CPAP and ears.

[lwg]

k8e...you've described exactly how my ears react to the cpap pressure as well. (My setting is 14) I'm moderately concerned about the long-term effects on my hearing but don't believe it's caused any problem yet.

[ww]

I also have tinnitus but it started with taking a particular nsaid. I also have severe high frequency hearing loss but I am told it is caused by exposure to loud noises and it also came on suddenly. Both of these events were before starting cpap, but not necessarily before having sleep apnea. After 3 months on cpap I do notice that if I swallow with the mask on, my eardrums seem to get pressurized. I have no idea whether this relieves during the night, but I don't notice it during the night. Hopefully there are studies that will tell us what is really going on; however, there does not seem to be much of a choice regardless, as the sleep apnea would have to have top priority for treatment.

[MarieB]

I have been on a C-pap machine for the past ten years and haven't had any problems until the past few months when occasionally I have been waking up with my right ear plugged. On each occasion I think it was caused due to my nose feeling plugged. I think the air possibly was diverted to my ears. My C-pap setting is at 8. Until today, my ears have unplugged themselves within a few hours of waking up. Today, however, it is already 9:00 p.m. at night and my left ear is stilled badly plugged. From now on if I feel like there is any sinus congestion in my nose I will make sure that I don't use my c-pap. I also don't want to use it again until my plugged ear hopefully unplugs itself again.

[feeling_better]

Several times I've had my ears "plug up" like they sometimes do in an airplane or at high altitude. Most of the time I was able to "unplug" them just as you do in an airplane or at high altitude - by yawning. But not always. And often swallowing seemed to be the "key" to their plugging up. (All of this whilst using my CPAP I should have clarified). I have read in an apnea forum of one person having severe ear damage credited to xPAP.

Hi Slinky, I am replying to a very old thread. Came across this while I was searching. How did you get rid of this? Did it go away by itself?

I have started getting a similar mild condition. It is a bit like the feeling occasionally after swimming, perhaps a drop of water in the year. Never had any discomfort at night, and no pain during the day. But when I lightly tap the outside, it feels like there is some fluid -- a drum like sound. I started getting this today on the other ear too after about 5 days. So I asked my sleep specialist , and she thought it might be fluid in the ear -- I think she implied from cpap use! I never had this condition, except from external water as in swimming, and no swimming in the recent past. She asked me to take sudafed decongestant and see if it goes away. During the first few months of cpap I used to take sudafed and claritin, but then had stopped sudafed to just see if it was necessary. Had no problem for about 2 or 3 months.

[Kenv]

I've had this problem for some time. What happens is that the eustachian tube becomes blocked, I believe this is due to the pressure from the cpap forcing mucous into the tube. When the tube becomes blocked it sets up a situation where the middle ear gets negative pressure and that sucks in the ear drum, so its flexed inward, this stops it from vibrating and you then have no hearing.. The first treatment is a short course of prednisone - this worked well for me the first time although I needed to go through 3 short courses of prednisone as it affected both my ears. The second time, recently, the prednisone only worked for a few days and my right ear went totally deaf. The eustachian tube was so blocked that fluid formed in the middle ear. The fix was simple - my ENT placed an ear tube in the right ear drum and now its fine. Hope you get it sorted.

[feeling_better]

...The eustachian tube was so blocked that fluid formed in the middle ear. The fix was simple - my ENT placed an ear tube in the right ear drum and now its fine. Hope you get it sorted.

Kenv, thanks for responding. You say the fix was simple, could you describe what this 'placing an ear tube' means? Is the tube still there? Was there surgery? I cannot visualize at all what this entails. Thanks.

[Kenv]

Hi - the procedure is known as 'Myringotomy'. It is a very common procedure with children who get "Glue Ear" where it requires a general anaesthetic. For adults it is a 30 minute office procedure. The ENT surgeon gives you a local anaesthetic, this is a bit painful but the rest is not. He then makes a small incision in the ear drum. If the middle ear is full of fluid, as mine was, he may try to evacuate some fluid. He then placed an ear tube - where I live they call it a grommet - and the fluid continues to drain through the tube. The fact that this allows air into the middle ear relieves the deafness almost immediately but it takes two or three days to get fully right. The length of time that the tube will stay in places varies quite a lot, apparently anything from 3 months to 2 years but eventually the tube will be ejected by the tissue. As long as the tube is in place it will allow air into the middle ear even if the eustachian tube is blocked. There is a tube which is made to stay in place for an extended period of time but I believe that those tubes carries a risk of a permanently perforated ear drum. Note that cpap is listed as contra-indicated for people with a perforated ear drum but I don't know why - I mean whilst the ear tube stays in place the ear drum is effectively perforated and appears to cause no problem. I did hear of a guy who had an ear tube in place and had a bit of noise due to air coming through the tube from the cpap - he used an ear plug to put that right. I have so far had no problem at all but I've only had the tube in place just over a week and my eustachian tube could still be blocked which would prevent air coming through it. The placing of a tube would work even if the ear didn't fill with fluid simply because it allows air into the middle ear and allows the ear drum to vibrate.
Hope that helps.

[feeling_better]

Hope that helps.

Kenv, excellent description! Thank you very much.

[bobre2020]

I have been using a CPAP for 12 years. Have same problem with ears. But love the great night sleep, will never give it up. You can get a humitifier attachment will help.

[hipntrippy]

Myself included, maybe all of this fuss about cpap and ear infections/hearing loss could be taken care of if we'd all just hunt down richard simmons and lose some weight. Obesity also leads to alot of other health issues. As a nurse, I can tell you that the disease process of diabetes is quite dramatic... yet more and more people are willingly increasing their weight without considering the consequences of such. Maybe we should think about that next time before we pick up that extra large portion that the waiter just served to us. I am getting more and moe patients coming in to the hospital with various issues that can be attributed to their obseity. It's amazing how it has gotten worse over the years.

[Emmy1]

Note that cpap is listed as contra-indicated for people with a perforated ear drum

I had a perforated ear drum from a bad ear infection a couple of years ago. It did heal, but I have some hearing loss. I think I'd better look into this before I go any further with purchasing a CPAP. One more reason to ask for an APAP machine.

I've already lost some hearing range, I don't need to lose more.

[KimberlyM]

I also have tinnitus but it started with taking a particular nsaid. I also have severe high frequency hearing loss but I am told it is caused by exposure to loud noises and it also came on suddenly. Both of these events were before starting cpap, but not necessarily before having sleep apnea. After 3 months on cpap I do notice that if I swallow with the mask on, my eardrums seem to get pressurized. I have no idea whether this relieves during the night, but I don't notice it during the night. Hopefully there are studies that will tell us what is really going on; however, there does not seem to be much of a choice regardless, as the sleep apnea would have to have top priority for treatment.

Someone gave me this tip and it has been helpful so far. First, I should state that I don't use the ramp feature. When you put on your mask, wait for the pressure to rise. When it has reached the correct pressure, put your fingers in your ears and swallow. After that, you can swallow and pressure doesn't build up in your ears. My machine is on auto right now from 6 to 20 and the fluctuations don't seem to cause much pressure after that initial buildup that I remedy with the finger-in-the ear thing. I am lucky that my pressure is low and usually doesn't exceed 11 on auto. I hope this helps someone else!

[Emmy1]

Someone gave me this tip and it has been helpful so far. First, I should state that I don't use the ramp feature. When you put on your mask, wait for the pressure to rise. When it has reached the correct pressure, put your fingers in your ears and swallow. After that, you can swallow and pressure doesn't build up in your ears. My machine is on auto right now from 6 to 20 and the fluctuations don't seem to cause much pressure after that initial buildup that I remedy with the finger-in-the ear thing. I am lucky that my pressure is low and usually doesn't exceed 11 on auto. I hope this helps someone else!

I'm going to have to give this a try. Pressure problems in my ears really tend to keep me awake for quite a while. I have tinnitus and two years ago had a pierced eardrum from an infection, and this lead to some hearing loss. For the first month or so I was having pain in my ears every night, but its not as bad now. Thanks for sharing this tip!

[KimberlyM]

Someone gave me this tip and it has been helpful so far. First, I should state that I don't use the ramp feature. When you put on your mask, wait for the pressure to rise. When it has reached the correct pressure, put your fingers in your ears and swallow. After that, you can swallow and pressure doesn't build up in your ears. My machine is on auto right now from 6 to 20 and the fluctuations don't seem to cause much pressure after that initial buildup that I remedy with the finger-in-the ear thing. I am lucky that my pressure is low and usually doesn't exceed 11 on auto. I hope this helps someone else!

I'm going to have to give this a try. Pressure problems in my ears really tend to keep me awake for quite a while. I have tinnitus and two years ago had a pierced eardrum from an infection, and this lead to some hearing loss. For the first month or so I was having pain in my ears every night, but its not as bad now. Thanks for sharing this tip!

Emmy, I hope it works for you as well. I also have tinnitus but mine is not related to hearing loss, just a constant ringing in my right ear that started long before I started CPAP. I was concerned the CPAP might aggravate it, but it hasn't so far.

[linagee]

For those who dont know.....I had a really bad ear infection last month. Not my first since starting CPAP. After 2 rounds of antibiotics I still can not hear properly.

Went to dr today (urgent care, for something else) while I was there had her look at my ears. She told me that my ear drum is flexed in the wrong direction, usually seen when allergies are out of control. Made sense, until she noted that my sinus pressure was normal. Her next idea is that the pressure of CPAP every night could be causing it, and that since the ear drum is now like that even during waking hours the hearing loss might be permanant. This sounds kind of stupid to me. Anyone else heard anything about ear problems and CPAP?

If you always use ear plugs, I'd think it would lessen the chance of pressure in your mouth/throat/head escaping into your ears and popping them out the wrong way. (It seems to make sense when you think about it anyway. IANAD.)