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Sneezing and Earache

I am in the process of getting a diagnosis for rheumatoid arthritis however i have also had a range of seemingly unrelated symptoms and I'm not sure if I should be going to my doctor about them as a separate thing or whether it is all connected and I should just keep pursuing the route of tests I'm already on?

Firstly I have been suffering from persistent sneezing for around the last 3 months with seemingly no cause or illness, no congestion, no runny nose, no other allergic or cold or flu symptoms?

Secondly an earache which started about 3 weeks ago, and I say earache, because I don't know how to explain it, but it's not so much pain as discomfort, particularly around loud, high pitched sounds, when it feels like I can feel my eardrum vibrating, like something is pressing against it?

Could these be related?

  1. Hi EllaBelle. Any new symptoms should be brought to the attention of your doctor. I can't really speak to the sneezing, but RA can affect the ears. There are three small bones in the ear that make up the ossicular joints. This article from one of our contributors goes into more detail explaining the issue: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/eh-whats-that-say/. Of course, this is not to say that your ear issues are the result of RA, but hopefully, the doctor can provide some answers. Best, Richard (RheumatoidArthritis.net Team)

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