptoms rather than the cause!

I had a son who was (basically) an "allergy child"....runny, blocked, thick yellowish mucous from his sinuses, which led to grommets being inserted into his eardrums to give him some improved drainage and hearing (volume) improvement..

The exclusion (and substitution) of ALL dairy and egg products from his diet, made for a vast improvement for him.

Before subjecting her to invasive, allopathic (modern) medicine, might I suggest you seek out a good, recommended naturopath/homeopath.