Changes in hearing after WLS? Unconscious muscle movement

I had my surgery in February of this year. Since the middle of the summer (after I'd lost around 50-60 lbs) I have been noticing changes in my hearing in one ear.

Essentially, I am finding that because of the nasal drip (that many of us have post-op) that I get when I'm cold or if I eat too fast, I'm sniffing a lot. In so doing, one of my ears pops, sort of like it would on an airplane with a change in the air pressure. I know that this means that the Eustacian Tube in the ear is in the open position.

My problem arises when that Eustacian Tube doesn't close quickly. I sing in a choir, and of course, whenever the Eustacian Tube stays open, I get an echo in my head; I can't hear myself singing! And this is a huge problem. This being the Christmas season, I have a lot of performances to do and it leads to a lot of issues, I confess.

I consulted my GP *****ferred me to a hearing specialist and ear/nose/throat specialist (one doctor has both specialities). Neither the GP nor the specialist can find anything wrong with my ear or my hearing. In fact, my hearing is stellar according to the tests they performed. 

After telling the specialist about the weight loss, he told me that he believes that one of the muscles that would usually close my Eustacian Tube got lazy over the years with the added weight. My being obese for such a long time meant that the muscle didn't have to work hard, if at all, and now whenever the Eustacian Tube opens, the muscle doesn't always recognize the need to close it quickly. He said that now that there is more room around the tube and the muscle, the muscle has to be retrained to do its job. Weight loss is internal, as well as external, and my body is definitely reflecting that! The doctor figures that this problem will likely resolve itself in time (it can take a year or more he estimated). So for the time being, I just have to put up with it. It's a royal pain in the butt.

Does anyone else have this sort of problem? Did you find that other functions of your body have changed after WLS? Unconscious muscle movements that haven't been quite the same? I'm curious.

It is amazing how the excess weight impacts our bodies not just externally but even more internally.  Your situation shows that.  Who would think the Eustacian Tube/muscle would be an issue.

I personally haven't had anything like that.  Try posting your post on the VSG message board too. 

I occasionally have that popped ear and Echo... I haven't seen anyone about it, but glad I could get an explanation on it from your post.

I haven't heard of this before. But one of the unusual things discovered by Ancel Keys in his Minnesota starvation study is that those on long term very low calorie diets actually had enhanced hearing. They had no idea why.

We tend to connect most things to our surgery, especially early on. But it may have nothing to do with WLS at all.