Yesterday Night Sudden Deafness, No More Crackling Sounds, What Is Going On?

So yesterday I didn't have a headache anymore for the first time in three months, not to threat though it's back... but this morning at 3 AM my right ear suddenly went deaf twice in one minute, I jumped up and started hitting my head thinking "No please no!"... luckily it stopped after a minute.

I just noticed that I no longer have the loud crackling sound in my ears when I yawn or clear them. I've seen the crackling ear thing come by on this forum a few times, and due to everything I've heard here and at my audiologist I was made to believe that it was due to senorineuronal hearing loss and an altered experience of the conductive hearing.
Clearly this is not the case. Since we're going to model every aspect of tinnitus in a clearly for tinnitushub I need to understand what in the ear could possible cause this.

Since the cochlea is buried in the strongest bone of the human body only the vane running below the middle ear and Eustachian tube have any effect when yawning or clearing there has to be a good explanation.
Perhaps the increased pressure when clearing causes friction between the three inner ear bones.. I'm at a loss.

Would you please share your crackling experiences to shed some more light on this mystery?

 

During the first 6 months of my T my ears 'crackled' frequently. I also discovered that when walking quickly on hard surfaces, if I pushed in the tagus on each ear (done because of walking by roadworks) I could hear what I can only describe as a tinkly bell sound - seriously weird.

Four years on, the crackling hardly ever happens but when my T is present (my T goes away completely & comes back) the tinkly bells are still there (in the same circumstances as described above).

I too go almost deaf at times. I used to call it 'ear fullness' but it's so much more than that. I'm pretty sure it's connected to problems with my jaw joints. When it happens I often hear a sound in my ear like cartilage rubbing as well & if I push my lower jaw forward it can temporarily bring back my hearing.

I don't think that it's connected to real hearing loss - instead I believe that the nerve ending, muscles, tendons etc. near the jaw & going up to my ears / eustachian tubes are completely *****ked.

 

That's exactly how I would describe it. I can feel my eardrum vibrate too when I hear it, I'm almost certain the sound is produced right behind the eardrum in the ossicle tendons. There has to be someone on earth that specializes in those tendons...

 

I agree with the crackling sound and the tinkling bell sound when pressing on the tagus. My experience is very similar to statements above along with the fluttering inner ear feeling and vibrating.

 

Yep. Same thing when T is worst and I press on the tragus. Did have the bell, but that seems to have faded a bit.

SO many common threads among the symptoms that get described on this site. These are the dots that need joining, not trademarked magical pills that target magical potassium channels or other esoteric nonsense.

 

When I walk quickly and decisively, I get a constant "zing, zing, zing" in direct rhythm with my steps. When I put my hand onto my mastoid process (the round hard bone behind the outer ear) and push firmly upward, I can then walk without this happening!

I noticed this about a month into the tinnitus. Maybe it was there earlier (?) but definitely from the one month point all the way to now.

I sometimes get the feeling that this is due to some kind of longstanding INFLAMMATION of the auditory nerve??? As if it were a high tension wire, like a guitar string, just waiting to be plucked (or in the case of the auditory nerve, the shock-impact of each hard footstep sets the nerve to jangling and creates the sound.). And ... the sound is the exact same pitch as the tinnitus!!!

By holding the bone behind the ear and pushing up, I think I am acting as a shock absorber and stabilizing the skull/auditory nerve within its canal. So in that case, the inflamed nerve isn't jostled by the hard walking and so does not ring.

And as a P.S. Once when I was clearing branches in the backyard, I had to tug hard at this large dead tree limb and suddenly it broke in two, creating a sound like a rifle shot. My left ear was turned in that direction and it immediately let out a loud ring in DIRECT response to the "rifle shot" sound input. Again, like the way a guitar string would create a note when quickly plucked. In that case, the stimulus was not the shock effect of hard footsteps, but the sound input of the "rifle shot sound."

I would like to see THIS addressed in the "Join the Dots." This somatic component (or maybe not even somatic, so much as a process of continual actual NERVE INFLAMMATION of the acoustic nerve) begs for investigation.

And yes, I do have that somatic component too: contract my neck muscles and the "eeeeeee" sound increases dramatically, especially in the right ear. Also, this occurs when I rotate my head all the way to the left (is this because I am creating tension and pulling on the particularly affected/inflamed right auditory nerve???).

@Steve @Cityjohn @click @ everybody!!! Weigh in, please!?!

 

My eardrum probably vibrates too and, if I concentrated when this happens I'd probably be aware of it... but I try not to think about it when it happens.

I tried to establish a cause & discover a cure for the first couple of years of T, reading everything I could get my hands on and trying so many different things but now, four years on, I don't spend much time on it.

I still avoid the foods that 'spike' it immediately or those that cause a 3 day buzz & I also protect my ears from noise (loud noise still hurts anyway!), but I've investigated so many different causes & so called 'cures' with nothing getting rid of it permanently, spoken to specialists who know virtually nothing (many of whom that think they do - a dangerous combo), worried about whether I should be doing something or not doing something etc. etc. that I've become cynical and tired of it all. I've been on a completely 'low salicylate' diet, a raw organic food diet (and my T was loudest during this one!).. I've stopped drinking the tap water, removed all toothpaste & other items that contain salicylates (cannot believe that some people on here are still using Sensodyne toothpaste!) and a myriad of other things.

Probably some of it has lowered the T or got rid of it for a longer period but it's so damned complicated that you can't be sure. Even air pressure and weather fronts can affect it. I remember that a few months after getting T, I was in the house that I sold shortly afterwards (because it was too quiet) and a sudden heavy monsoon type rainstorm came down - my T just clicked off... like a switch... it stopped. It wasn't being masked - it stopped altogether. When the rain stopped the T still wasn't there - in absolute silence... for the whole of the rest of the day and night. I'm convinced that being at a high altitude changes the volume too. Vibration can cause a 2 or 3 day buzz (just from travelling... introduce some hills into the journey and it's even worse).

I 'know' that mine is caused by something physical. I've never been depressed and it sure as hell isn't anything to do with stress. When the volume is loud - it's loud. When it's low, it's low. When the T has gone, it's gone. No amount of stress, worry or anxiety changes it.

I really hope that someone finds a solution and I love the fact that so many people (mainly those who haven't had T that long) are so active in trying to find the cause/cure but, if I start doing that again it makes me think more about the fact that I have it - and I hate, hate, hate having T.

 

@Path Maker

That's really interesting! I think we're one to something here. Many thanks to @Azariah that put me on the inflammatory response path of thinking. I've examined my bi-daily kept datasheet of symptoms and it is very clear I had some sort of brutal acute inflammation in my entire head. Now I'm trying to piece together what kind of permanent damage an inflammation could cause and what exactly would cause the inflammation to begin with.

That's also very interesting. When my inflammation occurred both my eardrums were badly retracted into my head and gradually over the last three months came out again. Without the Eustachian tubes being blocked, indicating that the ossicles were pulling it back.
A storm is a low pressure area, this means that the eardrum would be pulled back out, changing the outside pressure of the ear will affect the ossicles most. This forms a basic hypothesis for a very easy to perform experiment using a vacuum pump, vacuum gauge, and something that seals over the ear.

On that note if your T is better when the eardrums are being pulled out maybe there is an inner ear implant of the right geometry that could remedy that.

I could kiss you two, thanks.

 

To add a little bit to the understanding I had to look up an anatomically correct atlas drawn from dissection photography. This will give us a better idea for the physical attributes of the ear that are not mentioned anywhere else and I wager most physician and some ENT's are not even aware of because it's quite impossible to determine where tinnitus came from and examine organs so tiny and inaccessible.
This image is viewed from the cochlea towards the eardrum.

First there is the tympanic cavity, here we can see that there is a muscle directly connected to the eardrum. This muscle tightens in around 40ms to protect the hearing if experiencing loud noise. The auditory tube is another name for the Eustachian tube. Then there's also a nerve running across the earbones that is involved in the tasting of salt.

My feeling is that the crackling sound comes from the ligaments, The tinkly bell sound however is something I haven't ever experienced and I don't know where to place that. What kind of tinkly bell is it exactly?

 

I'm agreeing with the muscles causing issues. I actually can feel the muscles move in my ears at times. It's a strange feeling almost like having bugs crawling in my ear but it's more internal than physically in the ear. I was rear ended in an accident and my ear issues started with ear pain then tinnitus slowly creeped up to be constant. I have that tingly bell sound too. I'd describe it almost as an internal tuning fork set off but high pitched sound closer to the side of a bell tone. I'm really thinking this is nerve related because sounds and movements set it off.

 

Oh one more thing to add, if I thump on the back of my neck, I get the same exact sensation as the tunning fork being hit. It's more so the sound carrying than the physical vibration sense.

I've always been unsure if mine is related to the car accident or the sound exposure. The sound exposure happened over a year prior to me noticing the tinnitus, but the car accident was a month prior.

 

@Cityjohn

I'm not sure I can describe it differently. It's a tinkle - actually a double tinkle. I heard it this morning when I covered my ears coming down to open the front door (the doorbell is near the stairs & I don't want to be near it when it rings!) - it's very light but you can hear it clearly and it goes tinkle tinkle - sorry!!

Imagine a tiny glass Christmas tree decoration that is a working bell. Tweak it twice and I think that's the closest I can get to a precise description of the sound.

As an aside - I'm having a wonderful day - my T went completely at 10.30 this morning & I'm appreciating sitting in absolute silence <sigh> ... until tomorrow morning when it will be back.

If anyone makes a study of different types of T (within the somatic range) I think that they should concentrate on people like me for part of it. If my tinnitus can screech to the point of suicidal mania and then go away.. completely - something physical must be changing... something must be different when it's there to when it's not. Finding that something could give us a few more clues to help find solutions.

I can't make the tinkle tinkle when my T is not there.. only when it's there.

 

You thump the back of your neck??

 

Yes it that thing people do to try to stop or lower there tinnitus. I don't know what it's called. Can anyone chime in to describe? Or just go to WikiHow and look up thumb thumping trick for tinnitus.

 

For me, it's not a tinkly bell sound. It's just like the "eeeee" of tinnitus, but it is intermittent and in EXACT correlation to the cadence of my footsteps (which are the "shock"-producing stimulus for the "eee" response. It's like: "eee" - "eee" - "eee" with every single footfall. UNLESS I hold and press upwards on my mastoid process, which effectively keeps my skull from experiencing the "shock"-producing stimulus of my footfalls.

I really believe that within my ear area, the auditory nerve is inflamed/hyperreactive/whatever and that the "shock"-producing stimulus of the footfalls causes something to jostle.

That could be either: 1) the nerve itself getting jostled, or, 2) another inner ear structure striking the nerve (which must probably still be in a high tension state in order to produce the "eee" sound.

Since I NEVER experienced this until I got tinnitus, I have to conclude that it is completely related.

And also, rotating my neck fully to the left also causes an increase in the "eee" volume. This can be made to happen when I am sitting quietly at rest (and not from the active walking stimulus). Therefore, I conclude that the primary thing going on here is an INFLAMED nerve, not a loose structure in the ear striking the nerve. Because I think that the neck rotation which causes the "eee" to occur is in effect putting a stretch on the nerve itself.


????????????????? I do believe we all need to keep honing in on these "weird perceptions"!! These are the kinds of things that are often mentioned in tinnitus literature without being expanded upon. I believe they are important clues in this mystery.

 

Ahh - I know the one you mean

I thought of that as tapping!

Thank goodness for that - hate to think of you thumping yourself!

 

My tinkle tinkle bells are also in time with each step... must be something similar.

 

Well, we've all got pretty much the same anatomy! And tinnitus! Sooooo ... I think we need more investigation into this.

I would really like "somatic" tinnitus to be better elucidated by researchers.

I mean, tinnitus which is "ear-based," and, tinnitus which is "brain-based," and then, tinnitus (or the tinkly "eee's" ) which is stimulus/response-based??? And the tinnitus from clenching the jaw or contracting the neck muscles or turning the head??? I know a lot of articles say this could be "TMJ" but ... something tells me that it could also be ... INFLAMMATION. And that compressing or stretching neck structures either directly increases the stimulus on the nerve, or, temporarily raises blood pressure (in the case of contracting the neck muscles) which then causes a physical pressure stimulus on the nerve.

And the nerve, with whatever pathology (physical damage? viral-based inflammation? chronic excitability due to various patho-chemical things?) it is suffering, responds by doing what it does: eeeeeeeee

 

I tried an anti inflammatory diet about a year ago because of this (lots of pineapple!) Unfortunately it kept spiking my T because of all the fruit. I could live on fruit... practically did before T... but the fact that it's so high in sals made it really hard. I gave up in the end - needed my brain back so I could work.

 

@click I understand! I love fruit too. Am still experimenting/tweaking the dietary changes to see if anything helps.

It is a profound mystery, to be sure. And yet ... I can't help imagining, at least in SOME cases, that the future may reveal what at that point will then be considered a pretty straightforward treatment approach.

 

I notice the bell when I belt my ear, which I did for a time out of sheer frustration. I even belted the good one for comparison purposes and it didn't do it. I also get it when eating something that requires a bit of commitment, like a good steak. I've never felt though that I had a TMJ issue. I still don't.

 

This thread is gold. I need to find someone that specializes in the middle ear.

 

So much intriguing stuff in this thread!

I'm with you here. Sometimes you sit back and just think "why don't we try and understand more about what actually happens in the ear?"

Interesting idea yes. We could look initially at the theory side of this and then develop a research question to address it.

I have had a fullness and neck/jaw issues from day one so a lot of this chimes with me. All working fine according to the doc's. The idea of inflammation causing the problems, or at least some of them, is a very important angle to pursue I believe.

This feels completely overlooked, how often do you see research looking at intermittent tinnitus? I think that we need brain scans to compare people like you to people with constant tinnitus. You may well be right about the physical connection and we may see something in the brain when compared to "healthy" controls that can give us some new insight.

Looking at the above I wonder how do these sound as theory elements to research for join the dots (make any changes / additions as you want and post them here)?:

1. Map the ear and the path of audio to the brain.
2. What are the causes of inflammation within the auditory system and how do they affect tinnitus? (possibly combined with what causes the feeling of fullness in the ears)
3. What are the physical elements that make tinnitus worse and why do they make it worse?
4. Why does tinnitus react to certain noises, where within the auditory system does it occur?

 

Knew i loved my Pineapple for a reason ! ( in relation to Tinnitus )

the last pics i posted were of two big Fresh Pineapples ( back in dec 2015

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/2-years-of-dedication.10991/

 

You'd soon see a new attitude from research and Health systems if we all became a cost burden on our welfare systems through whatever sickness/disability systems our various governments in all our various countries have.

 

I also feel a vibration in my right ear. I went to the ENT this morning , he removed earwax, but I still have it.
Feels like a bug in ear crawling very fast. The ENT did not understand me,
because I think I have ear myoclonus and tried to explain that to him.

 

ENTs seem clueless. It's difficult to find a good one.

 

Medical doctors are very little help for some reason... I don't quite understand why yet.

 

Yes, me either. Do they all have a protocol that if someone mentions tinnitus to get them out the door asap?

 

That happened to me to with the neurologist, by the time he raised his voice in annoyance we left.
Luckily my ENT was good, she really gave me all the tests I asked for twice and was actively thinking with me to determine the root cause.
The audiologist was also great, doing all the tests and thinking with me, only they kept telling me that letting it go would make my life easier. I'm going back there to show them improved hearing by the full 25dB that the dip is in after my LLLT or so I hope.