Broadcaster Oh Jung-yeon. [Herald Muse]
Broadcaster Oh Jung-yeon. [Herald Muse]

Broadcaster Oh Jung-yeon said she has undergone surgery for patulous Eustachian tube, a condition she has lived with for 30 years.

On Wednesday, Oh shared photos from a hospital ahead of her operation on her Instagram story, writing that she only learned this year that the chronic symptoms she had experienced since high school had a name.

"For 30 years I thought I just had to endure the discomfort and get on with life," she wrote. "But once I found out it was an actual condition, I sought out a specialist — and I finally had the surgery."

She described the procedure as "a small but not simple surgery."

Oh went on to say she had recently come across a news report that singer IU had canceled a planned September concert because of the same condition. "I know that exhaustion all too well — it hits without fail whenever I push myself too hard with exercise or broadcasting — so I felt even more sorry for her," she wrote.

She encouraged anyone experiencing similar discomfort to carefully consider treatment as she had, adding that she looked forward to an improved quality of life if her condition improves.

Patulous Eustachian tube is a disorder in which the Eustachian tube, which should normally remain closed, stays abnormally open. Those affected often hear their own voice echoing loudly inside their ears or feel a persistent sense of fullness or blockage. Besides IU and Oh, entertainers Han Seung-yeon and Kim Young-chul have also disclosed that they have had the condition.

Oh joined KBS as a 32nd-class announcer before leaving in 2015 to work as a freelancer.


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