Hearing loss due to Cpap

The last 2 or 3 months I have been having periods of hearing loss. The cause was Eustachian Tube Dysfunction. My doctor treated me with prednisone but lately it didn't do the trick any more - I had almost total hearing loss in my right ear and my left was getting bad too. I dug around in Google and came up with several mentions of hearing loss due to Cpap use and one that specifically said the Cpap was known to cause Eustachian Tube Dysfunction. I decided to stop using the Cpap machine and have had an immediate improvement, my left ear back to normal and my right vastly improved. It appears to have something to do with having a lot of mucous and maybe the pressure forcing the mucous into the tube.
Has anyone here had this problem and if so what did they do about it?
Not using the Cpap is working but there is a very obvious downside to that.
Appreciate any help.

Have you talked to an ENT? Maybe there's something else an ENT could do to make it possible to use cpap without the hearing issues.

Maybe a lower pressure could help?

If you can't use the cpap without the hearing issues, I would suggest you quickly check with a dentist trained in dealing with dental/oral devices for OSA. (Maybe your sleep doc or sleep center could recommend one, or just check the phone book.) If you have severe apnea, they won't be much help (so I'm told), but mild or moderate OSA a lot of times can be helped by these devices.

[quote="Kenv"]........." It appears to have something to do with
having a lot of mucous and maybe the pressure forcing the mucous into the tube"



Hi - Kenv So sorry to hear about your trouble with hearing loss/cpap -
Is it sinisitus or allergies that's causing the mucous?
Have you tried rinsing (through the nose) with a neti-pot to clear the mucous ? ? ?
I read that people have great success after using the neti-pot. Good luck - Marietjie

Kenv--you might also try something like Mucinex to thin your secretions. It might help the mucus flow out.

I have hearing loss due to ear drum lack of contact with the 3 little bones in the middle ear. This is after many years of c pap use at 11 inches of pressure.

Richard9 wrote:I have hearing loss due to ear drum lack of contact with the 3 little bones in the middle ear. This is after many years of c pap use at 11 inches of pressure.

Sorry for your hearing loss.

As a CPAP user with pressures much higher than 11cwp, I am curious.
How did you conclude that the cause of your hearing loss was the CPAP therapy?

Do you know of any published studies confirming this syndrome? Or how it may be prevented?

ADD: There seems to be at least one substansive study confirming sleep apnea itself
as a probable cause of hearing loss and tinnitus. I haven't yet found a credible study
claiming CPAP therapy as a cause of hearing loss - lots of anecdotes about it though.

http://www.easybreathe.com/blog/big-new ... ring-loss/

My wife has access to many medical reference databases. I plan to check on this after the holiday.

This sounds odd. The only time I had ear problems from air pressure was when I blew up new balloons by mouth.
Cpap machines can not generate enough pressure to inflate a new balloon, or even one pre-stretched.
I suggest you see an ENT and ignore random stuff you read on the internet.

A past thread about CPAP causing hearing problems:
viewtopic/t36179/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=98 ... al#p908605

I don't supposed as you used XPAP, you aged, maybe your eyes got worse, your hair fell out, and your skin dried out and wrinkled. My toenails grew too. Jim

Thank you, Mr Way back machine.....

Goofproof wrote:I don't supposed as you used XPAP, you aged, maybe your eyes got worse, your hair fell out, and your skin dried out and wrinkled. My toenails grew too.

up next! cpap causes toenails to grow!!

palerider wrote:

Goofproof wrote:I don't supposed as you used XPAP, you aged, maybe your eyes got worse, your hair fell out, and your skin dried out and wrinkled. My toenails grew too.

up next! cpap causes toenails to grow!!

I was doing a search on my strep throat symptoms today and one of the sites where "doctors" answer questions said the spots on the throat could be caused by CPAP use. Seems that CPAP can be blamed for just about anything. I will find a way to blame it for my laziness!

Richard9 is the one who dug out this thread from 2008.

palerider wrote:

Goofproof wrote:I don't supposed as you used XPAP, you aged, maybe your eyes got worse, your hair fell out, and your skin dried out and wrinkled. My toenails grew too.

up next! cpap causes toenails to grow!!

Too high Xpap pressure causes ingrown toenails. Too low they curl up, got to get t hat pressure just right. Don't use Xpap after it's dianosed, they fall out! Jim

It makes some frogs very "playful"!

chunkyfrog wrote:It makes some frogs very "playful"!

this just in, not all side effects are bad!