# Trouble breathing when ears are covered up



## CabecitaSilenciosa (Jun 8, 2010)

*Trouble breathing when using ear plugs*

*EDIT:* I edited the title because I felt ^this one suited my situation better (the other one is a bit misleading). It still appears with the old title though, ugh.

You know how sometimes you notice that you're breathing and you focus on it so much that it causes you to have trouble breathing? It's like breathing doesn't come natural anymore since you noticed it. Anyone else have that happen to them? This is kind of like that.

Sometimes when I'm listening to something loud with ear plugs, and someone else is around, I start feeling like I can't breathe. For example, I'm alone in my room, listening to music on my iPod with the volume up and both ear plugs in. Nothing's wrong until someone else walks in. After awhile I start feeling uneasy, trapped, and somehow I start losing control over my breathing. When that happens I either have to take one ear plug out, turn the volume down really low, or just not use the ear plugs at all. I always try to calm down when that happens, I try to ignore the person, but the majority of the time I can't help it. If I know someone is there, I can't listen to whatever it is that I'm listening to in peace. 
It also doesn't matter who the person is and how well I know them. Like it's happened many times when my sister has been around and she's pretty much the person I feel the most comfortable with. I even told her about it one time and she understood what I meant, but she said it's never happened to her.
I don't know if using headphones would cause the same effect because I haven't used them for sometime. I remember when I was younger this never happened, though, and I used both ear plugs and headphones. I didn't have this problem until...two years ago or so.

I hate jumping to conclusions, but I feel this probably has to do with my anxiety. It really bothers me. I want to know if this happens to anyone else...


----------



## Shooterrr (Jul 19, 2009)

I kind of get what you mean. Sometimes when I'm on the bus or train and I have my earphones and music on I feel like I'm breathing really loud since I can't hear myself and I get super self conscious and start to breathe slower and lighter. I don't know if that's what you're talking about but yeah...


----------



## Jayne311 (Aug 20, 2009)

When I was little and would use a snorkel in the pool, I couldn't breathe through it unless my ears were out of the water.


----------



## CabecitaSilenciosa (Jun 8, 2010)

^But it doesn't happen anymore?



Shooterrr said:


> I kind of get what you mean. Sometimes when I'm on the bus or train and I have my earphones and music on I feel like I'm breathing really loud since I can't hear myself and I get super self conscious and start to breathe slower and lighter. I don't know if that's what you're talking about but yeah...


Yeah, that's happened to me before but that's not what I mean. But I appreciate your response, same with Jayne311. 

I know it's weird. It doesn't happen ALL the time but it does happen a lot, and I notice it's usually when I haven't had enough sleep or I'm really stressed out. I guess this doesn't happen to anyone else.


----------



## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

For the last 3 years I've had a problem with my left ear in which it will plug up. Drives me absolutely nuts. My GP diagnosed it as inflamed Eustachian tube due to allergies and told me to take decongestants & antihistamines. I was pretty sure on him being wrong when that did nothing even after months.

Online research lead me to believe that it's almost certainly patulous eustatian tube, most commonly caused by losing weight that fits perfectly with the fact it started when I hit my lowest weight in decades. 40 pounds heavier now & it doesn't happen too often, further supporting that self-diagnosis. Most common cure: gain weight. Other cures: virtually none.

Just imagine going through life with an ear plug stuck in one of your ears all the time except when you lay down and you'll have a good idea of what I had to deal with.

The only thing it didn't drive me nuts during was shooting, as you don't much notice a plugged ear when you're wearing ear plugs with heavy-duty ear muffs over them, as you can't hear much short of a gun shot at that level anyhow.


----------



## CabecitaSilenciosa (Jun 8, 2010)

^Aw man, that's terrible.


----------



## nork123 (Oct 22, 2009)

maybe its like a claustraphobic type thing? like you feel vunerable and anxious because someone has just walked in and your hearing is being blocked by the loud music


----------



## CabecitaSilenciosa (Jun 8, 2010)

^That's what my sister told me and I guess that's what it is. It's really weird though. I wish I could find out why it happens.



LaRibbon said:


> Anxiety operates in mysterious ways.


True that.


----------



## mrfixit (Jun 25, 2009)

> Anxiety operates in mysterious ways


 it is not really mysterious..

OP... this i go through, or should i say, go through here and there... i know exactly what you mean. it stems from giving it too much attention... don't give it that and don't even think about it... it is nothing to you and it should not bother you... it will go away once you do not pay attention to it...

if this bothers you that much, stop wearing ear plugs... if you keep on doing it, it will just re-enforce it.... IMO.

imagine someone calling you stupid, now you can ignore that person or face him/her. to ignore is to forget, to give value to is to remember.


----------



## SensationalZonalesBrown (Apr 4, 2013)

CabecitaSilenciosa said:


> *EDIT:* I edited the title because I felt ^this one suited my situation better (the other one is a bit misleading). It still appears with the old title though, ugh.
> 
> You know how sometimes you notice that you're breathing and you focus on it so much that it causes you to have trouble breathing? It's like breathing doesn't come natural anymore since you noticed it. Anyone else have that happen to them? This is kind of like that.
> 
> ...


No this happens to me all the time and i looked this up because i need help... Idk why it happens to me because what you just said is EXACTLY what i am going through


----------



## pandaspoopalot (Jun 16, 2017)

*this thread is super old*

but i googled this sensation and i found this thread and it was great to find because i've been going through the same thing for the past few months, it started super out-of-nowhere and taking one earbud out helps because then i can hear myself and i know i'm not breathing ridiculously loud. but yeah your description perfectly matches mine. all of a sudden i become hyper-aware of my breathing volume when other people are around and i can't hear myself, so then i start to suffocate a little bit. i try convincing myself that of course other people can't hear me, and logically i know that's true, and yet there i am unable to breathe??? idk if anyone will see this, but if you do and you have a better solution than just not listening to music on headphones please let me know? because it's pretty awful tbh.


----------



## Clivy (Aug 13, 2017)

CabecitaSilenciosa said:


> *EDIT:* I edited the title because I felt ^this one suited my situation better (the other one is a bit misleading). It still appears with the old title though, ugh.
> 
> You know how sometimes you notice that you're breathing and you focus on it so much that it causes you to have trouble breathing? It's like breathing doesn't come natural anymore since you noticed it. Anyone else have that happen to them? This is kind of like that.
> 
> ...


 You my friend, probably breaths through their EARS! And that ain't normal.


----------



## Kiyuri (6 mo ago)

CabecitaSilenciosa said:


> *Trouble breathing when using ear plugs
> 
> EDIT:* I edited the title because I felt ^this one suited my situation better (the other one is a bit misleading). It still appears with the old title though, ugh.
> 
> ...


----------



## Kiyuri (6 mo ago)

CabecitaSilenciosa said:


> *Trouble breathing when using ear plugs
> 
> EDIT:* I edited the title because I felt ^this one suited my situation better (the other one is a bit misleading). It still appears with the old title though, ugh.
> 
> ...


It's the


CabecitaSilenciosa said:


> *Trouble breathing when using ear plugs
> 
> EDIT:* I edited the title because I felt ^this one suited my situation better (the other one is a bit misleading). It still appears with the old title though, ugh.
> 
> ...


Same it happens to me often infact everything you described is simulator to me I told my youngest sister my brother and other sis and cousin but they thought I was a lil dumb because I forget how to breath well listening to music but they don't mind it my brother gets annoyed sometimes when I start breathing louder but futher more I listen to music on the lowest to mid level


----------

