Crackling Noise in Ears?

Anyone experiencing crackling noise in their ears?

Whenever I move my throat my left, sometimes both, ears click. Only in certain neck positions it stops. It may be due to Eustachian Tube Dysfunction because when I press my neck against a hard object (maybe putting pressure on the Eustachian tube?), it stops!

I don't think the noise is natural because I'd never had it! It might be an allergic reaction though!

Any idea?

 

I get clicking when I open my mouth or move my jaw. It clicks in my ears. Maybe it puts pressure on something when you move it?

 

I'm not sure if that's my jaw making this noise but I do have some sort of jaw problems. A dentist recently told me that my jaw is misaligned. But the clicking noise is so awful.

 

I have the same symptoms. I have allergies, chronic mucosal thickening in my paranasal sinuses, post nasal drip etc. The crackling sound comes from the Eustachian tubes because there is chronic inflammation and thick mucus and swelling. My ENT said that the sound comes from the Eustachian tubes trying to open but the mucus prevents them from fully functioning. My ears often crack and sometimes pop when I swallow, move my throat, yawn and talk. I've tried saline nasal sprays but the symptoms come back when I don't use it.

 

A year has passed, I still have the same kind of crackling when I move my throat. I can trigger it manually by moving my throat and sometimes this results in ear popping and after my ears pop I can hear my breath out of my ears for a moment. It seems like ETD as it was much much better, kind of gone, when I was on a steroid nasal spray.

Anyway, I don't know if it has anything to do with my TMJ as I have TMJ problem.

Also, I can change the pitch of my tinnitus by moving my throat.

Anyone knows something about it or has gone through this?

 

I have this crackling sound when I swallow or even when more pronounced when I push my throat internally (not sure how to explain this.). My nose is always stuffy and I get mucus behind my nose through my throat.

I also have high pitched tone tinnitus in both my ears. I believe the tinnitus started after a windy winter run without ear protection followed with intense pain which lasted for 10 minutes. I went to ENT and was told that there was no signs of infection. I was recommended to go for an audiometry test, which I have not scheduled yet. Correlating to this i also started using AirPods Pro (noise canceling buds) in this time frame.

I get tinnitus spike after I go for a high-intensity run which continues till the next day or early in the morning without proper sleep or the next day after drinking alcohol.

 

Almost 5 years later, the crackling on command sound is still there. ENTs say it's normal even after I tell them I never had this before tinnitus.

After using a Neti pot it goes away for some minutes. When I am congested, it may go away even for days.

I don't know if it is my Tensor Tympani that I can control or my Eustachian tubes! It doesn't seem like there is a relationship between Neti pot and Tensor Tympani!

My TMJD is also diagnosed by my orthodontist.

It would be interesting if I could find the source of the crackling.

 

Crackling is a sign of fluid in the middle ear. I have it most of the time. I have ETD and slightly high pressure in my ears due to fluid. I get hay fever this time of year which worsens it. It doesn't bother me much unless my ear feels blocked. I also have TMJ. I assume both these things can make tinnitus worse. I find Plantago helps and sometimes I use nasal sprays.

 

I know that but I never had it before.

One day I woke up being congested with tinnitus and hyperacusis.

The crackling and ear spasm were almost gone during the time I used Neti pot, steroid nasal spray, and steam inhalation.

I also have TMJD.

I wonder if the congestion was a coincidence or something related to the ear spasm. The crackling becomes sharper when I get the ear spasm to noise. Also, by pressing on my TMJ and moving my jaw this crackling happens.

I am really clueless if the crackling is a result of tinnitus, ETD, or TMJ. Who knows!

The worst is that doctors don't care or listen, we have to find the reason by ourselves!

 

Hey @Tweaker - I have this too.

Have you ever had grommets or balloon dilation? Do you still fly with the condition?

 

@eagerUser - I don't suppose you had any swallowing issues (dysphagia) with it, did you?

 

No. I didn't have it. I had my adenoids removed when I was a child. I got chronic allergies around the time all this happened to me.

 

I have it. In my case, it's due to a Patulous Eustachian Tube. It's a terrible condition to have that makes my tinnitus seem like a walk in the park.

 

Have you done anything to fix it? How have you been diagnosed with it?

 

I got this about 2 years ago and it lasted a couple of months. I was freaking out because I didn't know what was causing it! But eventually it subsided on its own. It happened more in response to movement (either of the jaw or just moving my head), but sometimes without.

 

Was it like something is broken in your ears?

With some specific jaw movements I can generate the noise. Sometimes without jaw movements but after all I need my jaw to be able to keep generating the noise.

When I do the Valsalva maneuver, my ears pop and then they are closed again. I don't know if it's the normal functionality that Eustachian tubes are opened with the Valsalva maneuver and immediately closed.

I am diagnosed with TMJD so I guess it has some role in the crackling noise.

When I blow my nose, the same noise is generated, so it seems like it is ETD related as well! Very confusing.

 

I suspect that it was something allergy-related for me; from what I understand this type of sound is produced by fluid buildup in the ears, and this happened during the pollen season for pine trees (which I'm allergic to). I have had ear infections and eczema on the ears crop up in response to allergic reactions before. My Eustachian tubes are abnormally small so it might be something that would take less fluid to affect me? But don't quote me on that, I'm just guessing. It definitely sounded like something "broken", like you said--and I could feel movement inside my ears that corresponded to the sound.

I haven't been diagnosed with TMJD but I do experience pain/inflammation near the hinge of my jaw every so often, not connected to any illness or injury. Basically all of the joints in my body get this to some degree and have for as long as I can remember. At the time I was experiencing the crackling noise I didn't have any jaw pain.

 

The crackling in my ears is very loud, and happens every time I swallow, or when I tense 'something' in my ear (like an attempt to pop my ears).

I have had this now for 5 months, and it has only become louder through noise incidents.

I am getting a strange sensation where, after yawning, the crackling disappears for around 30 seconds but is replaced with ear muffling, before the crackling sound returns.

This to me points to Eustachian tubes - but I don't know if the loud crackle that I hear due to the Eustachian tubes are the tubes themselves, hyperacusis or TTTS.

I am having a lot of swallowing issues, that to me seem at least semi-related, which has prevented me from eating any solid food for almost three weeks now, lost my gag reflex and in the past two days have struggled twice when eating to initiate the swallow - scary when you are trying to cough liquid food out of your throat as the swallow is not working.

As much as tinnitus, hyperacusis and ear crackling were the worst things in the world to me - swallowing issues like this is worse!

I can't find a link between the two except that the vagus nerve connects ears, mouth and throat.

 

Today, I was totally congested and had a runny nose. I'm not sure if it's a cold or just allergies but the crackling is almost gone! I can no longer generate it. During the day my right ear popped which has been painful and the noise in that ear is 99% gone. This behavior is what makes me think it's ETD related!

This behavior is exactly what happens when I use a Neti pot!

I can hear a little bit of a crackling noise if I push on the left side of my jaw and then bring my lower jaw forward.

Any link between the congestion and jaw?

I have an appointment for my TMJD in a couple of days. I will send an update afterwards.

 

I too have very loud crackling sounds in my left ear whenever I close my mouth, whenever I yawn or whenever my jaw just moves in general.

I have an appointment at the ENT doctor within a month, where he or she will be removing ear wax, since that is most probably the cause.

I am however anxious to get microsuction since a lot of people on Tinnitus Talk advise to not do that. There's no other option tho, is there?

 

ETD.

I have the same. I have the ability to control my Eustachian tube opening in my right ear, you may also have this ability with the 'tensing' thing you describe. Tense whatever you do, then hum. If you hear it SUPER loud, it's because your Eustachian tube is open.

Chronic ETD can be caused by a few issues, but I have been diagnosed with chronic sinusitis/rhinitis. The most likely reason is that the mucus stops your Eustachian tube opening effectively, kinda like gluing it shut. The other possibility is inflamed adenoids from either of above. These can swell up and block your Eustachian tube.

I use a nasal steroid spray, sprayed directly up my sinuses and then up my Eustachian tube. Its effect is minimal though. I find blowing my nose regularly quite helpful.

You can easily have an ENT look up your nose with a camera to check for sinus issues/polyps and also up to your Eustachian tube to see if there are any adenoid issues.

 

I had my ear wax removed manually a couple of weeks ago. Go for manual removal.

 

I have had my adenoids removed when I was a child.

Yes, as you said, it feels like ETD as I am almost always congested. But it also has something to do with my jaw.

Unfortunately, my doctors are not willing to check for ETD. They only rely on Tympanometry.

When I was using a nasal spray everyday, the crackling was almost gone for me, but I can't keep using it.

I have had sinusitis since my childhood.

 

I've had three surgeries, all of which were unsuccessful. Patulous Eustachian Tube symptoms include autophony, hearing your voice in your head, and aerophony, hearing your breathing. You probably don't have Patulous Eustachian Tube if you don't have any of these two. Crackling with every swallow is another bonus.