Why Do Our Ears Crackle When Swallowing?

Yeah, I had fluid build up. Gave me all kinds of wild symptoms. Now that it’s cleared I find everything much more manageable.

 

@Orions Pain

I haven't seen a post about how you got t. Perhaps you had an ear infection and got t from that. If that's the cause they often fade in time. The squeakiness was another sign for me that I really messed up my ears but they are slowly getting better, if not quieter, with time.

 

I’ve never had an ear infection. Just posted my story

 

Within 6-7 months started hearing cracklings crackling sound when I swallowed. It comes and goes. Never heard cracklings in ear prior to tinnitus. I though it was associated with my hyperacusis. I hope, as some said earlier, it goes away.

 

Drives you nuts. I have had it ever since my tinnitus... funny how I can make that crackle sound by somehow building pressure in the back of my mouth...

 

What kind of symptoms?

 

Symptoms were all on the side of the head with the fluid filled ear and included:
-Headache
-Sense of imbalance/dizzyness
-Intense facial tingling
-Numb and paralyzed soft palate/roof of mouth
-Feeling of fluid in ear

Generally it has basic symptoms like dampened hearing, but neurological symptoms are (evidently) possible. A doctor can tell by looking at your eardrum if there is excess fluid. Treatment was steroid nasal spray for a couple weeks with valsalva maneuver performed a couple time a day after 3-5 days of treatment.

 

I'm a bit confused about my current bout: I've had ear crackling for a few months now. All this time I've had a minor cold/nasal congestion that just won't go away. My ears won't always pop, but my right one does without bringing much relief.

Anyway, my ear crackling is intermittent. Sometimes it's not there for a few days, then it comes back... sometimes it's not there for a few hours, then it's suddenly here again. It's definitely a crackle, not a click.

The same happens when I yawn, etc.

Anyone know why it comes and goes like this?

 

I got tinnitus and crackling at same time due to TMJ disorder. I wore a night guard that made my jaw worse. Once out of alignment the crackling when i swallow saliva started. It's so loud and really bothers me a lot. I am getting stint to help my jaw. The ringing is so loud, in addition to the loud crackle when i swallow (every time I swallow) it sounds like my spit is like being thrown against my ear drum... Can I fly...? Or will it cause damage?

 

I've had the exact same problem for nine months now. It's driving me crazy. Mine was caused by two treatments in a Hyperbaric Oxygen tank. I was hoping it would help my tinnitus. Big mistake. At least you know what started your crackle. I've been checked for TMJ before and it always comes back negative. I've seen many doctors and all their treatments don't help. These include Afrin, Flonase, Mucinex, and NeilMed Saline rinse. I'm not sure what to do next but I would hate to have this for the rest of my life.

I did fly last Dec. and had no issues but I would go see an ENT just to be safe.

 

I also have this in my left ear which is the ear with my tinnitus, it only began when my tinnitus started and is less of a crackle and more of a pop deep within my ear.

Most of you talk about ear fullness with potentially muffled hearing, I’ve never noticeably had muffled hearing but I almost always get a strange feeling in my ear like it’s a lump or something positioned behind my gland deep inside my jaw, where my tube pops. I’ve had an MRI and nothing showed up!!!!!

Anyone have any ideas?!!

Edit. - also if I wiggle my jaw I feel a strange sensation in my ‘bad’ ear almost like a tickle sensation.

 

I've had crackling whenever I swallow and yawn ever since my T started in May. I frequently hear a lot of popping and clicking when I swallow too. It's hard to believe that a medication could mess up my ears this much, but that's what happened.

 

I think this crackling noise is due to your tensor tympani muscle moving and thus opening/closing your Eustachian tube. When you swallow, I believe it involuntary contract your TTM. I can reproduce this voluntarily by contracting some muscle inside my ear, which I now know is my TTM.

Some people can voluntarily control the TTM and some can't but can induce the TTM contraction via swallowing. It's normal to have some crackling when swallowing. For me, I've been able to crackle my ears since as far as I can remember and I freak out when I can't produce TTM sounds during allergies.

I don't believe there's anything wrong with crackling sounds when you swallow. If you have popping sounds, then I think that's another matter and issue.

 

I've read about people who can control their TTM. It's interesing that you can control your TTM. I hope that your allergies haven't been bad this year.

Sometimes the sound is a crackling noise and other times it is a loud pop or thump. I occasionally hear a loud thump in my right ear even if I'm not swallowing. I've explained it to my mom and ear doc that it feels like a muscle spasm in my ear.

 

I haven't had allergies this few months. Thanks for asking.

I'm was quite surprised to find out some people can't crackle their ears and think it's abnormal. I had always thought this was a normal thing to do... it actually feels quite refreshing to occasionally crack the ears, like it is to stretch the legs.

However, I can say my TTM movement never produced a pop or thump sound. If you do have pop or thump sounds, I'm not sure what it means but if you think it feels like it's from the same source of the cracking sounds, then perhaps your ear physiology is just different than mine and is more acoustic.

The only popping noises I remember hearing is from my ear infection, which did not sound like the same location as the TTM. The thumping noises I do occasionally hear when my blood pressure is high, such as from exercises or when I'm bending down.

 

Has anyone tried myringotomy and noticed any change with the crackling sound when swallowing?

 

I have the same thing now. Did it become better for you?

 

I also get cracking/crunching in my ear. But it seems to be more in the Eustachian tubes.

This phenomenon has worsened over the last 5 years and has become chronic.

My ear cracks when I swallow my saliva. It also crackles louder when I speak and then swallow. I can also make it crack voluntarily, as if I am contracting the back of my throat/back of the palate.

Importantly, the more it cracks, the louder my high frequency somatosensory tinnitus becomes.

Do you think this is due to hyperacusis? Is it a problem with the tensor tympani muscle? Is there a connection with the tension in the jaw, the muscles of the jaw?

 

I am getting the exact same thing @Josh59.

I don't think it's ETD as mine increases due to noise.

I am suspecting TTTS or maybe hyperacusis - although jaw tightness has increased too.

The ear crackling is just getting louder and louder, and although tinnitus fluctuates, that never does.

My audiologist suspected SCDS but not all my symptoms match.

Does anyone else have this?

 

Hello @DeanD.

Do you think that the crackling sounds we hear when we swallow our saliva are more in the eardrum/tensor tympani muscle rather than in the Eustachian tube?

I wonder whether the tensor palate muscle is involved. Because it is in contact with the tensor tympani muscle and the Eustachian tube.

Do you experience the crackling less when you swallow food? For me, the crackling noise is less when I swallow food. And it's the same when I make a physical effort or when I breathe. Everything seems to be more fluid.

I have also wondered whether the louder crackling sounds could be due to increased hearing gain because of hyperacusis.

 

I feel it's more eardrum-related, yes. I can initiate it myself by tensing 'something,' which feels like it's within my ear but at the same time lifts the soft palate - and mimics swallowing or trying to pop your own ears.

I experience it a little less when swallowing food, but marginally. I also though have difficulty swallowing food, particularly solids. My swallowing has not been right in a year, and because I am unable to eat properly, I have lost a lot of weight (4 stone or 25 kg). I feel there is so much of a link as I feel so much pressure from my throat to my ears - yet I have seen three ENTs (including Prof. Manohar Bance) who have all listened to the crackling as they can hear it too - and yet no one has any clues or has suggested any help of any kind.

Does anyone else experience this strange crackling sensation - and has it affected anyone else's swallowing ability, particularly of solid foods?

 

Is it not just the sudden change in air pressure in your throat during swallowing that transfers to your ears, hence the eardrum responding with a split-second flutter?

 

No, I don't think so. I can cause this crackling with a very slight tense of what feels like my eardrum, although it may be my Eustachian tube. There would be no pressure change I don't think of that action.

My swallowing is very restricted. I have explained it as tight, weak, and also a pressure sensation - like too much pressure in my throat to be able to swallow properly.

A lack of pressure release from the Eustachian tube sounds at least plausible, but I had the camera through my nose only a couple of months ago, and everything came back clear.