For many years I’ve had a feeling of fullness in one side of my face and my ear, and the hearing in one of my ears seems to be slightly worse (that which is on the side of the fullness)
I thought I may have an acoustic neuroma, I have no experienced any balance problems or vomiting/nausia etc, nor do I have headaches.
I do however have random pains on the same side of my head, I haven’t had these for quite a while. They seem to be like a quick lightning sensation in a small area of my brain which lasts for less than a second. They are accompanied by ear aches. About a year ago I also had sensations where it felt as if the muscle above my eye was slightly disfunctional. In the fullness of my face, I have no sensation of numbness nor of any pins and neadles or tingling.
I was told by a face expert that the cartilage in my nose was blocked and may be causing these issues. I am somewhat sceptical of this, as I want to know exactly how a problem in my nose could be causing ear aches, and my nose is not blocked, but the lining in one nostrol was apparently thicker.
I was given a nasal spray known as Nasonex containing memotasone furoate, cellulose, glycerol…
This spray meant that my symptoms more of less dissapeared… until the spray ran out. Could it still be an acoustic neuroma, is it worth getting an MRI to check?
kind regards
I honestly doubt you have an Acoustic Neuroma. This is commonly associated with unilateral hearing loss over much time, rather than anything else.
What you have sounds very much like a Eustacian Tube Dysfunction. I see these in the office all the time, and especially during this time of year when the pollen comes out. The Eustacian Tube runs between the middle ear and the throat. Typically allows for fluid and air to pass in and out. In the presence of irritants, it often swells, and locks in the fluid causing an increase in pressure. When the tube builds enough pressure to spontaneously open, then the person will sometimes feel a sudden pain.
I commonly use medications like Nasonex for this, and that may be just the answer. If you use it again, and the symptoms go away — there you go!
Best of luck to you!!
You certainly do have some of the symptoms that are associated with acoustic neuroma. This benign tumor of the cranial nerve can cause a range of symptoms, or no symptoms at all in some people. I would suggest that you schedule a visit with an ENT and discuss your concerns with him/her. A hearing test will determine whether you have senso-neural hearing loss and based on those results, you and your ENT may want to discuss an MRI with contrast in order to rule out acoustic neuroma.
Don’t stress too much about this. Acoustic neuromas are very slow growing, and also quite rare. Time is on your side. And, if you do find that you have an acoustic neuroma, there are a number of treatment options available.
Debbi