what could this ear popping and fullness be?

[Anonymous]

My daughter is 9 and has been complaining of the following things for several weeks:

ears (both) feel "full" all the time
ear clicking or popping from time to time. A day will go by without it and then she'll say "That weird ear clicking thing is back".
complains of feeling dizzy, and sometimes of feeling "separated" from the world sometimes, like she is floating away (?)

Took her to her pediatrician 2 weeks ago, who said there was no ear infection and no swimmers ear, but that she saw signs of allergy/irritation, and suggested she take Claratin and Nasacort spray to reduce irritation, but there's been no change.

AM taking her to dentist next week to see about TMJ but I don't think my daughter grinds her teeth. She wears a retainer at night and most of the day but don't know if that's relevant.

My daughter seems to be going through a growing pains/constant complaint phase right now so every day she has a new thing to complain about; it is hard to know what is a serious problem. But this ear fullness is really, really bothering her although there is no pain or anything like that; just constant irritation at not feeling right in her head.

Any ideas what this could be and how to make it go away?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is 9 and has been complaining of the following things for several weeks:

ears (both) feel "full" all the time
ear clicking or popping from time to time. A day will go by without it and then she'll say "That weird ear clicking thing is back".
complains of feeling dizzy, and sometimes of feeling "separated" from the world sometimes, like she is floating away (?)

Took her to her pediatrician 2 weeks ago, who said there was no ear infection and no swimmers ear, but that she saw signs of allergy/irritation, and suggested she take Claratin and Nasacort spray to reduce irritation, but there's been no change.

AM taking her to dentist next week to see about TMJ but I don't think my daughter grinds her teeth. She wears a retainer at night and most of the day but don't know if that's relevant.

My daughter seems to be going through a growing pains/constant complaint phase right now so every day she has a new thing to complain about; it is hard to know what is a serious problem. But this ear fullness is really, really bothering her although there is no pain or anything like that; just constant irritation at not feeling right in her head.

Any ideas what this could be and how to make it go away?

Did the ear clicking start after a recent haircut? I once read about this in the Wash Post. It took an ENT to see that there was a 1-inch hair sitting on the writer's ear drum that got in there from blow drying after a haircut. I wonder too if the irritation is just because your DD keeps sticking her fingers in her ears from frustration.

[Anonymous]

the ear popping/clicking she hears is in both ears.

[Anonymous]

Can she hear herself breathing? My guess is Patulous Eustachian Tube

[Anonymous]

I have the same issues and I was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease dispute having seen ticks on me by never seeing a rash. I would get her tested esp with the other complaints.

[Anonymous]

for the popping could she chew gum to help get rid of it.

also with the irritation, it could be from her putting her fingers in her ears or I wonder if she's getting eczema in her ears.

I do for some weird reason I can't figure out. My ears get watery then itchy and irritated with a lot of wax build up. But it's not swimmer's ear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have the same issues and I was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease dispute having seen ticks on me by never seeing a rash. I would get her tested esp with the other complaints.

Lyme disease caused your ears to have a full feeling?

[Anonymous]

I have this all the time with allergies. the middle ear part gets swollen (so a reg doctor doesnt really "see" anything wrong). it makes a clicking noise a little when I chew or I get these flutters in my ear when it gets really bad. try putting her on decongestants and/or allergy meds for a couple of days and see if helps. if it helps, go to an allergist....

[Anonymous]

Could it be an inner ear infection? You can't really "see" those using a scope, but it could cause the floating away and feeling of fullness.

[Anonymous]

Go to an ENT for crying out loud.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like fluid in her ears, but they ruled that out, yes? I have really bad TMJ and I remember my specialist telling me that jaw misalignment can cause fluid buildup in the ears. Maybe that's a cause? Allergies sound more likely, though. Agree that it's time for an ENT. I get this feeling sometimes too during allergy season and it drives me nuts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go to an ENT for crying out loud.

Well, her pediatrician said go to the dentist first for suspected TMJ. My sense is that with vague symptoms like this, I could spend a lot of time and energy going to a bunch of different specialists and never really get a diagnosis.... so I am trying to gather as much information as I can before I decide which specialists to see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like fluid in her ears, but they ruled that out, yes? I have really bad TMJ and I remember my specialist telling me that jaw misalignment can cause fluid buildup in the ears. Maybe that's a cause? Allergies sound more likely, though. Agree that it's time for an ENT. I get this feeling sometimes too during allergy season and it drives me nuts.

Ped said it didn't seem like swimmer's ear (no pain when ears are moved) and she didn't see anything when she looked in except signs of allergy/irritation.

She prescribe dthis over the counter steroid spray Nasa court. I was lookig around online and it seems that the direction we spray it might make a big difference -- doctor didn't say anything about that, though.

But it seems that "Eustachian Tube Dysfunction" describes what my child is experiencing:

http://www.fauquierent.net/etd.htm

And if so, to get the nasal spray to the eustachian tube, we need to spray it differently than I thought.

http://www.fauquierent.net/etd2.htm

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like fluid in her ears, but they ruled that out, yes? I have really bad TMJ and I remember my specialist telling me that jaw misalignment can cause fluid buildup in the ears. Maybe that's a cause? Allergies sound more likely, though. Agree that it's time for an ENT. I get this feeling sometimes too during allergy season and it drives me nuts.

Ped said it didn't seem like swimmer's ear (no pain when ears are moved) and she didn't see anything when she looked in except signs of allergy/irritation.

She prescribe dthis over the counter steroid spray Nasa court. I was lookig around online and it seems that the direction we spray it might make a big difference -- doctor didn't say anything about that, though.

But it seems that "Eustachian Tube Dysfunction" describes what my child is experiencing:

http://www.fauquierent.net/etd.htm

And if so, to get the nasal spray to the eustachian tube, we need to spray it differently than I thought.

http://www.fauquierent.net/etd2.htm

Thanks for posting these links! Super informative! I have weird ear issues too. Ugh.

[Anonymous]

Did you recently change laundry detergents or dryer sheets, or add dryer sheets? I get that when i'm exposed to any of that stuff and my ears feel wet inside too.