My Ears Are Popping/Crackling

I've had mild tinnitus for two weeks from a bad cold/sinus infection, and recently my ears have been popping frequently.

My ear without the tinnitus pops more frequently.

Do you think it's because the ear that does have tinnitus is more clogged and it's hard for it to pop?

Certain jaw movements make my ears crack along with yawning, and swallowing.

Is popping a good sign and how can I unblock my Eustachian Tube?

 

My ears started popping when I first got tinnitus, four months later they are still popping with every jaw movement and swallow. If you work it out, let me know

 

Sounds familiar. My ears have been popping for 1.5 years now since I went to a concert. It never cleared up totally, but seems to cycle between almost gone to pretty bad periodically. My Tinnitus seems related to it as well. When my Tinnitus is at it's worst, a lot of ear popping and pressure issues are present as well and easily invoked. When my Tinnitus is having a better day, I have to make effort to pop my ear.

Also, when I quickly inhale through the nose on bad days, the pressure in my middle ear rapidly increases due to air becoming locked up there. I highly suspect this to be a persistent middle ear malfunction. I'm considering that possibly acoustic trauma can lead to (perhaps) persistent eustachian tube dysfunction-like conditions or other middle ear conditions.

One theory I had is that the composition of the cochlea changes upon acoustic trauma, as the volume of the present structures perhaps changes upon damage. As you might know, the cochlea is a fluid-filled space and, comparable to putting your hand in a vase filled with water, the fluid level rises or drops depending on the added or removed volume. The cochlea is "attached" to the stapes at the oval window, which in turn is attached to the ear drum. Perhaps if the composition of the inner ear changes due to damaging sound waves (loss of hair cells, etc. changing the composition on microscopic scale), the pressure changes and hence the position or pressure on the ear drum changes as well. This might result in the ear drum fluttering, changing middle ear pressure and hence the popping and cracking sounds. Just one of my thoughts though.

When you look up Eustachian Tube Dysfunction specifically, its usually mentioned in relation to allergies or colds. Also, it usually mentions it's most often of temporary nature and will dissipate in weeks to months at maximum. You rarely see it mentioned in relation to acoustic trauma. I wonder if the link has ever been thoroughly explored before.

 

Same here, for me the feeling of fullness started about three weeks after the initial noise exposure. It's more than nine months now, and I still have the feeling of fullness. In the beginning my ears would feel full all the time, but over time I learned to open my ears at will by tensing a muscle somewhere in my jaw (I'm not sure exactly how I do it). When I do this, I hear a "crack" and I can feel cool air moving into my ear.

I had a tympanometry test done and it showed my Eustachian tubes to be working normally. The ENT says that the feeling of fullness is from a combination of sinus issues and minor TMJ, but he didn't sound very convincing. My symptoms also seem to cycle, but for me it seems to be related to stress or perhaps posture. For example, my ears never feel full when I wake up in the morning.

 

I know what you mean. I guess I have developed the same "technique". I use a certain muscle and it brings relief for a very short time.

Well, I think it is remarkable that middle-ear or ETD-like issues appear to happen at the same time as the Tinnitus and/or hearing loss as a result of acoustic trauma for a lot of people. That warrants further investigation, I would say.

 

I have the same problem. My fullness/popping/crackling/pressure changes started after an acoustic trauma almost 21 months ago. It has been a daily battle since then. I have extensive ultra high frequency hearing loss and also some high frequency hearing loss. I've had a tympanometry which came back as normal. I'm sure there is a link between acoustic trauma and ear pressure problems. If anyone finds anything out, please let me know.

 

@Blue28, do you still have this popping and fullness? I have it in one ear and it is popping constantly, every second. It started 3 weeks after the microsuction. The doctor said: "Just don't pay attention to it". But it seems impossible to me: this clicking in the head drives me crazy.

What could we do to reduce it? Is there anyone who experienced it disappear?

Please give us some advise how to deal, to reduce it.