Sprinting and Popping Ears

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msarro
msarro Posts: 2,748 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
When I sprint, after about the 2nd or 3rd sprint my ears start to pop. It gets worse and worse, until by the end my eustachian tube is completely open. It makes it next to impossible to hear. It also makes breathing start to hurt my ears. I'm wondering if its slightly more prone to being opened in times of stress because of scuba diving?

Does anyone know how to avoid this? Its not super painful, but its enough to be a huge annoyance. Luckily it doesn't seem to really happen during normal runs, just sprints.

Replies

  • msarro
    msarro Posts: 2,748 Member
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    Holy crap, I found my answer. Apparently I'm a mutant.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patulous_Eustachian_tube

    Excerpt:
    Patulous Eustachian tube, also known as patent Eustachian tube, is the name of a rare physical disorder where the Eustachian tube, which is normally closed, instead stays intermittently open. When this occurs, the patient experiences autophony, the hearing of self-generated sounds. These sounds, such as one's own breathing, voice, and heartbeat, vibrate directly onto the ear drum and can create a "bucket on the head" effect.

    Causes:
    Patulous Eustachian tube is a physical disorder. The exact causes may vary depending on the person. Weight loss is a commonly cited cause of the disorder due to the nature of the Eustachian tube itself. Fatty tissues hold the tube closed most of the time in healthy individuals. When circumstances cause overall body fat to diminish, the tissue surrounding the Eustachian tube shrinks and this function is disrupted. While this is seen in severe cases of anorexia nervosa, it may also happen with very small amounts of weight loss in individuals with no eating disorder.[2]

    Activities and substances which dehydrate the body have the same effect and are also possible causes of patulous Eustachian tube. Examples are stimulants (including caffeine) and exercise. Exercise may have a more short-term effect than caffeine or weight loss in this regard.



    Exactly describes my situation. I'm wondering if regularly manipulating my eustachian tube growing up both in and out of water has loosened it up to the point where this happens. I used to be able to 'pop' my ears just by jutting my lower jaw forward, so I could always swim much deeper than all of the other little kids. Further I've lost a ton of weight now.

    Weird!!!
  • Landon669
    Landon669 Posts: 12
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    NEVER heard of that! I guess it's a good thing? Since it occurs mostly with weight loss, but been around sports all my life and sprints are a common theme in all of them, but never heard of it.
    Don't trust all the info on wikipedia though. May want to look elsewhere as well.
    Congrats on the loss and keep it up!
  • msarro
    msarro Posts: 2,748 Member
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    http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/858909-overview

    There's the webMD article about it as well. :wink:
  • courtney_love2001
    courtney_love2001 Posts: 1,468 Member
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    I have it too. It sucks, but there's nothing you can do. Mine is exercise-induced, possibly from being slightly dehydrated while exercising. At least now you know that others sympathize with you....I posted this same topic a few months ago and there were several people who identified with me! It's not dangerous or anything...just annoying :noway:
  • stormieweather
    stormieweather Posts: 2,549 Member
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    Holy cow....me too! I never knew it was something unusual, I thought it happened to everyone :ohwell:

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