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Blocked Ears, Dizziness, BP 120/66, Tooth Removal Done Recently, Fever
Question: my son woke up this morning with both ears stopped up and he felt funny/dizzy. i took his blood pressure and it was 120/66. he recently had a tooth pulled(2 days ago)
is his bp normal for a 13 year old boy
Hi XXXXXXX
Thanks for the query
The blocking of the ears could be due to various reasons. In your child’s case, there seems to be a Eustachian tube block causing this problem. Eustachian tube is a narrow tube connecting the nose and the ear. This tube helps in maintaining the pressure balance between the nose and the ear. Sometimes if the ear block is of a sudden in onset, few individuals tend to develop a sort of dizziness or head discomfort.
The blood pressure in the systolic part is normal (120) whereas the diastolic part is (66) is slightly lower than the normal, but with one reading we cannot come to any conclusion.
To sum it up, I would like to know few more things:
1. Is this the first time that your child is experiencing this sort of problem?
2. Did he have cold/flu/sinus problems in the past few days?
3. If there are no complaints of either cold or flu, did he have any nasal block?
4. Did he use ear buds to clean the ear on the previous night?
Hope you will return back with the answers soon.
Regards
Dr. Naveen Kumar
Thanks for the query
The blocking of the ears could be due to various reasons. In your child’s case, there seems to be a Eustachian tube block causing this problem. Eustachian tube is a narrow tube connecting the nose and the ear. This tube helps in maintaining the pressure balance between the nose and the ear. Sometimes if the ear block is of a sudden in onset, few individuals tend to develop a sort of dizziness or head discomfort.
The blood pressure in the systolic part is normal (120) whereas the diastolic part is (66) is slightly lower than the normal, but with one reading we cannot come to any conclusion.
To sum it up, I would like to know few more things:
1. Is this the first time that your child is experiencing this sort of problem?
2. Did he have cold/flu/sinus problems in the past few days?
3. If there are no complaints of either cold or flu, did he have any nasal block?
4. Did he use ear buds to clean the ear on the previous night?
Hope you will return back with the answers soon.
Regards
Dr. Naveen Kumar
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
he has a 100.4 fever and he has a slight cough and some nasal congestion
Hi XXXXXXX
Thanks for your follow up,
That says it all; the nasal congestion is the prime reason for the Eustachian tube to be blocked. Whenever there is flu or sinus problem there will be congestion of nasal mucosa secondary to the inflammation. The congestion around the opening of the nasal end of the tube induces negative pressure inside the middle ear causing ear blockage or fullness in the ear.
This ear blockage is a temporary phenomenon, if not treated promptly can lead to collection of thick secretion inside the middle ear which is termed as ‘Secretory Otitis Media’.
My advice is to encourage your son to do steam inhalation 2-3 times/day as the steam vapors reduce the nasal congestion and assist in the drainage of the sinus secretions and opening of the Eustachian tube as well. Also, he should drink plenty of warm water, do keep himself well hydrated and to reduce the cough. You can try using saline nasal drops 3-4 times/day which aids in restoring the normal ciliary movements of the nasal mucosa. As fever is still there, give paracetamol tablets to reduce the fever. If the symptoms do not improve within 2-3 days please do consult a good ENT specialist.
Wish him good health.
Regards
Dr. Naveen Kumar
Thanks for your follow up,
That says it all; the nasal congestion is the prime reason for the Eustachian tube to be blocked. Whenever there is flu or sinus problem there will be congestion of nasal mucosa secondary to the inflammation. The congestion around the opening of the nasal end of the tube induces negative pressure inside the middle ear causing ear blockage or fullness in the ear.
This ear blockage is a temporary phenomenon, if not treated promptly can lead to collection of thick secretion inside the middle ear which is termed as ‘Secretory Otitis Media’.
My advice is to encourage your son to do steam inhalation 2-3 times/day as the steam vapors reduce the nasal congestion and assist in the drainage of the sinus secretions and opening of the Eustachian tube as well. Also, he should drink plenty of warm water, do keep himself well hydrated and to reduce the cough. You can try using saline nasal drops 3-4 times/day which aids in restoring the normal ciliary movements of the nasal mucosa. As fever is still there, give paracetamol tablets to reduce the fever. If the symptoms do not improve within 2-3 days please do consult a good ENT specialist.
Wish him good health.
Regards
Dr. Naveen Kumar
Note: For further follow up on related General & Family Physician Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
Dr. Naveen Kumar Nanjasetty
Otolaryngologist / ENT Specialist
Practicing since :2001
Answered : 2540 Questions
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