What Causes Ear Pressure And Sinus Congestion Despite Taking Prednisone?

Hello, Thank you for asking at HCM. I carefully read your questions and understand your concern. Due to the congestion you are having the tube that connects the ears with the throat and that help drain the ears is blocked. This brings a blocking sensation in the ears, pressure feeling and sometimes pain also. Because it is a mechanical problem due to the edema and blockage generally the medications are not much help and time is the best medication . With the improvement of the congestion the blockage will be released and you will feel better again. It is not dangerous and it is totally reversible and self-limiting. Steroids might be tried to reduce edema and help with the symptoms of the blockage but it is not effective in most of the patients and is not recommended routinely for this purpose. So what I would recommend is: 1. Drink plenty to make sure you are hydrated and secretions are thin and do not block your airways and worsen the symptoms. 2. nasal saline solution might help with the secretions to be thinner and drain easier. You can do nose lavage with saline solution several times a day to help with the secretions. 3. Do not forcefully blow your nose as it might cause nasal trauma and bleeding and also might push secretion further in the blocked tube and make you worse. 4. There is no need of the steroids especially if you have not noticed improvement with them 5. Decongestants like tylolhot might help to reduce congestion also but watch if you need to drive as they might cause some drowsiness. 6. TIME is the best medication- you should feel better within 1-2 weeks, rarely it might go up to 6 weeks and it is still OK. Hope this is helpful to you and answers to your question. Kind regards Dr Antoneta