Moderators: sky's the limit, sepia, Sulako, lilfssister, North Shore, I WAS Birddog
Sorry for the long story.
I disagree - you might have had something like this done when you were a kid (or that might be just what you were told so you wouldn't be scared), but having a hole punctured in your eardrum is exactly what is done. I had a similar discussion with my doctor a number of years back when I had a long time when it seemed like my ears were always suffering congestion. I had heard of "having tubes in your ears" from when I was a kid (never had it myself, just heard of friends having it) and asked the doc about it as an option - I thought that like Meatservo said, it was tubes put in the existing ear canals to keep them open. Nope - my doc (CAME) informed me that a hole would be punched in the eardrum itself and the grommet inserted to keep the hole from healing over. The grommet keeps the hole open so the fluid (congestion) that sits behind the eardrum will drain rather than sit back there and get infected.Meatservo wrote:...They aren't in your actual ear drum, they are inserted into the eustachian canal between your inner ear and your throat...Don't worry, they don't perforate your ear-drum....
NO, I had tubes in the eustachian canals-I don't have holes in my eardrums, I have to do the valsalva technique during descents like everyone else- But I didn't know about the ones you are talking about. Based on that, I am going to erase my earlier post- looks like I gave some bad advice! I would definitely think twice about the surgery you are talking about!HiFlyChick wrote:I disagree - you might have had something like this done when you were a kid (or that might be just what you were told so you wouldn't be scared), but having a hole punctured in your eardrum is exactly what is done. I had a similar discussion with my doctor a number of years back when I had a long time when it seemed like my ears were always suffering congestion. I had heard of "having tubes in your ears" from when I was a kid (never had it myself, just heard of friends having it) and asked the doc about it as an option - I thought that like Meatservo said, it was tubes put in the existing ear canals to keep them open. Nope - my doc (CAME) informed me that a hole would be punched in the eardrum itself and the grommet inserted to keep the hole from healing over. The grommet keeps the hole open so the fluid (congestion) that sits behind the eardrum will drain rather than sit back there and get infected.Meatservo wrote:...They aren't in your actual ear drum, they are inserted into the eustachian canal between your inner ear and your throat...Don't worry, they don't perforate your ear-drum....
It sounded rather risky to me, so I stuck it out and eventually the congestion cleared up on its own.
Unless you are experiencing pain that affects safety, don't rush into those tubes! See if there are any allergens that you can be tested for that exist in your present environment. Thankfully, more places post scent-free signs, and I think I finally talked my FBO into ditching the horrid plug-in air fresheners - I used to have to hang out on the often cold hangar floor because the scented FBO lounge would affect me so badly that I ended up clearing my throat during half of my radio calls.
There could be a number of environmental factors that are doing this to you...
(and having to do the valsalva manoeuvre on descent isn't the end of the world)
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