Patulous Eustachian tube, also known as patent Eustachian tube, is the name of a rare physical disorder where the Eustachian tube

Eustachian tube

The Eustachian tube is a tube that links the nasopharynx to the middle ear. It is a part of the middle ear. In adult humans the Eustachian tube is approximately 35 mm long. It is named after the sixteenth-century anatomist Bartolomeo Eustachi...

, which is normally closed, instead stays intermittently open. When this occurs, the patient experiences autophony

Autophony

Autophony is the unusually loud hearing of a person's own voice, breathing or other self-generated sounds.Possible causes:* The "Occlusion effect", caused by an object, such as an unvented hearing aid or a plug of ear wax, blocking the ear canal and reflecting sound vibration back towards the...

, 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.
With patulous Eustachian tube, variations in upper airway pressure associated with respiration are transmitted to the middle ear through the eustachian tube.