Eustachian Tube Dysfunction: Causes and Treatment
Added on 2020-05-16
6 Pages1216 Words134 Views
|
|
|
Running head: EUSTACHIAN TUBE DYSFUNCTIONEUSTACHIAN TUBE DYSFUNCTIONName of the StudentName of the UniversityAuthor Note
1EUSTACHIAN TUBE DYSFUNCTIONIntroduction: What is ETD?Eustachian tube is a narrow tube that connects the middle ear to the posterior chamberof the nose, and generally remains closed, except during yawning, chewing or swallowing.The tube protects the middle ear from infection, helps to maintain air pressure on both sidesof the tympanic membrane or ear drum enabling its function, ventilate middle ear anddrainage of middle ear cleft secretions. Eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD) results in aninability to perform these functions. It can occur due to the swelling of the mucosa lining thetube, or due to the improper opening or closing of the tube. Different symptoms like muffledhearing, tinnitus, pain, hearing loss, ear blockage or fullness and problem with balance can beassociated with ETD. Long term repercussions like damage to middle ear can also occur dueto ETD. Complications like Otitis Media (OM) with effusion (OME), middle ear atelectasis,and Chronic Otitis Media (COM) (Llewellyn et al., 2014). ETD is due to the blockage of theEustachian tube and can occur in children (since they have shorted tube, which can get easilyinfected), people who smoke (as smoking damages the cilia, causing the gathering ofmucous), and obese individuals (due to fatty deposits around the tubes) (familydoctor.org,2018; Vila et al., 2017).
2EUSTACHIAN TUBE DYSFUNCTIONFigure 1: Structure of the ear; source: (familydoctor.org., 2018).Figure 2: How Eustachian Tube Dysfunction causes unequal air pressure; source:(Patient.info, 2018)Treatment:Both medical and surgical therapies are possible for Eustachian Tube Dysfunction.Medical Treatment includes allergic treatment and Nasal Decongestion and self inflation ofthe ears. The allergic treatment involves identification of the specific allergen that the patientmight have heightened sensitivity to, and removing it from the surrounding, in addition of theadministration of allergy shots. However such procedure can be lengthy, and benefits mighttake a prolonged time to be noticed. Intranasal steroids have been shown to provide relief to50% of the patients with ETD, by reducing the swelling of the nasal mucosa. Decongestants,antihistamines and oral or nasal corticosteroids also open the Eustachian tube by constrictingthe blood vessels (vasoconstriction), and reduce swelling of the nasal mucosa. Oralmedication can work for up to 4 hours, and should be avoided before sleep time. Nasal sprays
End of preview
Want to access all the pages? Upload your documents or become a member.