# can eustachian tube dysfunction be a cause of derealizat?!?!



## brighterfuture

i don't know if it is a symptom of anxiety or a cause?


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## Ghostmon

In what feels like another lifetime I used to work as a specialist diagnosing hearing loss and working with people with communication disorders, so i am very familiar with eustachian tube dysfunction.

ET dysfunction is usually caused by colds or allergies that cause the eustachian tube to swell so that it can't open properly to equalize pressure in the middle ear. The effect is a "negative pressure" situation, where the eardrum is pulled out of it's normal condition, causing a feeling of pressure or pain, and sometimes a mild hearing loss. (This is often accompanied by a clicking or popping sensation when you swallow or chew, as the tube is struggling to open back up.)

If there is ongoing congestion and ET dysfunction, the ET can actually act somewhat like a little vacuum cleaner, in that when a negtive pressure situation is created it can suck fluids in behind the eardrum. When fluid gets trapped behind the eardrum it may or may not get infected. However, regardless of infection status it can cause a hearing loss, because there is supposed to be air, not fluid behind the eardrum, so that the drum can properly vibrate and transmit sounds. (Imagine banging on a drum that it filled with water. It will take an awful lot of pounding and will not sound normal.)

Anyway, when one is experiencing ET dysfunction and/or fluid behind the eardrum, it can make your head feel plugged up, kind of like having your head underwater. Things will sound far off, dull, or distorted, and you may also experience lightheadedness, "wooziness', or dizziness.

I guess what I am trying to say is that ET dysfunction can interfere with hearing properly and can make you feel plugged up, foggy or fuzzy. However, while you may feel weird, i suppose even "unreal", ET dysfunction is NOT a cause of DP or DR, which is a type of mental disorder caused by extreme anxiety, reactions to drugs or possibly some medical/brain disorders (e.g. epilepsy, migraines).


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## brighterfuture

but i know like inner ear problems like labrynthisis can resemble derealization?? so i was just wondering if a plugged ear would do the same, like if im recieving mixed signals from my ear to the brain cause its plugged up??


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## Conjurus

I guess what Ghostmon is trying to say is-

No.


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## roo

Wrong.

*Yes it can*. and DOES.

Proof : http://www.healthboards.com/inner-ear-disorders/709.html


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## forestx5

There is eustachian tube dysfunction caused by issues that Ghostmon speaks to, and then there are "symptoms of eustachian tube dysfunction" that can be caused by neurological issues. Palatal Myoclonus has varying forms. It can cause "symptoms of eustachian tube dysfunction", and there is nothing wrong with your ears. The symptoms are the result of errant electrical activity which causes muscle spasms (myoclonus) in the palate, or in the stapedius or tympani muscles of the ear. (probably other forms as well).
I don't know why. I was hit on the left side of my head by a car, when I was 5. I have no recollection of my treatment or recovery. When I was 17, I smoked cannabis for the 1st time. Within a few minutes of smoking, the left side of my head went numb and I began to have epileptic discharges from what I now know was my left temporal lobe. For 2 weeks after the seizure, I felt strange pressures and feelings in my head. I was left with symptoms of eustachian tube dysfunction (popping, clicking, pressure changes in my ears, fluttering sounds when exposed to bright lights, certain sounds, or jaw positioning). I suppose the high intracranial pressure following the seizure may have caused damage in my cerebellum, or brain stem. This is the area that is responsible for palatal myoclonus. I had my ears checked by an ENT when I was 17. There is nothing wrong with my ears. It has been 40 years, and my ears still pop and click. They can briefly go quiet, but the noise is the norm. It started with my seizure. There were other issues, but the ears were the only "somatic" or physical complaint that might lead to an understanding of the other issues. Everything else was subjective. (emotional and sensory deficits due to the temporal lobe dysfunction). And, I never stopped trying to understand why. Only recently I had an MRI and EEG at the university. My EEG was abnormal.
My left temporal lobe has problems. Surprise. In 40 years, no one ever thought to give me an EEG, or MRI. So, i would disagree that symptoms of eustachian tube dysfunction can not be neurological in origin. The contraction of the palate, or the spasm of the stapedial or tympani muscles in the ear can and do cause symptoms of eustachian tube dysfunction.


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## kate_edwin

No the tubes in your ears don't cause dissociation.......

Just because hearing related problems can be neurological doesn't mean they can cause dp.... The nervus system controls *everything* that doesn't mean every/anything can cause dp......

And thank you to the professional who cleared up the issue.

I understand how desparate people are for a cause a reason and a fix for dp, and I get that we push it onto to other things....actually seems to resemble some sort of transference......Hopefully all these random ideas comes across the right answer, but somehow I don't think we'll find the cause on an Internet forum..


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## roo

❮


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