Ear issues

[chzuck]

A year after I started sleep apnea treatment I had the worst earache I have ever had, and I had many as a child and several throughout my adult life.  My eardrum burst and drained for almost 2 weeks with some blood for several days after the burst eardrum.  I went to my family doctor and two ENT groups.  Both ENT docs inserted tubes as I felt constant pressure around both ears.  The earache was April of 2023 and I am still dealing with ear issues.  So, I started doing some research and found several articles stating cpap machines can cause middle ear pressure increases.  Also how important it is to keep your equipment cleaned, at least once a week.  I was negligent on that.  Also, importance of keeping dust under control.  I have a my bedroom in the basement and was not doing a very good job at keeping it clean.  I am changing that.  I also plan to build an air filter like in the link below.  Also thinking of an air purifier sized to my bedroom.  I have had some allergy testing via blood samples and there were no flags.  Another issue I am dealing with, at night my nostril passages swell and breathing is very difficult with my mask.  I use a hyper-tonic nasal wash before bedtime, which helps a lot, but can be awakened 3 hours or so later with a stuffy nose.  If badly stuffed I resort to Neo Synephrine, one puff.  As you well know, that stuff can cause problems with what they call rebounding.  I don't think that is my problem because usually an hour after I get up and all through the day my nose is completely open and breathing is fine.

I share this in case there are others out there with similar problems.  Also, I invite ones who have had similar issues to reply with things that worked for them.

https://youtu.be/aw7fUMhNov8?feature=shared