Patulous Eustachian Tube – Why Do I Hear Myself Breathing During My Workout?

I want to talk about something today that I’ve never talked about.  It’s something really weird that happens to me on occasion while I’m exercising.  I don’t know why it happens and I HATE when it does happen.

Here’s the deal…once in a while when I’m doing cardio, something strange happens to my ears.  All the sudden my ears seem to pop and for the next 10-20 or so minutes, I can hear myself breathing through my ears and my voice is magnified in my ears.  When I take a breath, it seriously feels like I’m breathing out of my ears – kinda sounds like Darth Vader breathing to me.  (I know it sounds weird but there’s no other way to describe it) When I talk, it sounds like I’m speaking into a megaphone and it echos.  It’s so absolutely annoying.  I never know how to fix it and it usually ruins my cardio session.

It doesn’t happen every cardio session.  It just happens randomly.

I’ve always worried whether or not it’s dangerous, what I can do to stop it and if I should stop cardio whenever it happens.  A few friends of mine have said this happens to them as well, so I know I’m not alone in this.  Since I’ve never seen much information about this specific topic, I figured I’d dig deep into researching and find out some answers for all of us!

Patulous Eustachian Tube

The culprit of the issue is the Patulous Eustachian tube in the ear.

What is the Patulous Eustachian Tube?

Patulous Eustachian tube, also known as patent Eustachian tube, is the name of a 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. (Source)  At a resting heart rate, usually this tube only opens when swallowing.

Who does this happen to?

This condition is more common in females than in males and is usually present in adolescents and adults; it is rarely found in young children. (Source)

Why does this happen? What causes this change?

There are a few things I’ve found that are believed to cause this change in the ear.

  1. Weight Loss
  2. Dehydration
  3. Pregnancy
  4. Fatigue
  5. Stress

Well…I can personally ignore #3 because I know I haven’t been pregnant when this happened, but it is one of the possible causes.

When I first read that weight loss was a cause of this, it started to make more sense!!  I realized that this happens to me more often when I’m at a lower weight.  When I was prepping for my bikini competition, it happened ALL the time.  I also happened to be at a very low weight and body fat percentage.  The reason weight matters is because the Eustachian Tube has fatty tissues around it to keep it closed.  When you lose body fat and your heart rate is elevated, it can cause tissue pressure leading it to open and result in the annoying symptoms I talked about above.

Dehydration is also a possible cause for this happening so make sure you’re property hydrated at all times.  I highly suggest trying to drink a gallon of water a day.  (There are endless benefits of drinking a lot of water, so you should be doing this anyway!)

How do I treat it when it happens next time?

Some people find relief by:

    • Laying Down
    • Putting your head between the knees
    • Tilt head to one side
    • Stay hydrated
    • Lower heart rate

What NOT to do:

  • Do not aggressively suck in/blow out when holding your nose to correct the pressure in the tube. This can create worse problems and affect the functioning of the tube. It is much better to lean forward and allow the tubes to close. (Source)

Are these issues with my Patulous Eustachian Tube dangerous?

Most of the time, patients have a very mild form of this…like me.  Since my issues only appear to happen when working out at a lower weight, it is not something I should be worried about.  If I were to have this issue all day, every day, this is an obvious issue.  Collegen injections can be performed to beef up your tubes (yeah that sounded ridiculous but I’m rolling with it – haha) and surgery can be performed on the Eustachian tube to help this issue however, surgery can be a very risky procedure.

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I’m really glad I took the time to research this odd issue for my own knowledge and hopefully this will help someone else who has always wondered why this happens to them.

Has this ever happened to you?  Leave a comment below – I’d love to hear from you!
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Fitness Blogger

About the Author

I started Live Life Active to document my journey (If you’re interested in starting a blog yourself, I’d HIGHLY suggest doing so – Here’s my post on how to start a blog).  Starting a personal blog was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life to keep myself accountable on my health and it unexpectedly soon turned into quite a lucrative business adventure as well!  Anyway, if you’re on the fence of starting your own blog.  DO IT!!!  A year from now, you’ll wish you started today. Never mind, scratch that, you’ll wish you started yesterday.  Moral of the story…best decision I’ve made thus far.

 

 

 


 

15 thoughts on “Patulous Eustachian Tube – Why Do I Hear Myself Breathing During My Workout?”

  1. This actually does happen to me, but I never gave it much thought (though I have been known to hold my nose and blow out. Won’t be doing that anymore!). Thanks for the info!

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  2. Thank you, very kindly, for providing this information. This has been happening to me semi-frequently as of late; and I have recently been losing weight as a result of running / training for various races, etc. I suffer from anxiety periodically (as I was a former cancer patient) so every little abnormal thing kind of makes me freak-out a little. Your information has placated much of my concern. Continue to write, to work-out, stay fit & healthy and know that you are an inspiration to others. All peace & good vibes to you.

    Anthony

    Reply
  3. This happens to me when I’m in church, so annoying I can’t concentrate, I found coughing helps, also pushing under your ear helps as well, but not for long term, only like 3 minutes

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  4. Wow! This was so helpful. I’ve been dealing with this for ten years. It started during my third pregnancy and would happen randomly, pushing me into full fledged panic attacks. After pregnancy, it seemed to go away, until I started working out again. I had the same thing happen during my fourth and fifth pregnancies, and although my youngest is now four, this still happens to me on occasion during and after cardio workouts. It makes me completely panic, which elevates my heart rate even more! It just happened again and in desperation I looked it up online and found your post. Thank you for the tips about leaning forward and laying down. I’m glad I’m not the only one who experiences this weird thing! It helps me feel better. Thanks again.

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  5. OMG! This has been an issue for me for years! And I had it happening when I found your site. But just now I put my head between my knees and VOILA! my ear opened!!!! So relieved.
    I connected it with dehydration so usually have to down several large glasses of water to get relief, around 48 to 72 ounces which takes a while and has other consequences. Ear doc prescribed nasacort, but don’t want to be on nasal spray all the time.
    Thanks for figuring out this problem and for posting. So glad I found this.

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  6. You know, I can actually do this at will for some reason. It’s rather odd, but it’s even weirder to know other people can’t do this.

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  7. Been experiencing this for 8 months now and it won’t go. Every morning when i wake up i talk just to check if it is still there and up to now nothing has change. It’s very frustrating. Leaning forward and laying down helps a little but it would go back. Whats worse is when i talk my left side of my head is vibrating.

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  8. Thanks so much for this! The exact same thing happens to me all the time, and I didn’t know how to research it because describing it seemed so weird.

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  9. This has been happening to me off and on for about 6 years. It doesn’t happen that often so I didn’t think to research it. Today however it was a little worse than it has been and I got concerned. Thank you so much for writing this article as it helped me immensely and helped to calm my nerves. I didn’t even connect the fact that this happened more when I was losing weight and working out more. Usually it will last a few minutes and then clear. Today it lasted about an hour. It feels like my ears are popped so I yawn to clear them and that’s when the echo sound happens. When I breathe in my ears get plugged, when I breathe out my ears unplug but I get an echo in one ear and it’s usually my left. And this happens every time I breathe in and out. I don’t recall it ever happening on my right. I was doing the holding my nose and blowing to help which never did help. I’m glad I didn’t make it worse and now I know not to ever do that again. Thank you again for writing this article it has benefited me greatly. Have a beautiful day. Dori

    Reply
  10. This happens to me almost every workout and it is exceptionally loud. Seeing it’s mostly in females most might not experience the worst part of it for me. I hear the bass in my voice exceptionally boosted. When I talk or hum with any bass in my voice it is exceptionally loud and reminds me of someone with a deep voice yelling directly into a microphone that is touching their mouth at full volume. It happened to me while I was 200lbs and it still happens while I’m 170lbs for competition. It must be because of my super high heart rate wholeness exercising (I often find myself at 190+ bpm during weight loss lifting without any cardio.)

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  11. Oh my gosh! Thank you for this post! I’ve lived with this most of my life, and now I know what it’s called. My issues usually act up when I drink caffeine and/or when I workout while slightly dehydrated. It’s going to be a caffeine-free, hydrated life for me now! This makes so much sense. =)

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