Crackling in your ear? A disorder known as tinnitus can bring about numerous different sounds in your ears including buzzing, ringing, whooshing, and crackling. Here is some relevant information.
Where is that crackling, buzzing, or ringing noise coming from? If you use hearing aids, it can mean that they require adjustment or aren’t fitted correctly. But if you don’t have hearing aids it could be tinnitus.
There’s much more to the ear than what you see on the outside. Here are some of the more prevalent noises you might hear inside 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 simply yawning – you may hear crackling or popping noises. A tiny part of your ear named the eustachian tube is the source of these noises. When these mucus lined passages open up to neutralize the air pressure, fluid, and air circulate causing these sounds to manifest.
Occasionally, such as when you’re dealing with allergies, a cold, or an ear infection, an overabundance of mucus in your system can gum up the eustachian tubes and impede what is normally an automatic process (remember, your ears, nose, and throat or all connected). Medical assistance, like surgery, is occasionally called for in severe cases where nothing else has helped clear the blockage.
I’m Hearing Vibration in my Ears – What Does That Mean?
Sometimes tinnitus is experienced as a vibration in the ears. Technically, tinnitus is the medical term for when someone hears abnormal noises, such as vibrations, in their ears that don’t come from any outside sources. Most individuals will refer to it as a ringing in the ears and it manifests across the spectrum, from hardly there to debilitating.
What Should I do About Noises in my Ear
Again, if you have hearing aids, you should first check those. There may be several reasons that you would hear these noises: your batteries are running low, the hearing aids aren’t correctly seated in your ears, the volume is too loud, or your hair is brushing up against it. But if you don’t use hearing aids and you’re hearing this kind of sound, it may also be caused by 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? The buzzing or ringing can be caused by earwax pushing against your eardrum and hindering its function. Fortunately, dealing with earwax is usually pretty straightforward.
If you’re hearing odd sounds, call us. We can check your hearing aid to make sure it’s functioning properly.