A little over a week ago I noticed that I couldn't hear very well. It felt like I was underwater. Everything was muffled and my ears felt like they needed to pop. I tried everything to get them to pop. I then started noticing that at night I would hear this really deep vibrating sound or buzzing sound. During the day I would get a high pitched ringing sound and ear pain that would cause me to stop and grab my head because it would hurt so bad.
Along with the ear pain I also have TMJ so my jaw pops out. Lately it has gotten a lot worse. I had to go to physical therapy to get it popped in. My physical therapist had to put her hand in my mouth to be able to get it to go back in. Now every time I open my mouth it pops, making eating food extremely uncomfortable.
I did my research and found out that TMJ can cause hearing loss. I was able to get into an ENT to get my ears looked at. They did a hearing test and that came back normal. He asked me to open my mouth and as soon as I did my jaw popped out. He then came to the conclusion that the hearing loss, pain, ringing and the feeling like my ears need to pop was because of my EDS.
There is a muscle that attaches from your jaw to your ear drum. Because by jaw is so loose and is constantly popping and sliding around it is causing the issues with the hearing because it causes that muscle to spasm. I asked him if I would get the hearing back and if the plugged feeling would go away. He said unfortunately as long as my jaw is the way that it is my hearing will not improve. If my jaw gets worse there is a chance my ears will as well.
This was a lot of information to take in. I have not fully processed it yet. This is definitely going to cause me to make a lot of changes in my life. I now have to be on a soft food diet. The change in pressure causes constant headaches, nausea and being around loud sounds causes pain and discomfort.
I took this news really hard. Im not sure how to live with the constant feeling of being underwater. If anyone has any tips let me know!
