this post was submitted on 09 Apr 2025
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I can 'flex' my Eustachian tubes and 'open them' at will, e.g. equalising pressure when ears need 'popping' on planes. I'm sure it isn't that uncommon but no one ever knows what I mean when I say it.
I only recently discovered that not everyone can do this. I was telling my teenager to "just pop your ears" when she was swimming under water and neither her nor her mom had any idea what I was talking about.
This is called the tensor timpani and I just learned from my hypermobilty support group that it's super common in people with hypermobilty disorders generally to be able to move them. Look up Beighton scale and give yourself a quick check.
Finding out I was hypermobile lead to me discovering my ADHD wasn't inattention, but highly variable blood pressure and a wonky vagal nerve condition. Changed my meds, changed my life.
....aaaannnndddd I've just stumbled into a rabbit hole that's going to eat up half my day.
Oh wow thanks so much, I will have a look at that. I am awaiting ADHD assessment so this could be an interesting twist!!!
Like when you do the yawning-part for your ears without actually yawning?
Exactly!!!
Ever scuba dive? Most masks you see have a rubber nose piece that lets the diver squeeze their nose shut so they can blow and equalize pressure.
No i haven't, but I'm hopefully going to try next month. I'll try to remember to experiment with this then.
To wander further off topic.
imho Belize is the best place for a scuba vacation. I went last year. Former British colony where everyone speaks English and you can spend American dollars easily. It sits next to the second biggest coral system on Earth so you have abundant wildlife.
Enjoy.
So that's what that was called.
People dont get what you mean with "popping your ears"? How can an adult never experience that?
Most people do it by swallowing? So I guess they shrug it off that I do it slightly differently.
Yeah but I feel like most adults would have had pressure sensitive ears at some point in the life (like from a cold or something), forcing them to learn about popping ears, even if the only way of doing it they know is swallowing.
I've got that. Very useful for looking unaffected by pressure changes, which is to say, not that useful.
Like, when you pinch your nose and blow?
Yeah, but when i do it, it sounds like rushing blood in my ears. Found it is something everyone does but it's not voluntary like when you yawn.
I can do it on demand.
I can do that too!