Italian
versionPlease, note that I'm not a doctor and in this page you could find some errors in the English translation: if you want to tell me about something that I have to change, please feel free to email me xmcarter@email.it.
1) What's Patulous Eustachian Tube (PET)?
It's a disfunction of the Eustachian Tube. The Eustachian Tube is a virtual tube that connect the ear with the thrat. It isn't a infectious disease, nor phisically dangerous (so they say...), but who has ever had it knows that it is very stressing. You have PET if your Eustachian Tube isn't correctly closed and it rimains open. It's import to understand that a PET drains perfectly, it is too open, not too closed. Fortunately, in many cases, this disease is sporadic.
2) Which are the symptoms of the PET?
The main sensation is of "autophonia": you hear your own voice and you own breath at high volume (if you don't have this feeling, I don't think you have PET). Furthermore you can feel something like "pushing" against the eardrum from the inside, pain to the medium ear and to the eardrum. The PET begins generally with a noise similar to a “click”, sometimes after blowing your nose or more often after the swallowing. Sometimes you could feel "fullness" in the ear, but this is not very justified because the tube is empty. Often your nose will be completely free. You can have before, during and after, the sensation of mucus in the throa
3) What can be the cause of the P.E.T.?
The precise causes are not currently known. Maybe more or less violent truamas or underwater immersions.
4) Which are the consequences of the PET?
They say that sporadic PET isn't dangerous for the ear. I say that PET can bring nevrosis and depression. A continous PET can bring even to infenction to the ear.
5) How can I have a PET diagnosis?
I read that almost all the people who have PET have made the diagnosis theyself, and of course I have made it myself too. You can find some documents on Internet. Unfortunately, ear specialists do not often know about PET. They say too oftne that it is just our imagination or it's mucus blocked in the Eustachian Tube (and that's the opposite problem: a tube that does not drain can cause serious disturbs of the ear).
6) How can I alleviate the symptoms?
The P.E.T. closes or however the disturbance diminishes:
- laying down
- sneezing
- catching a cold, or having allergic rynitis
- drinking water
- putting the head down or between the knees
- pressing a hand against the throat (after a bit it could be painful)
- warming the ear
7) Can I heal from the P.E.T.?
I don't know, maybe not. You can alleviate the symptoms, maybe you could not have the P.E.T. even for years, but it could be back. Fortunately noone can died for P.E.T. (but perhaps one could go crazy).
8) Are the surgical operations usefull?
Some specialists talk about a ventilation tube or microhole in the eardrum in order to alleviate disturbs given from the PET. I read that people who did this operations have the PET back after a while. I think that a ventilation tube is not the solution. When you have PET, the tube is already open. (Rather than to ventilate the tube should be close...). However, there are so little cases of PET that it's difficult to find something about the cures. If you think about doctors that laugh about PET or tell you that there's a ear disease like PET, you can understand why we, people who PET, could be depressed.However, before a surgical operations I think it's better to try soemthing else (see #14).
9) Could it be just my imagination?
I could tell you that a wistle (tinnitus) could be just your imagination, but not the PET. The PET could not be imaginated, this is a point the specialists could understand very well. The PET is a real disease and it depends on a real disfunction. The PET is a tube too open. Sometimes you can resolve a PET crisis it sneezing or crying, without leaving traces. Whenever a problem that's just in your imagination is resolved sneezing?
10) Can the P.E.T. depend on a state of mind? That is, maybe it comes when I’m stressed, tired, sad?
I personallly say "no!". I had PET crisis in days when I was very happy and tranquil. Obviuosly, the stress could worsen if you have to speak a lot or shout, when you have a P.E.T. crisis, and more obviously you'll not be happy when you have PET!
11) What could cause a P.E.T. crisis?
For personal experience, often the P.E.T. comes when it’s warm, I have begun to lose liquids and I have not my allergic rynitis.
12) Are there medicinal that can resolve the P.E.T.?
I don't think so.
13) Is the PET a tinnitus?
It depends on what on intend for "tinnitus". The PET is not a sound that we can hear but no other can. You hear your voice and you breath at a bery higher volume because the PET is open and these noises can go directly against the eardrum without being soften by bones and tissutes. If you cannot understand what is PET, you can close you ear with a finger (but imagin you can hear the external sounds normally).and then shout. This is PET. Try it and you'll know why we-PET-patient are so mad when we have a PET crisis The hearing perception of the external world does not come diminished from P.E.T. (it’s not the famous “plug”!), but only disturbed from the inner produced noises and above all from the annoyance that this noise provokes. While the tinnitus could be covered by external noises (or white noise, like in TR-Terapy) and can get worse if you are unhappy (greater sensibility to annoyance), the P.E.T. is a "given fact" that difficultly could be ignored. It would be like ignoring congiuntivite. Maybe you could, but it’s fastidious. And very rarely an ophthalmologist will tell you that you are imagine it. (Yes, for the ophthalmologist is simpler, he/she can look to all parts of your eyes, instead eustachian tube is so inner that in order to see we must go in throat... But this does not justify that the doctors don’t listen to us!)>!)
14) How can I prevente the P.E.T to return?
- The tube could open when you have lose many liquids. It’s important integrate drinking a lot of water.
- Pay attention to the underwater immersions. Compression and decompressions are very important in order not only to avoid embolisms and damages to the eardrum, but also to the eustachian tubes. When you do immersions ask to competent persons to help you.
- Exercises of speaking terapy "logopedia".
15) What's the logopedia?
Logopedia is the medical science that studies the development of the language in the children and helps to resolve eventual problems. Children do logopedia when they have problem in speaking or writing (curing the dislessia).
16) But I am an adult and I don't have speaching problem. What can the logopedia doing for me?
A lot. I'm an adult too and I do not have speaching problem, I learnt writing and reading normally. But logopedia is a "gymnastic" that can help your muscles to work right.
17) In what consists the logopedia against the P.E.T.?
Simple movements in order to train peristaffil muscles, so as to hold tube closed and to allow it to open only when is necessary: the tube it is opened during the yawning, when for example is necessary to re-establish the same pressure on the two faces of the eardrum (you probably had this feeling when you go up or down quickly in altitude or in the galleries), or when is necessary drain the mucus. Attention!!! The P.E.T. drains very well... even too much! The P.E.T. is *not* mucus blocked in the eustachian tube
18) Where I can find the logopedici exercises against the tuba making happy?
In this web site you'll find some exercises that I have personally experimented and on me have worked. My advise, anyhow, is to address to a specialist, hoping to succeed to find someone disposed to believe that you have P.E.T. (ok, it’s difficult, but not impossible). (The exercises in these pages are to be considered indicative and even if they don’t have contraindications, the author decline every responsability.) Bisedes, rare books about "tubaric rieducation" exist. The tubaric rieducation is even used for the opposite case, the eustachian tube too close, problem present in the children and more dangerous, but could be used with profit with PET. The logopedia is gymnastic.
19) How long I must do the exercises?
A million dollar question. I think you can do a valutation by yourself. When you feel the PET is reducing it's better you go on for a while in order to stabilize the situation. If there are periods of the year in which the symptoms get worse, is better to anticipate them with the logopedia. It is advised however to address to a specialist.
20) There is something I must absolutely avoid against the P.E.T.?
The medicinals should be taken only if really necessary. As I know there aren’t drugs that can bring the PET, but sure I think that anticongestionals, eliminating mucus from the tube, can worsen the situation. Probable also the smoke can influence (degenerating tissutes and the nerves could determine the relaxation of the muscles that hold the tube closed) and in any case - even if the smoke it doesn’t make anything specific against the tube – if you quit smoking you’ll be healtier!! Temperature jolts instead seem to have a deleterious effect, when you pass from the warm air to the conditioned cold air.
21) Where I can find other news?
The better source currently is Internet. You can find in my forum some people who can tell yuo their experiences and help yuo.
22) If I write "tuba beante" (the Italian for P.E.T., where beante is = “rimanere aperta”, i.e. “to be open”) in the search engines they give me back very few pages. There no more?
No, in Italian there isn’t other pages. This is one of the little pages in Italian about P.E.T.. It is a disease very little known and widely rare disturbance. Try the English name of the “tuba beante”, Patulous Eustachian Tube (P.E.T.) and you will find something more.
23) Can you give me a diagnosis of P.E.T.?
No, sorry, I'm not a phisician doctor.
24) Can I trust your site and the excercises?
Look here: Dott. Giuseppe Attanasio.Download excercises against PET (in PDF format). These excercises were downloaded 189 times from this site.
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