Crackling in your ear? A disorder called tinnitus can produce numerous different noises in your ears including buzzing, ringing, whooshing, and crackling. Here is some important facts.
Ever hear crackling, thumping, and buzzing sounds that seem to come out of nowhere? In the case of someone who uses hearing aids, it might mean they fitting and adjustments. But if you don’t have hearing aids it could be tinnitus.
Although we typically think of our ears with regards to what we see on the outside, there’s more than meets the eye – or in this instance, the ear. Here are some of the more common noises you may hear in your ears, and what they may reveal is going on.
I’m Hearing a Snap, Crackle, And Pop in my Ears But What’s The Cause?
We can tell you one thing – it’s not Rice Krispies. When the pressure in your ears changes – whether from an altitude change, going underwater, or just yawning – you might hear crackling or popping sounds. These sounds are caused by a tiny part of your ear called the eustachian tube. The crackling is caused by mucus-lined passageways opening up, allowing air and fluid to move and neutralize the pressure in your ears.
It’s a natural process, but sometimes, like if you’re dealing with inflammation from allergies, a cold, or an ear infection, your eustachian tubes can actually get clogged up from an excess of mucus in your system (remember, your ears, nose, and throat or all connected). Medical assistance, like surgery, is occasionally necessary in extreme cases where nothing else has helped clear the blockage.
I’m Hearing Vibration in my Ears – What Does That Mean?
Vibrations in the ear are often a telling indication of tinnitus. Technically, tinnitus is the medical term for when someone hears abnormal noises, like vibrations, in their ears that do not come from any external sources. Most people will refer to it as a ringing in the ears and it manifests across the spectrum, from hardly there to debilitating.
Is There Anything I Can do?
If you use hearing aids, once again, checking those is the first step. There may be a number of reasons that you would hear these sounds: your batteries are running low, the hearing aids aren’t correctly positioned in your ears, the volume is too high, or your hair is rubbing up against it. But if you don’t use hearing aids and you’re hearing this type of noise, it may also be due to excess earwax.
Dull hearing, itchy ears, and ear infections can often be caused by too much earwax but how could it be responsible for tinnitus noises? If it’s touching your eardrum, it can actually inhibit the eardrum’s ability to function, which is what causes the ringing or buzzing. Luckily, managing earwax is frequently pretty straightforward.
Reach out to us if you have strange noises in your ears. We can check your hearing aid to make certain it’s working correctly.