FTO Sqad

[237SJ]

Good morning. i`m bored as I`ve woken up at the crack of sparrows again so I thought I`d ask you a question.
Where exactly do the eustachian tubes exit. Is it high up where the nose joins the throat or is it further down?

[Sqad]

237S...Good morning my love.
The opening of the Eustachian tubes are high up at the back of the nose and the travel outwards and upwards to the middle ear.
In simple terms if you were small enough, you could walk into the nose, walk through the nose to the back into the space (Naso pharynx) through the entrance to the Eustachian Tube outwards and into the middle ear.

For the ossicles in the middle ear to function normally. it must be at the same air pressure as the outside air and this is achieved by the ETubes equating the air pressures.

Don´t ever be bored again when you awaken.....forget the anatomy lession.....just give me a ring ;-)

[237SJ]

Cheeky Devil!
The reason I asked is I have to yawn to clear my ears on an aircraft (not a problem though - I`m so well practiced I can do it without opening my mouth) but if I`m eating something on descent, my ears don`t clear and I thought the food was blocking the exit to the tubes. Back to the drawing board on that one then :-)

[Sqad]

On descent and when eating, the pharyngeal muscles are working and during contractions, BLOCK the opening of the ETs when they should be open to equate the air pressures.

[237SJ]

That explains it then. Thanks