What Causes Pressure In The Ears?

Hello, 1. The cause of discomfort in the left ear may not be due the nasal douching. While doing a nasal douche, it is not possible for the water to enter into the left ear. This is because, the Eustachian tube is an elastic tube which is obliquely placed and requires considerable amount of pressure to open it up. A simple nasal douche cannot push the water into the Eustachian tube. Also, the water cannot reach up to the frontal sinuses. The douching clears the secretions in the maxillary sinuses and few ethmoidal sinuses. 2. The pressure in the left ear could be secondary to the nasal congestion and inflammation around the Eustachian tube. When the Eustachian tube is inflamed or edematous, the nasal end of the tube gets blocked firmly, thus trapping the air and creating pressure in the middle ear. This can be relieved with steam inhalation and saline nasal spray. 3. To discuss about the left frontal sinus headache. If your doctor has already performed the X-Ray of the paranasal sinuses and found out that there is blockage of the frontal sinuses, then the antibiotics and other supplementary medicines may be effective. If there is no blockage of the sinuses seen, then the above-said medicines may not work and it may be related to the sudden withdrawal of the caffeine and smoking. My suggestions to you are: 1. Drink plenty of warm water 2. Do steam inhalation regularly 3. Use saline and a steroid nasal spray to relieve the sinus and nasal congestion. 4. Avoid pseudoephedrine, this causes more dryness of the mucus membrane and may worsen the Eustachian tube block. 5. Get a CT scan of the paranasal sinuses done to identify the blocked areas in the sinuses. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further. Take care Regards, Dr Ivan R. Rommstein, General Surgeon